Early Bird Full Results
Champaign, Ill. – For the second year in a row, Head Coach Ron Garner exercised the new rules allowing December competition to get the team's feet wet before the New Year with the EIU Early Bird in Charleston, Illinois. The Illini earned six event crowns over the course of the season's opening evening as the team scored 108 points to place second.
"The coaches enjoyed having the opportunity to get out there and watch them compete. We had great fall training, and they took that enthusiasm into the competition. We saw smiles, we saw people trying to do what we were asking them to do, and we all enjoyed being in that competitive environment."
The Orange and Blue came out strong in the field events portion of the meet, boasting four individual titles across three events. Junior high jumper Kandie Bloch-Jones cleared an Early Bird meet record mark of 5-101/2 (1.79m) to tie Haleigh Knapp of Eastern Illinois.
"Kandie's clearance at those heights, she was four or five inches above the bar," explained Garner. "Our approach, we struggled a little bit with our take off and we were a little too far out, but it's our first meet and things shouldn't be perfect."
Two Fighting Illini battled to a tie on pole vault with senior Jenn DeBellis and sophomore Sara McKeeman clearing 12-51/2 (3.80m) to share event honors. Liz Livingston also recorded a top-five finish with a mark of 10-113/4 to finish fourth.
"Coach Carrel was very happy with the pole vault, not just the bars that were cleared but they were using the right approach," said Coach Garner.
The final field event title for Coach Garner's squad came in the long jump where Janile Rogers's mark of 18-13/4 (5.66m) bested the runner-up by an inch and a half.
On the track, Jasmine Berry and Kortni Smyers-Jones both won event titles on the season's opening night. Berry clocked a 400m time of 57.69, while Smyers-Jones nabbed the 60m hurdles honor with a 8.68 finish. In her first indoor competition after spending her first two seasons at Laney College in Oakland, California.
Kymbriona Taylor also left an impression on Coach Garner with two second-place finishes in the 60m and 200m dashes. In the 200m, Taylor's time of 25.49 were joined by Smyers-Jones, Janile Rogers, and Briana Driver to give the Orange and Blue four of the top-five finishers. True-freshman Morgan Shulz also offered a quality performance, posting a 600m time of 1:34.46, good for second overall.
The evening was capped off by the 4x400m relay where the quartet of Jasmine Berry, Nicole Choquette, Miranda Marry, and Morgan Shulz bested the rest of the competition with a tape-breaking time of 3:53.28.
"Things are far from perfect, but we're moving in the right direction," said Garner. "We saw glimpses of what we wanted to see and we saw some things we can improve. We're blessed with tremendous attitude. At this point, they are the most positive group of young people I've ever been around. We didn't hear one complaint the entire meet. If we keep doing those [what we did tonight,] we're going to be the best team we can be this year. We're young, they have talent, and we'll keep growing. We're really excited about the type of work we were able to put in during the meet."
Event Titles:
400m: Jasmine Berry, 57.69
60m Hurdles: Kortni Smyers-Jones, 8.68
4x400m relay: Jasmine Berry, Nicole Choquette, Miranda Marry, Morgan Schulz, 3:53.28
High Jump: Kandie Bloch-Jones, 5-101/2 (1.79m)
Pole Vault: Jennifer DeBellis and Sara McKeeman, 12-51/2 (3.80m)
Long Jump: Janile Rogers, 18-13/4 (5.53m)
