Full Results
SOUTH BEND, IND. – The Fighting Illini wrapped up day one of the Meyo Invite with multiple personal-record times and three Illini qualifying for tomorrow's 60m hurdle final. Nicole Choquette registered the squad's best finish of day one, placing second in the 600m and finishing just shy of her own personal-best time.
Illinois' top performance tonight came from Nicole Choquette in the event she was a Big Ten Champion in last season. Choquette nearly matched her Big Ten Championship-winning time of 1:29.49, as she crossed the finish line in 1:29.57 this evening. However, Minnesota's Titania Markland was a second better than Choquette on the evening, winning the event with a time of 1:28.51.
Choquette wasn't the only Illini to show well in the 600m, as both Morgan Schulz and Lindsey Rakosnik placed inside the top-15. Schulz's time was a personal-record time of 1:32.63, besting her Border Battle mark back in early January. Rounding out the three performances was Rakosnik's 1:33.68 time that placed her 11th in the field of 29 runners.
A trio of hurdles donning the Orange and Blue got the meet off on the right foot, as Jayla Stewart, Pedrya Seymour and Kortni Smyers-Jones each finished in the top-10 overall in the 60m hurdles prelims. Stewart shone brightest as she clocked her fastest time since stepping foot on campus, an 8.40 time that was good for sixth. Stewart's personal-record was joined by one from teammate Kortni Smyers-Jones, turning in an 8.67 performance that placed 10th. In between the duo was Seymour who's 8.53 time was good for eighth overall. The three Illini will look to repeat their success tomorrow in the semi-final.
Following up the hurdle prelims, Jayla Stewart returned to the track joined by Kymbriona Taylor, Sade Hargrove and Emone Davis. In a field of 67 athletes, only senior Kym Taylor was the only Illini to qualify for the semi-final tomorrow afternoon. Taylor's mark of 7.60 ties her personal-record in the event. After qualifying for the 60m hurdles, Jayla Stewart fell just shy of qualifying for the 60m dash final, placing 23rd with a personal-record time of 7.63. Hargrove finished with a time of 7.75, while Davis made her collegiate debut in the event with a mark of 7.83.
Following a personal-record mark at the Rod McCravy Memorial meet two weekends ago, Kandie Bloch-Jones came up shy of duplicating the performance. The junior cleared 5-93/4 (1.77m), but couldn't manage more than that. Her finish tied Purdue's Janae Moffitt for best among collegiate competitors, but Moffitt won the tiebreaker after only missing once at 1.72m, while Bloch-Jones missed twice.
Over on pole vault, Illinois' Sara McKeeman earned the first Illini personal-record of day two. The sophomore cleared 12-71/2 (3.85m) to finish tied for third, second among collegiate athletes.Â
Elsewhere in field events, Briana Driver and Janile Rogers completed their weekend in the long jump with Driver marking an 18-41/2 (5.60m) jump, while Janile Rogers finished with a leap of 18-13/4 (5.53m).Â
In the lone distance event of day one, Audrey Blazek finished in the top-half of the 50-runner 5,000m field with a time of 17:22.45.
The Fighting Illini wrapped up the evening with the 200m dash, where Kymbriona Taylor led the Orange and Blue with a 24.72 finish, just three-tenths of a second shy of her personal-record. Behind Taylor was Sade Hargrove (25th/24.82), Kortni Smyers-Jones (32nd/24.96), Janile Rogers (38th/25.22) and Briana Driver (46th/25.39). For Driver, it was her first collegiate 200m.
The Fighting Illini will return to action tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. central time, beginning with the triple jump. Later in the morning, Jayla Stewart, Pedrya Seymour and Kortni Smyers-Jones will compete in the 60m hurdles semi-final at 9:35 a.m., while Sara McKeeman and Jennifer DeBellis compete in the pole vault. The meet will conclude in the afternoon with middle distance events and the 4x400m relay.
For live results, visit http://bit.ly/1Q02niZ and follow @IlliniWTrack on Twitter for updates.
Top-10 Finishes
2) Nicole Choquette: 600m, 1:29.49
2) Kandie Bloch-Jones: High Jump, 5-93/4 (1.77m)
6) Jayla Stewart: 60m Hurdles, 8.40q
8) Pedrya Seymour: 60m Hurdles, 8.53
8) Morgan Schulz: 600m, 1:32.63
10)Kortni Smyers-Jones: 60m Hurdles, 8.67
