4x1 Relay Leads Illini on Final Day of B1G Championships

Choquette, Stewart score for Illini

Women's Track & Field May 14, 2017

4x1 Relay Leads Illini on Final Day of B1G Championships

Choquette, Stewart score for Illini

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – The Illinois women's track and field 4x100m relay team scored five points for the Illini on the final day of Big Ten Outdoor Championships, finishing fourth with a time of 45.53. The Illini also received points from Nicole Choquette (6^th/800m) and Jayla Stewart (7^th/100m hurdles) on Sunday, while Kandie Bloch-Jones scored four points in the high jump on Saturday. As a team, the Illini placed 12^th overall.

With Jayla Stewart running the lead leg of the relay, followed by Janile Rogers, Briana Driver and Sade Hargrove, the Illini improved upon their seventh-place ranking entering the meet. The 45.53 time edged out host Penn State (45.68) for the fourth spot on the podium.

"I thought the change we made putting Jayla in on leadoff was comparable," said Head Coach Ron Garner."She's been running well in the hurdles, and has leadoff experience. I don't think we lost much with her there. We just had to deal with some strong winds, and so we adjusted some of our marks. I think we may have gotten a little excited on the third exchange, so that cost us a little bit. It's still an improvement, and I hope they get a chance to advance to the first round of NCAA Prelims because we can run faster than that."

Returning to the track for the 100m hurdles, Jayla Stewart added two more points for the Illini, as the sophomore clocked 13.43 out of lane eight to take seventh place. The podium finish in the high hurdles is the second in as many seasons for Stewart after she took sixth at last year's outdoor meet.

"Jayla's race didn't go exactly the way she wanted, but she's been consistent for us. She's been making Big Ten finals and scoring for us. She'll gain experience from this and be ready to go in two weeks in Austin."

The Illini received their final point-scoring performance on the final day of competition in the 800m from Nicole Choquette. The redshirt junior middle distance runner finished sixth with a time of 2:07.32, edging Penn State's Rachel Banks (2:07.35) at the line.

On Saturday, Kandie Bloch-Jones scored four points for the Illini with a fifth-place finish in the high jump with a height of 5'10" (1.78m). The senior cleared each of her first three bars on the first attempt, and then cleared five feet, 10 inches on her third attempt.

Up next, the Fighting Illini will take those who finish in the top-48 of the West region to Austin, Texas for NCAA West Prelims, May 25-27. The Illini had six performances that ranked in the top-48 entering the weekend.

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Team Scores:

1.Purdue – 133

2.Minnesota – 105.5

3.Penn State – 101

4.Ohio State – 84.5

5.Michigan – 79

6.Nebraska – 76

7.Iowa – 54

8.Indiana – 49

9.Wisconsin – 45

10.Michigan State – 34

11.Maryland – 33