CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Sophomore Chisom Nwoko and graduate student Nicole Choquette each won event titles for the Illinois women's track and field team at the Illini Classic on Saturday afternoon. Choquette won the 600m race, while Nwoko took home top honors in the 200m race with a personal-best performance. In total, the Orange and Blue tallied nine personal-record performances, scoring 140.5 points, as the team placed second to Louisville's 152.5 points. Full results can be found here.
"It's been a tough week with people that are sick, and we had a couple that had to go home for funerals, and this is what I talked about last week in going to Nebraska and trying to get a team to build up some resiliency because things don't always go as well as you want them to," said head coach Mike Turk. "That said, I couldn't be more pleased with the performances across the board. Maybe, as a coaching staff, we could have set ourselves up better to win a meet, but we also have to keep an eye on what's coming up in the next couple weeks. We've got to keep trying to get better, but today will be another stepping stone for us for sure."
Fighting Illini sophomore pole vaulter and sprinter Chisom Nwoko had one of her better meets as an Illini on Saturday afternoon. The Oak Park, Illinois native set personal-record performances in both the vault and the 200m race.
"What a day Chi [Nwoko] had today. She was tremendous in both the pole vault and 200m, setting a personal record in both events," coach Turk said."
After needing three attempts to clear the opening bar of 11'7.75" (3.55m), Nwoko needed just two attempts to soar over the next two heights. Trying to clear a new personal-best height of 12'7.5" (3.85m), Nwoko made it over her fourth bar of the day on her second attempt. Nwoko was one of three Illini to finish in the top-five, as redshirt junior Sara McKeeman took second, also clearing 12'7.5" (3.85m), while freshman Alyssa Morello set a new personal-record in her third collegiate meet with a height of 12'3.5" (3.75m).
Nwoko returned towards the end of the meet to win the 200m dash, setting a new personal-best time of 24.74. The time was more than a second faster than her best time as a freshman last season. Joining Nwoko in setting a new personal-best performance in the event was freshman Amira Aduma who clocked 25.02 in her section of the race.
Adding Illinois second event title of the meet, Nicole Choquette cruised to a win in the 600m race, winning by more than a second over second-place Holly Hankenson (Louisville). Choquette timed 1:32.61, improving on her time from two weeks ago at the Illinois Open.
Joining the two event champions were a handful of runner-up finishes for the Orange and Blue.
In short sprints, the Illini took second and third place in the 60m dash. After junior Briana Driver and freshman Amira Aduma both timed 7.62 in prelims, the Illini duo clocked 7.67 and 7.72, respectively, to finish second and third in the final.
Senior Kortni Smyers-Jones added in another sprints runner-up finish in the 60m hurdles, doing so with a time of 8.69. Freshman teammate Maya Seay lowered her personal-best time in the event for the second straight week by clocking 8.72 in the final.
Aduma and classmate Alexis Jones teamed up for another two Illini in the top-three, this time doing so in the 400m dash. Aduma took runner-up with a time of 57.45, while Jones timed 57.52. For Jones, the time marked a personal-best.
"I was really pleased with the freshmen in the 400m, Alexis Jones and Amira Aduma," said coach Turk. "They've shown tremendous improvement over the last two weeks."
A pair of Illini distance runners added in runner-up finishes of their own in the 800m and mile races. In the 800m, Miranda Marry set a new personal-best time of 2:17.22, while junior Kristian Kladar timed 2:17.66 to take third.
"Both Miranda and Kristina are really learning how to compete and let themselves do some things," said Coach Turk of the two 800m runners. "I see their confidence growing, and that's something we're really working hard with all these athletes right now to do."
In the mile, freshman Caroline Fix clocked 5:07.44 to finish second in the eight-lap mile race.
The Fighting Illini begin their second month of competition next weekend in Lexington, Kentucky at the Rod McCravy Memorial meet on Saturday, February 3. The meet will be streamed live on SEC Network Plus. A subscription to the platform is required to access the stream.
Event Titles:
200m: Chisom Nwoko, 24.74
600m: Nicole Choquette, 1:32.61
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