Full Results
HOUSTON, TX – Four Illinois women's track and field athletes recorded event victories on Saturday at the Houston Alumni Invite, as Denise Branch (1500m), Pedrya Seymour (100m hurdles), Kandie Bloch-Jones (high jump) and Nicole Choquette (800m) led the Illini. In addition to the individual titles, the 4x100m relay team clocked its fastest time of the season and a handful of Illini sprinters and jumpers clocked wind-aided personal-best performances.
"We felt like we got great work in and had a great trip overall," said Head Coach Ron Garner. "Everyone is working really hard and you're seeing the improvements as we progress through these last few meets. I'm looking forward to the next couple weeks and the progress we can make."
Following her outdoor debut last weekend in the 100m hurdles, Pedrya Seymour increased her workload on Saturday, competing in the 200m dash and running the anchor leg of the 4x100m relay. The Illini redshirt junior won the 100m hurdles for the second straight meet, timing 13.19. Seymour returned later in the meet to place seventh in the 200m with a time of 23.87.
Illinois' other two event victories on the track came in middle distance events, as Denise Branch won the 1500m with a time of 4:40.19 and Nicole Choquette crossed the finish line in 2:12.55 to win the 800m.
"There were some pretty stiff winds, especially coming off the back stretch," explained Garner. "It was a good workout for Nicole. She went out in those conditions and worked through it. Having to come off of that wind, you aren't going to be feeling the same way in the last 200 meters as you would normally feel. Denise went out from the gun and led the whole race. She showed a lot of courage, ran a really nice race."
The Illini picked up their lone individual title in field events from Kandie Bloch-Jones in the high jump. The Illini senior jumper cleared 5'7" (1.70m) on her first attempt, but was unable to clear the next bar which was set at 5'8.75" (1.75m).
Finishing runner-up to Houston's 44.39 relay-winning time, the foursome of Briana Driver, Janile Rogers, Jayla Stewart and Pedrya Seymour set Illinois' fastest sprint relay time of the season with a time of 45.01. Adding Seymour into the relay for the first time this season, the Illini lowered their time from the 45.18 performance at South Carolina two weeks ago.
With winds reaching well above the legal limit of 2.0 m/s on Saturday, multiple Illini set personal-best times and marks in the sprints and jumping events, including a new personal-record for Jayla Stewart in the 100m hurdles.
In the 100m hurdles, Jayla Stewart edged her personal-record time of 13.29, set at U.S. Junior Championships last summer, with a 13.28 wind-aided (3.2 m/s) time to place second in the 100m hurdles.
"It was great to see Jayla drop her time today," Coach Garner said. "Jayla competed with Pedrya through eight or nine hurdles and was right there with her. It was great to see her running where she left off in the third week of June last summer. She's relaxed, in better posture and took the information Coach Gillon has been giving her and put it together today."
Running with a wind speed of 4.9 m/s, Briana Driver led the Illini in the 100m, clocking 11.74, while Janile Rogers and Sade Hargrove followed with times of 11.78 and 11.82.
Driver and Rogers also found success in the long jump with the wind at their backs, as Driver set a new personal-record and Rogers set a new outdoor best mark. After fouling on her first two attempts, Driver leaped 19'10.75" (6.06m) on her third attempt to surpass her mark of 19'6.25" (5.95m) during this year's indoor season and place third overall. Rogers set her new outdoor-best mark of 19'2" (5.84m) on her fifth attempt of competition after leaping 19'1.75" (5.83m) on her first attempt.
"The jumpers had some trouble with the wind gusts in that it would change on them. We had some fouls today, but Briana had two legal jumps over six meters. Janile had two legal jumps at 5.83 meters and 5.84 meters, but had two other massive jumps that were fouls. We're making progress and it's still an area I feel we can do well in at the conference meet."
In the triple jump, Kortni Smyers-Jones took fifth place with a mark of 39'6.5" (12.05m) on her final attempt.
Up next for the Orange and Blue, the Illini will send their top jumpers to South Carolina for the Gamecock Invite, while Illinois' top distance runners will head to the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, California next weekend.
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Event Titles:
Denise Branch: 1500m, 4:40.19
Pedrya Seymour: 100m hurdles, 13.19
Kandie Bloch-Jones: High Jump, 5'7" (1.70m)
Nicole Choquette: 800m, 2:12.55
