Full Results
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Illinois 60m hurdler Pedrya Seymour clocked a personal-best time in prelims, and then again in the final to finish as the top collegian at the Rod McCravy Memorial meet with a time of 7.98. Seymour's time ranks second in NCAA Division, fourth in the world and moves her into second place on Illinois' all-time list.
After setting a personal-record time in her season debut at the Illini Classic a week ago, the Illini redshirt junior dropped her time twice more on Saturday. After shaving 0.04 seconds off in prelims (8.09), Seymour dropped the time further with a 7.98 performance in the final to finish as the top collegian, beating defending Big Ten 60m hurdles champion Devynne Charlton (Purdue) and Kentucky's Jacklyn Howell.
"She finds herself in a place where she knows what it takes to perform at a high level," said Associate Head Coach Randy Gillon of Seymour. "She has high expectations for herself, we train with high expectations, so when it comes to competition she knows how to get herself ready for that level of performance and competition."
Entering the meet fifth in Illinois history, Seymour moves into second-place on Illinois' all-time list. Perdita Felicien holds the 7.90 school record, set in 2002.
Later in the day, the Orange and Blue received a pair of impressive performances from freshmen Felicia Phillips and Chisom Nwoko in the 400m.
Nwoko in heat eight and Phillips in heat nine, both Illini freshmen won their respective heats convincingly. Nwoko timed 55.48 to win her heat by 0.83 seconds, while Phillips won her heat with a time of 55.05, 0.31 seconds faster than the runner-up.
"I was most pleased with the way they carried themselves," said Coach Gillon. "We've training to run faster, and those times will come, but the most important thing is how you manage yourself in competition. Today, we saw two young women that were very poised, enthusiastic and had good energy. Both of them led the whole way and ran away from their respective fields, that showed growth."
The Illinois distance group also made strides in Lexington, as Denise Branch timed 9:48.93 in the 3,000m race and a trio of Illini performed near, or better than, their lifetime bests.
"I think it's a combination of poise, maturity and consistency of her training starting to come together," said Assistant Coach Scott Jones of Branch's performance. "She's doing what it takes, breaking things down on a daily basis, in order to achieve that."
In the 800m, Kristina Kladar led the Illini with a personal-best 2:16.01 performance, while freshmen Sarah Madsen (2:16.67) and Vanessa Flaherty (2:17.07) each ran season-best times.
"It was a big step forward for the middle distance group," said Coach Jones. "I felt very pleased with the two freshmen in the 800m, handling everything really well. The 800m is an event that takes awhile to get back to where you were at the end of the previous season. For them to be running so close to their lifetime personal-best times are is a very positive sign."
On Friday, Kandie Bloch-Jones defeated the reigning Big Ten champion in the high jump to win her fourth high jump title of the season with a height of 5'11.25" (1.81m).
Up next, the Fighting Illini will have a week away from competition before returning to the track on February 3-4 at the Meyo Invite in South Bend, Indiana.
