University of Illinois
NCAA West Prelims
Illini Women’s Track Season Concludes in Sacramento
May 27, 2018 | Women's Track & Field
Illini 4x100m relay falls shy of NCAA Finals
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Illinois women's track and field's 4x100m relay nearly advanced to its first NCAA Finals appearance since 2016, but fell nine thousandths of a second shy of 12 qualifying relays in 14th place.
Full Results
The relay was Illinois' lone event on the final day of NCAA West Prelims, as the Illini concluded their season on Saturday in Sacramento. Along with the 4x100m relay team of Briana Driver, Sade Hargrove, Emone Davis, Janile Rogers and Amira Aduma were joined by graduate student Nicole Choquette (800m), redshirt junior Sara McKeeman (pole vault), sophomore Chisom Nwoko (400m) and freshman Rebecca Craddock (1500m) in competing this weekend.
"The senior women, especially Sara McKeeman and Nicole Choquette, I can't say enough about the leadership they provided," explained head coach Mike Turk. "Coaching changes, and program changes, can be really difficult, and we're a little short on talent right now, but they really showed a lot of leadership. They were just tremendous all year. What they did this year was lay the foundation for what we're going to do in the coming years. I've talked to them about that, and I've talked to all of our seniors about that, this is going to be their legacy, and it may not look like much now but check back with us in a couple years and you'll see that their spirit is going to carry on. They're tremendous people, they're great competitors, they work really hard and they achieve at a high level. That'll be passed on to the next group."
Running its third sub-45 second relay of the season, the Illini placed sixth in the fastest heat of qualifying. Timing 44.98, the Orange and Blue trailed UNLV (44.89) by 0.09 seconds for the final qualifying spot.
"Our 4x100m relay did a great job," said coach Turk. "We kind of threw that together midseason when we made a change. I think they did the most they could and I'm really proud of them."
Of the five athletes that traveled to Sacramento as part of the 4x100m relay, four will return in 2019 to give the Illini a strong potential of reaching Eugene next season.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini Track and Field, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniMTrack and @IlliniWTrack) and Instagram (@IlliniMTrack and @IlliniWTrack) and like Fighting Illini Men's Track and Field and Fighting Illini Women's Track on Facebook.
Illinois NCAA Prelims Results:
800m First Round:
13. Nicole Choquette, 2:07.30 q
800m Quarterfinal:
17. Nicole Choquette, 2:07.33
4x100m Relay:
14. Driver, Hargrove, Davis, Rogers, 44.98
400m First Round:
41. Chisom Nwoko, 55.25
1500m First Round:
40. Rebecca Craddock, 4:31.72
Pole Vault:
32. Sara McKeeman, 12'4.75" (3.78m)
