Feb. 6, 2010
Results
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Illinois women's track and field team ran amongst several of the top teams in the nation at the Meyo Invitational and turned in a number of solid performances at the Loftus Center, highlighted by a victory in the 4x400m relay. The team of freshman Marissa Golliday, sophomore Ashley Kelly, sophomore Ryisha Boyd and junior Melissa Bates edged Mississippi (3:39.88) for the win and provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with a time of 3:39.83.
"Overall, it was a pretty good meet for us," head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. "We still have some work to do, but this was the toughest competition we have faced yet, and I expect us to continue to get better. Our 4x400m relay team is right on track with where we were last year and ran a very good race today."
The Illini also had a pair of distance runners provisionally qualify for nationals in their first race since the NCAA Cross Country National Championships. Senior and two-time national champion Angela Bizzarri turned in a third-place finish in the 3,000m with a time of 9:16.75, just missing the automatic standard (9:16.00), while sophomore Kristin Sutherland also placed third in the 5,000m on Friday night and provisionally qualified with a time of 16.43.68.
"Angela and Kristin ran well for their first time out this season, and they will only continue to get better as the season progresses," Buford-Bailey said.
Bates posted the highest individual finish by any Illini in the running events, placing second in the 300m with a personal best 39.09, while fellow junior Tamika Robinson ran the fastest preliminary time in the 60m hurdles (8.46) before running the same time in the finals to take third overall. Senior Aja Evans matched Bates for the best finish by an Illini with a runner-up finish in the shot put, as she threw a season-best mark of 51-7 (15.72m) to again provisionally qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
In the 60m dash, both junior Tamika Robinson (7.62) and Evans (7.71) made it to the final, placing 9th and 12th, respectively. Bates (24.67) and freshman Kayla Smith (24.68) finished ninth and 10th, respectively, in the 200m, while sophomores Ashley Kelly (55.26) and Ryisha Boyd (55.37) placed seventh and eighth in the 400m.
"Ashley Kelly ran an awesome 400m to put herself on the Big Ten ranking list and Ryish Boyd was right there with her," Buford-Bailey said. "I was really excited about Kayla Smith's performance in the 200m and Tamika had a consistent day in both her races too."
Kayla Smith was the top Illini in the long jump, finishing ninth with a leap of 18-11 3/4, while freshman Kawanna Brooks posted a personal best of 38-8 3/4 in the triple jump to place 15th.
On Friday night, senior Elizabeth Boyle notched her personal best in the 3,000m, placing seventh with a time of 17:01.49, and Kelly took fourth in the 300m with a personal-best time of 39.17. Latoya Griffith (39.85) and Paris Streeter (40.66) also turned in PRs in that race to place 11th and 25th, respectively.
Next week, the Illini travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational, which is held at the same site as the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships.
