The Illinois women’s track and field team headed into the weekend with two main goals: earn more regional qualifying marks and prepare for the Big Ten Championships. Although the latter isn’t something easily measured, the team did get qualifying marks.

The team earned 16 regional qualifying marks, won four events, posted 14 season bests and nine personal bests. Among the marks was sophomore Nikkita Holder in the 100-meter hurdles. Her time of 13.53 seconds earned her a third-place finish. Seniors Carlene and Camile Robinson placed first and third in the 400-meter hurdles with times of 57.88 and 58.57 seconds, respectively. Junior Briana Cunningham placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdles at 59.56 seconds, and sophomore Alondra Cooper finished just more than a second later to earn sixth.

Sophomore Omoye Ugiagbe had a personal best in the 400-meter dash at 55.42 seconds, qualifying her for regionals. Freshmen Katie Engel and Angela Bizzari finished first and second, respectively, in the 1500-meter run with times of 4:22.89 and 4:24.23.

With Engel and Bizzari running so well, assistant coach Karen Harvey was concerned that the duo may have had to work harder to keep up their pace.

“(Bizzari and Engel) basically pushed the whole rest of the race themselves,” Harvey said. “They ran more than half of the race pushing it on their own with no competition. I was hoping other runners would show up so they didn’t have to do all the work on their own.”

Engel’s time placed her fourth place all-time in school history in the 1500.

The 3000-meter steeplechase was another event that the team won over the weekend. Freshman walk-on Taylor Bennett was running the event for only the second time in her career. With her father in the crowd, Bennett ran a time of 10:48.47 for a regional-qualifying time.

(The steeplechase) can be a very intimidating event,” Harvey said. “She fell onto the track hard after she hit one of the barriers. She won the race, though; that girl is tough.”

The 4×100-meter relay was also won by the Illini, with a time of 44.63 seconds. The team of junior Tiara Armstrong, junior LaNeisha Waller, Robinson and senior Yvonne Mensah had its season-best time in the event. Head coach Gary Winckler just established the team last weekend at the Kansas Relays, but is impressed by it already.

“That group had really started to gel this week,” Winckler said. “I thought they did a good job (last week in Kansas), and it worked a lot better this week, too. There was good competition here and to be able to go out here and beat them was a real credit to our group.”

The team will have its two-week rest and preparation period before heading to State College, Pa., for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on May 11-13.