The Illinois women’s track and field team completed a successful weekend at the outdoor Big Ten Championships, finishing the competition in second place with a combined total of 120 points. 

The team had several individuals compete for a title, qualifying 17 athletes in eight events on the final day. The Illini came away with champions in the pole vault, 800, 400 and 200-meter dashes and a number of second and third placed finishes.

“Overall the team performed really well,” head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. “We had some ups and downs but it averaged itself out and although we wanted to win, we’re happy with our performance.”

The tournament began for the Illini with senior distance runner Courtney Yaeger’s performance in the 10,000 meters. Yaeger broke the school record with a time of 34 minutes, 17.37 seconds and parlayed that to a third-place finish.

The Illini had two multi-event athletes compete in the heptathlon with seniors Marissa Golliday and Kristin Morrison wielding the torch with personal bests. Morrison finished the weekend in seventh with 4,943 combined points while Golliday ended her Big Ten career with a third-place finish and 5,305 points, the second-best point total in school history.

“Kristin fought hard the whole way, even down to the final 800,” Buford-Bailey said. “Marissa was able to get the second-best time in school history which is amazing. For both of them to go out like that, as seniors, is really something special.”

In the pole vault, the Illini received a major boost to their Big Ten title aspirations with 17 points coming in this event. Illinois sent senior Elizabeth Eitzen, freshman Jennifer DeBellis and junior Stephanie Richartz as representatives and all put forth performances worthy of a place at the regional championships. DeBellis finished sixth overall with a personal best of 3.92 meters and Eitzen finished a spot above her in fifth with an identical 3.92 meter vault. After a mid-season slump, Richartz recovered in time to defend her Big Ten Outdoor Championship title with a mark of 4.27 meters. Buford-Bailey said it was a pleasant surprise for the pole vault group to put forth such a performance.

“Stephanie always comes alive on the big stage so I’m really pleased with her performance,” Buford-Bailey said.

On the track, sophomore sprinter Ashley Spencer distanced herself from the field, retaining her title in the 200 and 400. She was also part of the 1600-meter relay team that finished first and the 400-meter relay team that ended up in second place.

“I was happy to win the titles but I’m really not happy with my times,” Spencer said. “I (earned a personal best) in the 400 and while that was good, I wanted to do better. I’m still happy I was able to get the titles and points for my team.”

“It’s so exciting as a coach to an athlete like that on your team,” Buford-Bailey added. “For example, we were down in the 4×4 going into the anchor but I thought to myself ‘Relax, they are passing it off to Ashley.’ Words can’t even describe how much of an impact she makes for the team.”

The single event with the greatest triumph for the team was the 800-meter race. The team had juniors Amanda Duvendack, Ahlivia Spencer and Samantha Murphy all compete in this distance and they finished fifth, third and first respectively. Murphy turned in a lifetime best and school second best time of 2:05.04 in the preliminaries and although she suffered approximately a one-second drop in the finals, she was still able to win the event.

“It was amazing to watch,” Buford-Bailey said about the 800-meter final. “For Samantha, it was nice to see her get it because she has worked hard and she deserves it. We had a double indoors which was really hard and I think it kind of sacrificed her chances there. I know she wanted that title so bad but for her to go out there and win today is really huge.”

Illinois will now practice for the NCAA West preliminary round two weeks from now. Performances this season had indicated them as favorites to win Big Ten Championships, and although they didn’t win Sunday, the Illini are not hanging their heads.

“Everybody on the team did a really good job this weekend but sometimes things just don’t work out,” sprinter Morolake Akinosun said. “We’ll train hard and prepare like we always do, and we’ll be ready for regionals, and I know personally, I’ll perform better.”

Lanre can be reached at [email protected] and @writerlanre.