Full Results
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Two meets into the season and Coach Garner's squad has already shown early improvement over last season. After splitting the Border Battle last year on the campus of the University of Iowa, the Orange and Blue were able to sweep the competition this afternoon at the UI Armory, led by five event titles. The Fighting Illini beat Missouri by a score of 75-65, while edging out the Hawkeyes 68-67.
"Coming back off of Christmas, we really don't know where everyone is at," said Coach Garner. "We had to go off of what we did in December and try to project into January. So, it was a transition, people were pretty sore because we trained pretty hard this week. The meet was a good fit, to have a smaller meet and focus on a few things. Things weren't perfect, but we had some really good performances."
Junior high jumper Kandie Bloch-Jones got the Illini on the board early with a victorious mark of 1.75m (5-83/4), her second straight meet title after sharing the crown at the EIU Early Bird on December 11.
A trio of Illini swept the top spots in the long jump this afternoon, highlighted by freshman Briana Driver's 5.74m winning leap in the event. Janile Rogers finished second with a jump of 5.62m, while Sade Hargrove came in third with a mark of 5.46m.
Later in the day, Jennifer DeBellis and Sara McKeeman continued the Orange and Blue's success in field events when they took first and second place in the pole vault. DeBellis posted an event-winning mark of 3.90m, while Sara McKeeman followed with 3.75m.
Concluding field event action was Kortni Smyers-Jones' performance in the triple jump. Smyers-Jones marked a leap of 11.24m and took second place behind event winner Tria Seawater-Simmons.
The highlight of the track portion of the completion came when sophomore Pedrya Seymour raced to a personal-record time of 8.41 to win the 60m hurdles. Behind Seymour was Jayla Stewart who placed second with a time of 8.55.
"Pedrya Seymour had a personal-record, 8.41, in the 60m hurdles and that was a breakthrough," said Coach Garner. "She beat two really good hurdlers in Jayla Stewart and Kortni Smyers-Jones. They're established hurdles, and that's a major step in the right direction."
In the 60m final, it was Lake Kwaza of Iowa who came out on top, but Kymbriona Taylor earned a fourth-place finish with her time of 7.64. Freshmen Jayla Stewart and Sade Hargrove placed in the top-eight in their second collegiate meet.
In the 200m, Kymbriona Taylor dashed to a 25.04 time to earn a second-place finish behind Briana Guillory of Iowa. Two freshman wearing Orange and Blue added in solid performances of their own in the event, as Briana Driver (25.65) and Kortni Smyers-Jones (25.92) notched fourth and sixth-place finishes, respectively.
After a strong showing at Eastern Illinois a month ago, freshman Morgan Schulz showed that she'll be a reliable competitor in her first season on campus with a second-place finish in the 600m, clocking a time of 1:34.02 that was only 0.01 seconds behind Elexis Guster (Iowa). Sophomore Miranda Marry finished just over two seconds behind Schulz in fourth place.
The reigning indoor 600m Big Ten Champion impressed in the 800m at today's Border Battle, as Nicole Choquette took an early lead and held on to win the event in 2:11.69.
In the longest distance race of the meet, Audrey Blazek came in second with a 3,000m time of 10:17.71, besting her original personal-record mark of 10:18.47.
Up next for the Illini is another home meet next Friday night and Saturday, as they host the Illini Classic. The weight throw will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, January 15, while field events will begin at 11 a.m., followed by track at 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 16.
"I think the growth that will take place is from the attitude {this team has} that is incredible," said Garner. "They come to practice, they want to train every day, they're receptive to the coach's input, and they want to learn. If we put those three things together, and we put the physical work in, we'll be ready come the end of the season."
Event Winners:
High Jump: Kandie Bloch-Jones, 1.75m (5-83/4)
Pole Vault: Jennifer DeBellis, 3.90m (12-91/2)
Long Jump: Briana Driver, 5.74m (18-10)
800m: Nicole Choquette, 2:11.69
60m Hurdles: Pedrya Seymour, 8.41
