Full Results | Jayla Stewart Interview
DES MOINES, Iowa – Illinois women's track 100m hurdlers were on full display on Saturday, as Jayla Stewart set a personal-best time to win the 100m hurdles final, and the shuttle hurdle relay clocked the fifth-fastest time in school history to place second in the final. In addition to the hurdle success, Illinois scored in three relay events on the weekend.
"It was a very productive day," said Head Coach Ron Garner. Shuttle hurdle broke into the top-five all-time time and Jayla [Stewart] ran a great race in the 100m hurdles under pretty miserable conditions. Our 4x100m relay was leading coming down the backstretch, but we have to continue to smooth out our third exchange, and that's where we got caught up. And, it was great to get Morgan Schulz get back on the track today and see her perform well."
After impressing Coach Garner with her ability to battle through soggy conditions during prelims on Friday, Stewart shaved 0.31 seconds off her time to beat Ohio State's Chantel Ray (13.23) in the 100m hurdles final. The 13.14 performance is the third best in the Big Ten this season and ranks eighth in Illinois history.
"It's amazing, I've been working at this for a really long time," said Stewart on her Drake Relays title. "I was really looking forward to setting a personal record. I was getting a little frustrated a couple weeks back, so I was happy to come out here and still set a personal record."
Before winning her individual title, Stewart helped the Illinois shuttle hurdle relay clock the fifth-best time in school history, a 54.54 performance that placed them second in the final. After posting the top time in prelims, 56.53, Jayla Stewart, Kortni Smyers-Jones, Pedrya Seymour and Jasmine Berry dropped two seconds off their time in the final, but fell short to Purdue's winning time of 53.85. The 54.54 time in the final surpassed a 54.73 time set back in 1993 by Tonya Williams, Dawn Riley, Carmel Corbett and Tonja Buford-Bailey.
Along with the hurdle success on Saturday, the Illini scored in two more relay events after tallying a point in the 4x200m relay on Friday night.
Comprised of two true freshmen and a redshirt freshman, the unit of Kymrbiona Taylor (200m), Felicia Phillips (200m), Chisom Nwoko (400m) and Morgan Schulz (800m) placed sixth in the sprint medley relay, earning the Illini three points.
Taylor returned at the end of competition to help the Illini score again, this time anchoring the 4x100m relay to a fourth-place finish. With Pedrya Seymour leading off, followed by Janile Rogers and Briana Driver in legs two and three, the sprint relay clocked 45.79.
Having wrapped up the 2017 regular season, the Illini will now begin preparation for Big Ten Outdoor Championships, held May 12-14 on the campus of Penn State University in State College, Pennsylvania.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini Women's Track and Field, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniWTrack) and Instagram (@IlliniWTrack) and like Fighting Illini Women's Track and Field on Facebook.
Watch Jayla Stewart's 100m Hurdles Victory
