Stephanie Richartz won the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championship in pole vault this weekend when she competed with the team in East Lansing, Michigan.

She cleared 4.37 meters to win the meet, setting a new Big Ten Outdoor meet record and breaking her own school record.

Richartz said she is excited about her accomplishments this weekend but is emotional thinking about it coming to a close. Being a senior at Illinois, her undergraduate academic career came to an end this weekend as well.

“It was kind of sad to miss the symbolic graduation, walking across the stage, but I couldn’t be happier to walk across the stage that I did instead,” Richartz said.

Although her time on the team is up, she said she is proud of the legacy that will continue when she leaves. In particular, she mentioned junior Jennifer DeBellis.

DeBellis tied for seventh this weekend, clearing 4.02 M.

On the track, senior Alyssa Schneider placed 10th, running a 35:47.76 in the 10,000 M and eighth in the 5,000 M at 16:38.96.

Fellow senior Amanda Duvendack finished third in the 800 M at 2:06.16.

Freshman Jasmine Berry also claimed a top-10 place for the Illini. She finished eighth in the 400 M hurdles at 1:05.03.

In the 400 M relay, sophomore Nicole Choquette, freshman Pedrya Seymour, freshman Miranda Marry and Duvendack finished seventh at 3:40.36.

Sophomore Kandie Bloch-Jones placed fifth in high jump, clearing 1.76 M.

Senior Mariah Smith finished eighth in discus, throwing 49.55 M.

Overall, the team placed 11th.

[email protected]