Full Day 1 Results | Photo Gallery
GENEVA, Ohio – Fighting Illini 60m hurdlers Pedrya Seymour and Jayla Stewart advanced to the event final during day one of the 2017 Big Ten Indoor Championships at the Spire Institute. Seymour and Stewart will compete in the final tomorrow (2/25) at 2:30 p.m. central time.
The top-ranked hurdler in the Big Ten, Seymour easily won heat two of prelims with a 8.14 performance out of lane eight, third-best overall. Sophomore teammate Jayla Stewart joined Seymour in the final with a 8.31 personal-best time to finish second in heat three.
"It wasn't just the lean, Jayla ran all the way through the line and that was the difference," explained Head Coach Ron Garner. "The girl from Ohio State, Chantel Ray, had past her and Jayla got her at the line. It's great to see that fight that created the PR and get her in to the final."
Tomorrow's 60m hurdle final will be the second of Seymour's career, placing third in 2016, while it will be Stewart's first appearance in the conference hurdle final.
The Illini also had a pair of personal-record performances in the 3,000m race, as Valerie Bobart and Denise Branch improved up their personal-best times.
In the unseeded section, Valerie Bobart set a personal-best time of 9:49.04, a six-second improvement over her time at the Meyo Invite earlier this month.
"She did a great job running through the finish line and setting a personal-record by six seconds, winning her heat," said Garner. "It's a good way to finish her [indoor] season. As a 3,000m steeplechaser during the outdoor season, today is going to pay off for her outdoors."
In the seeded section of the race, Denise Branch clocked 9:42.57, a five-second improvement over her previous best set at last year's conference meet.
"Denise has come back after being one of the top 3,000m racers in high school," Garner said. "She had some challenges early on, but came back and had a good cross-country season and ran a competitive race today. She showed fight today and beat several people that were ahead of her coming into the race."
Freshmen Kayla Hylton and Chisom Nwoko also set or tied personal-best performances, as Hylton timed 24.56 in the 200m prelims and Nwoko marked 12'5.5" (3.80m) in the pole vault.
The Fighting Illini conclude Big Ten Indoor Championships tomorrow morning, beginning at 10 a.m. and can be streamed live on BTN Plus. All-American Kandie Bloch-Jones will compete in the high jump at 1 p.m. while the 60m hurdle final is set for 1:50 p.m.
Fighting Illini Qualifiers and Point Scorers
3. Pedrya Seymour, 60m hurdles, 8.14Q
8. Jayla Stewart, 60m hurdles, 8.31q
