It was pretty much what everyone expected.

The Illinois women’s track and field team completed an impressive season that matched its talent level and provided a repeat individual national champion. The team had a total of 15 school records broken this year as well as winning a Big Ten indoor title.

“We got a lot of things accomplished,” head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. “Everybody performed well, and we pushed hard. We have just tried to come out of each meet with success, and that’s what we’ve done so far.”

The team competed in seven meets during the indoor season and showed their potential from the very first meet. Illinois won the Illini Classic which they hosted with an impressive 241.5 team points. The Illini won a whopping 11 of 16 events at the meet in a dominant team performance.

They continued this form through a couple of ‘non-team scored’ meets and all the way to the Big Ten Championships. At the conference meet, the Illini won five individual events and the 1600-meter relay.

Pole-vaulter Stephanie Richartz claimed her first conference title on the first day of the meet with a schoolrecord 4.25 meter vault. She was joined on the second day by Breeana Coleman who won the 60-meter hurdles, ahead of Jesica Ejesieme, who finished in third place.

Morolake Akinosun won the 100 meter dash and came in second place in the 200 meters. Akinosun was bested by teammate Ashley Spencer in the 200, and the 12-time Big Ten champion claimed another crown in the 400 meter dash. 

Samantha Murphy pitched in with valuable points, coming in second and third in the 600-meter and 800-meter finals respectively. Illinois put forth an impressive 115-point team total to claim the conference title for the first time since 1996.

The team then moved on to the indoor NCAA Championship with a load of optimism. Although they had no national champions at the end of the weekend, the Illini had four All-Americans named on the final day of the meet. Illinois had a total of 14 team points to finish as the 14th-best women’s team in the nation.

Illinois had a more hectic schedule in the outdoor circuit, competing in 11 meets in approximately three months. 

Earning wins with its relay squads at the prestigious Texas Relays, Sun Angel Classic and LSU Alumni Gold meets, Illinois went into the Drake Relays with a goal of capturing the Hy-Vee Cup, a trophy that amalgamates team performances in five relays to select a team winner. Illinois won three of those relays (sprint medley, 400-meter, 1,600-meter) and claimed 42 out of 50 possible points to outclass the Drake field and win the trophy.

Next up on the team’s to-do list was the outdoor Big Ten meet. Richartz, Spencer and Murphy were all crowned Big Ten champions in their individual events. Spencer did double duty in the 200 and 400 and she was also part of the 1600-meter relay team that won the conference title. Spencer also joined the 400 relay crew in a second place finish. In total, the Illini had five Big Ten crowns but fell short of the conference indoor-outdoor team double. The team finished the meet in second place with 120 points.

After qualifying seven athletes at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, the next step for the team was the national championships. The team earned nine All-American honors at nationals and broke a school record four times during the meet. 

The Illini’s performance at the meet was headlined by Spencer’s lifetime best performance to defend her national title in the 400. The team earned 22 points at this meet for an identical 14th-place finish.

Buford-Bailey’s squad boasts promise in the form of its incoming recruiting class that Illini fans can get excited about.

“I feel like we have a really strong team,” Buford-Bailey said. “The team we have going is pretty good and with a few more people, we can be just as strong or better. We have a couple of kids that are signed coming into the distance area and the hurdles. I think they’re really going to strengthen the team.”

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