Illinois women finish eighth at NCAA championship – The News-Gazette

EUGENE, Ore. — Rose Yeboah didn’t make it far from the high jump mat before she found herself on her back, arms and legs spread wide, just off the track at Hayward Field.

A moment to gather herself.

Yeboah had just cleared 6 feet, 5 inches to stay alive in Saturday’s high jump final at the NCAA championships. Her third and final attempt at a height just a half-inch below the meet record she set in 2024 when she tied Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko for the national championship.

It was the third time Yeboah had staved off elimination. She also needed three attempts to clear 6-0 1/2 and 6-1 1/2 earlier in the competition.

The third time hit harder. Yeboah let out a celebratory yell after landing on the mat — outdone only by the cheer from the fans in the nearby stands — before a minute of reflection laid out on the ground seemed necessary. 

Neither Yeboah nor Texas Tech’s Temitope Adeshina — both 2024 Olympians — cleared 6-6 1/4 successfully in the next round. Those extra attempts from Yeboah earlier in the competition, while Adeshina didn’t miss at any other height, made the Red Raiders junior the title.

Yeboah’s runner-up finish was Illinois’ best at the NCAA championships and coupled with JaiCieonna Gero-Holt and Meagan Humphries finishing third and fifth, respectively, in the heptathlon saw the Illini rise up the final team standings. Those additional 18 points Saturday gave Illinois an eighth-place finish in a three-way tie with Iowa State and Nebraska.

Gero-Holt put herself in position to challenge for a national championship in the heptathlon by winning the high jump and shot put Friday. Those points helped the Illini redshirt freshman overcome a tougher Saturday that saw her best come in 12th-place finishes in long jump and javelin.

Humphries’ two days were the reverse. The Illinois sophomore won the 200-meter dash Saturday, finished fifth in the long jump and fourth in the 800-meter run. 

Both Gero-Holt and Humphries closed out their two days in Eugene with personal-best point totals. Gero-Holt scored 6,010 points — 172 behind national champion Sofia Cosculluela of Washington — and Humphries scored 6,008 points.

Yeboah, Gero-Holt and Humphries all earned First Team All-American honors Saturday. That gave the Illinois women five total, with Sophia Beckmon placing fourth in the long jump and Jordan Koskondy fifth in the hammer throw Thursday. The Illini men, who tied for 35th as a team, had a pair of All-Americans in Luuk Pelkmans (third, decathlon) and Jacob Cookinham (eighth, shot put).