Garner Interview | Notes | | Meet Program

MEET PREVIEW
The Fighting Illini women's track and field team hosts the Illinois Twilight on Saturday, April 18 at the Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium. The day starts with field events at noon, followed by running events at 5 p.m. This is the lone opportunity for fans of the Orange and Blue to see the team compete at home this season.

COACH GARNER'S OUTLOOK
"It's always great to host a home meet," stated head coach Ron Garner. "I think it is important for our student-athletes' families, the school, the community and others who support us to have an opportunity to come out and watch our team. For our team, we train here every day so it's nice to compete at a familiar facility. We are going to continue to work hard and compete as we prepare for the Big Ten meet."

LAST YEAR'S ILLINOIS TWILIGHT
The Orange and Blue finished second at 2014 Illinois Twilight, winning four event titles en route to tallying 141 points. Indiana State took the team title.

A LOOK AT THIS WEEKEND'S COMPETITION
The Illini will welcome 11 teams to Champaign on Saturday, April 18. Bradley, Butler, DePaul, Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, University of Illinois-Chicago, Northwestern, Valparaiso, Western Illinois and Western Michigan will invade the Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium.

EVENTS TO WATCH
This weekend, many of Illinois' competitors will be competing in events that are not their specialties as the team prepares for the Drake Relays next weekend. However, some of the events fans should tune in for include the 800m, 100m hurdles, high jump, pole vault and discus.

The 800m will feature Amanda Duvendack and Lindsey Rakosnik, two of Illinois' top three in the event. Breeana Coleman, ranked fourth in the Big Ten, will compete in the 100m hurdles, looking to improve on her season-best time from last weekend. In the high jump, Kandie Bloch-Jones, also ranked fourth in the conference, will look to continue her climb up the Illini record book. In the pole vault, Stephanie Richartz and Jennifer DeBellis, two of the three best vaulters in Illinois history, will both be competing, as will Sara McKeeman, who is coming off a promising indoor season. In the discus, Jazjuan Wallace-Sipp and Mariah Smith, the third- and fourth-best discus throwers in Illinois history, are slated to step into the ring this weekend.

SENIOR RECOGNITION
The Fighting Illini will honor their eight seniors in their lone home meet of the season. Breeana Coleman, Amanda Duvendack, Kaleigh Evans, Emma Grimes, Stephanie Richartz, Chloe Schmidt, Alyssa Schneider and Mariah Smith will be recognized for their contributions to the program over the course of their careers. The senior recognition will begin at 4:30 p.m.

"This group of seniors showed a great deal of commitment to our program over their time here at the University of Illinois," Garner explained. "They have worked hard and have earned everything they have accomplished. Some of those accomplishments include top-10 performances in school history, individual Big Ten championships and NCAA All-America honors. They are all great students in the classroom and have given back to the community. They have been a joy to coach these last couple of years. They have given nothing but their best effort and I thank them for that."

JIM CLICK SHOOTOUT RECAP
The Fighting Illini women's track and field team finished fifth at the University of Arizona's Jim Click Shootout, scoring 79 points. Britten Petrey (3,000m steeple), Kandie Bloch-Jones (high jump) and Stephanie Richartz (pole vault) brought home individual event titles.

UP NEXT
The Fighting Illini will travel to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa on April 22-25.