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Friday Recap

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Illinois track & field student-athletes had several personal-best and top-10 finishes on the final day of competition at Vanderbilt's Music City Challenge. Redshirt junior Chisom Nwoko led the way with a first-place finish in the women's 400m, timing a season-best finish of 53.83. Sophomore Bret Dannis took second in the men's 60m Hurdles, clocking a personal-best finish of 7.97. Redshirt sophomore Rebecca Craddock ran the fifth-fastest Mile time in program history with her personal-best 4:42.64 finish time, placing her fourth in the event. 

"There was great effort and focus this weekend," said director of track & field/cross country Mike Turk. "Our execution is getting better. We're moving up."

The Illini saw personal-bests by each athlete competing in Saturday's women's Mile. Craddock led the way, finishing fourth at the meet with the fifth-fastest time in school history as she crossed at 4:42.64. Freshman Olivia Howell also finished in the top-10, clocking a new PR finish time of 4:46.02 to place seventh. Senior Grace Rogers timed a personal-best finish of 4:50.37, good for 13th place. In the unseeded section of the Mile earlier in the day, freshman Katie Hohe clocked a new personal-best, timing 5:07.19. 

Illinois finished the day with season-best finish times in both the men's and women's 4x400m relay. The Illini men's relay featuring freshman Jason Thormo, Sophomore Jaden Jackson, freshman Robert Williams and sophomore Declan Rustay timed 3:12.37 to take second. The Illinois women's relay comprised of Nwoko, Howell, senior Felicia Phillips and junior Amira Aduma recorded a finish time of 3:45.16 to place third in the event. 

In the women's 60m Dash, Aduma advanced to the final by timing 7.64, the eighth fastest time in the preliminary heats. In the final Aduma clocked a finish time of 7.59 and placed eighth in the event.

Illinois saw top-10 performances from both Rustay and junior Jason Shannon in the men's 60m Dash, with Rustay timing 6.95 to place ninth and Shannon recording a time of 6.96 to finish 10th. Dannis also set a personal-best in the 60m Dash, recording a time of 6.97 to finish 13th. 

In the men's 400m, Thormo placed in the top-10, timing 48.20 to finish seventh. 

Redshirt junior Carolyn Nye took fourth in today's women's Pole Vault. Nye cleared 13-1 3/4 (4.01 meters) on her first attempt at the height, her second-highest clearance of the season. In the unseeded Pole Vault, redshirt sophomore Alyssa Morello cleared a season-best mark of 11-10 (3.61 meters) to finish fourth in the event. 

Illinois started the day with two PR's and top-10 finishes in the women's unseeded 3K. Junior Caroline Fix timed 9:48.28 to place third, and junior Nicki Cast recorded a time of 9:56.33 to finish eighth. In the men's unseeded 3K, redshirt sophomore Irwin Loud placed third with a personal-best finish time of 8:23.19. 

The Illini had three personal-bests across the 800m races. In the women's 800m, junior Mikaela Lucki clocked 2:11.34 to place 11th, and senior Vanessa Flaherty timed 2:13.33 and finished 18th. In the men's 800m, sophomore Phillip Hall recorded a time of 1:54.43 and finished 14th.    

Up next, the Illini travel to Notre Dame for the Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday, February 22. Competition will begin at 10 a.m. CT.

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