Final Results

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Fighting Illini women's track & field team competed in the inaugural Border Battle against Iowa and Missouri on Saturday. The Orange and Blue beat the No. 24 Tigers, 84-53, but fell to the Hawkeyes, 73-64. In total, Illinois won six events at the competition.

"With some of the obstacles we had to overcome, I was pleasantly surprised that we were in it up until the last race," said head coach Ron Garner. "For us right now, this was just the right size of competition and it was a good environment. We did some good things, but now we have to get back to work on Monday."

Breeana Coleman was the top performer for the Illini, coming away with two individual event titles. Coleman began the day with a win in the 60m hurdles. This was the second time in as many meets that she claimed the 60m hurdles title. Coleman came back later in the day and was victorious in the 200m, breaking the tape in :25.59.

"Breeana has been giving a very good effort," stated Garner. "The 200m was a nice race for her. For her to win the hurdles and the 200m is a big positive. She contributed two major wins to our team score."

The Orange and Blue earned two more victories in the running events. Jasmine Berry won the 400m dash, marking the second consecutive meet that she has won the event. Alyssa Schneider finished first in the mile, completing the race in 4:51.09.

"Alyssa did a tremendous job in the mile," Garner said.

In the field events, Illinois grabbed two more wins. Stephanie Richartz finished first in the pole vault for the second meet in a row, clearing 3.95m (12' 11.50") to win by nearly one foot. Kandie Bloch-Jones also made it two straight meets with an event win, taking the high jump with a clearance of 1.73m (5' 8").

"It's nice to have Stephanie back," noted Garner. "Having missed last season, she is still working through things, but she won the pole vault and improved upon last week's performance. Kandie won the high jump only taking three jumps, and this despite not getting much practice in this week. She really handled herself well and did a great job, so that is a real positive."

In addition to the six event wins, the Illini also finished runner-up in four events. In the 600m, Nicole Choquette finished in 1:32.26, the 10th-best mark in school history. Britten Petrey was runner-up to Schneider in the mile, and Denise Branch added a second-place showing in the 3,000m run. In the field events, Janile Rogers leaped 5.66m (18' 7") to finish second.

"Nicole was very inspirational," proclaimed Garner. "She got sandwiched in there with two national-class athletes in the 600m so her finishing second is a big deal. Britten also ran a really nice race. Janile was jumping behind the board on all her jumps, so her performance is a positive. She looked really good and we know she is going to get better."

Kymbriona Taylor was third in both the 60m and the 200m, while Courtney Ackerman finished third in the 1,000m. The 4x400m relay team also grabbed third place, while Sara McKeeman finished third in the pole vault.

"Kymbriona has been fighting through some things early, but I think she gave a good effort," Gardner said. "It was good to see Courtney out there and getting a chance to compete after some of the struggles she has gone through."

The Illini will be back in action next weekend when they host the Illini Classic at the UI Armory on Saturday, Jan. 17. Field events are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and running event finals will begin at 2:30 p.m.