The University of Illinois Springfield track and field teams had their first participants at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships on Thursday night in Allendale, Mich. Taryn Christy finished 11th in the women's 10,000m race, and Blake Jones was 13th in the men's 10,000 competition.
 
Christy earned second-team All-American honors after she finished her 17-person race with a time of 34:56.62, just 10 seconds off her school-record qualifying mark. She started off in the back of the race, but made a move up around the 4,000m mark.  Christy moved up five spots in the ninth lap to 11th, and eventually made her way up to eighth. Around the 6,400m mark of the race, she settled into 12th, and stayed in that range until eventually finishing in 11th-place.
 
Jones started off the night for the Prairie Stars in the 14-person men's race, and finished with a time of 30:47.09. He was around the sixth position for the first half of the race, but fell back at that point. Jones passed one runner on the 20th lap, and stayed in 13th-place the rest of the way.
 
Jones will be in action one more time at the national championships when he runs in the 5,000m on Saturday afternoon.