University of Illinois
Notre Dame Meyo Invite
@IlliniWTrack At Notre Dame Meyo Invite This Weekend
February 4, 2016 | Women's Track & Field
#Illini Seek Continued Growth
CHAMPAIGN, ILL. – After a week away from competition, the Orange and Blue return to familiar territory this weekend at the Notre Dame Meyo Invite, a meet they have competed at each of the last two seasons. The meet begins at 4 p.m. ET on Friday afternoon with field events and track events taking place simultaneously. The meet continues on Saturday morning with the completion of field events, and concludes with track finals at 2 p.m.
| Illinois Frank Sevigne Husker Invite | |
|---|---|
| When | Friday, Feb. 5 - 4:00 p.m. ET Saturday, Feb. 6 - Field: 10:30 a.m. ET // Track Finals: 2:00 p.m. ET |
| Where | Loftus Sports Center // South Bend, Ind. |
| Follow Live | Live Results (Link activates on meet day) |
| Team Information | Illinois Match Notes | Season Stats |
Last Year at Notre Dame
Nicole Choquette moved into third-place all-time on the Illinois' 600m top-10 list. In addition to Choquette, 15 other Illini totaled season-best marks including current Illini Kandie Bloch-Jones in the high jump and Jasmine Berry in the 400m. Former Illini Stephanie Richartz won the pole vault, while Alyssa Schneider moved into fifth on the school's mile top-10 list.
Competitions to Watch
60m Hurdles: The hurdles competition enters with the most highly-touted field of any of the track and field events of the weekend with two top-5 times in the nation and four other top-50 times participating. The field is led by a Big Ten duo of Cindy Ofili (Michigan), top time in the nation with a 8.04 mark, and Purdue's Devynne Charlton, who enters with the third-best time in the country at 8.11. Illinois' Pedrya Seymour joins three others, two from Big Ten institutions, as the dark horses in the event. Seymour's 8.38 mark is 38th best in the nation, Notre Dame's own Kaila Barber (8.31) ranks 22nd. Minnesota's duo of Kimberly Golding (24th) and Emma Spagnola (48th) round out the top competitors.
High Jump: Illinois' Kandie Bloch-Jones leads a field of four top-40 entrees this weekend. Bloch-Jones' 6-0 (1.83m) jump at Rod McCravy ranks ninth nationally and set an indoor personal-record for the junior from Argenta, Illinois. Janae Moffitt (Purdue) ranks 30th in the event with a 5-10 jump earlier this season, while Claire Kieffer-Wright (Michigan) and Chennel Palmer (NIU) share a mark of 5-93/4 (36th). Palmer and Bloch-Jones have already competed along side each other this season, in the Illini Classic, where the duo each cleared 5-93/4 (1.77m).
600m: Illinois freshman Morgan Schulz will look to improve this weekend on her Border Battle performance, one that already has her in the nation's top-50 through the season's first month. Her 1:34.02 mark ranks third among this weekend's participants, the other two from rival Big Ten schools. Minnesota's Titania Markland, 16th in the nation with a 1:31.81 time, is the leader of the trio while Taylor Williams of Indiana enters just behind Schulz with a time of 1:34.35.
800m: Nicole Choquette leads the Illini's middle distance team with her Big Ten-leading mark of 2:08.21 in the 800m run. Choquette set the personal-best mark two weeks ago at the Rod McCravy Memorial meet in Lexington, Kentucky. The junior was the 600m Indoor Big Ten Champion last season.
4x400m Relay: The relay will be an early look at some of the Big Ten's best relay teams as competition heads towards Big Ten Championships at the end of the month. Purdue's 4x4 time of 3:37.59 ranks second in the Big Ten and 11th in the country, while Iowa (20th) and Indiana (36th) will also look to push the Boilermakers. Outside of the Big Ten, both Miami (OH) and Notre Dame will enter their top-25 ranked quartet.
200m: With a field that lacks a true favorite, the Illini will look to push towards the top of the competition with five entrees in the race. Sade Hargrove enters with the Illini's top time of 24.93 that she set at the Rod McCravy meet two weeks ago. Making her debut in the event this weekend will be Briana Driver. The freshman from Mother McAuley High School has been one of Coach Garner's primary long jumpers through the season's first four meets.
Next Week
The Illini will wrap up the road portion of their indoor schedule next weekend at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. The team concludes the indoor regular season the following weekend with the Orange and Blue Open.
Illini Notes
Illini On The National Scene
In the high jump, junior Kandie Bloch-Jones moved up to a tie for 9th in the nation with her personal-record mark of 6-0 (1.83m) at the Rod McCravy meet two weekends ago. Freshman Morgan Schulz had a 600m time of 1:34.02 at the Border Battle to put her 44th in the country. 2015 600m Big Ten Champion Nicole Choquette owns the 22nd-best 800m mark in the country after her 2:08.21 personal-record at Rod McCravy. Pedrya Seymour stakes claim to the 38th-best mark in the country for the 60m hurdles with an 8.39 time to win the event at the Illini Classic, while freshman Jayla Stewart is 58th in the nation (8.45).
B1G Faces - Kandie Bloch-jones Reaches New Heights
During the offseason, Kandie Bloch-Jones was chosen as one of the Big Ten Network's Faces of Illinois, making a commercial spot that will air throughout the spring on the conference network. The junior has started off 2016 with reason to believe she can compete with the nation's elite. After winning the high jump back-to-back times to begin the season, Bloch-Jones cleared 6-0 (1.83m), besting a three-time national champion, at the Rod McCravy meet to finish second. Her mark currently sits in a tie for 9th nationally.
Bloch-Jones is coming off of a top-20 finish at NCAA Championships in 2015 and holds the third-best high jump mark in school history. As a freshman, the Argenta, Illinois native won the high jump title at Big Ten Indoor Championships and earned Second Team All-America honors at the NCAA meet. Last season, Bloch-Jones placed fourth at Big Ten Indoor Championships and had her best jump of her career (1.84m) at the Rankin Invite.
Orange and Blue See More Out of Seymour
Early returns from Pedrya Seymour have already to shown significant growth from last season. The Nassau, Bahamas sophomore has won the 60m hurdles in each of the first two home meets this season, setting personal-record times each weekend, including her 6.38 mark in the Illini Classic. Sprints and hurdles coach Randy Gillon applauded her start to the season and believes she can become a reliable asset to the team at Big Ten Championships and beyond.
Freshman Five Bring Promise
The 2015-16 freshmen class brings promise to Coach Garner's program, as they enter the program after racking up accolades in high school. Jayla Stewart leads the group as a five-time All-American in track and was the Hershey National Champion in the 100m hurdles. Joining her is Emone Davis, an All-American in the 4x100m and holds Danville High School records in four events. In field events, Mother McAuley standout Briana Driver who was the 2015 indoor and outdoor conference long jump champion. Sade Hargrove is the lone freshman from outside the state lines, but brings with her the 2014 Virginia state championship in the long jump, while also wining 4A South Conference championships in the 55m, 100, 200m, 300m, and long jump. Rounding out the class are standouts in distance events is Cary-Grove's Morgan Schulz. Schulz won the 2015 800m state title and holds school records in the 100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, and 800m.
2015-16 Headlines
Orange and Blue Win Illini Classic
For the second week in a row, the Orange and Blue rode veteran performances, combined with youthful progression, to a team victory. The Illini used four event titles, two in field events and two on the track, to pace the team to 142 points, besting second-place Western Michigan by 33 points. Pedrya Seymour was the top performer again for the Illini with another personal-record in the 60m hurdles, this time with a 6.38 time. Lindsey Rakosnik (600m), Jenn DeBellis (pole vault) and Janile Rogers (long jump) each earned event wins to round out the team's four on the day.
Illini Sweep Border Battle
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. The Fighting Illini beat Missouri by a score of 75-65, while edging out the Hawkeyes 68-67. The Illini were led by five event titles: Kandie Bloch-Jones (HJ), Jenn DeBellis (PV), Briana Driver (LJ), Nicole Choquette (800m), and Pedrya Seymour (60m H).
Bloch-Jones Garners Early Season Awards
After qualifying for 2015 NCAA Championships last season, placing 20th, Kandie Bloch-Jones has jumped out to a fast start in 2015-16 with a high jump mark that broke the Early Bird meet record. The performance earned her accolades from the Big Ten office and the University of Illinois. Bloch-Jones was named Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week on December 16, and shortly after was named the University of Illinois Scholar Athlete of the Week.
Illini Earn Six Event Titles at Early Bird
The Illini earned six event crowns over the course of the season's opening evening as the team scored 108 points to place second. In the field, Bloch-Jones (high jump) and Rogers (long jump) won titles outright, while Jenn DeBellis and Sara McKeeman shared the pole vault crown. On the track, Jasmine Berry (400m), Smyers-Jones (60m Hurdles), and the 4x400m relay team of Berry, Choquette, Marry, and Schulz took home titles.
