April 19, 2008
Complete Results
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Senior Briana Cunningham gave the Illinois women's track and field team its second title of the weekend, winning the 400m hurdles on Saturday at the Kansas Relays. The Illini totaled six NCAA regional qualifying marks on the meet's final day of competition.
Cunningham ran 59.15 seconds in the finals to continue her outdoor tear in the event. The senior has posted an NCAA regional mark every time she has ran the 400m hurdles this season and owns the top time in the Big Ten (59.00). She joined the shuttle hurdle relay as Illini event champions, as the squad of Nikkita Holder, Tamika Robinson, Jessica Penney and LaNeisha Waller took home first place on Friday.
"We had a good meet considering there was some rough weather yesterday," head coach Gary Winckler said. "Today we had some good marks and it was great to see our hurdlers perform well. Overall, it was a successful meet."
Illinois continued to post solid hurdles performances as Waller finished as the top collegiate athlete in the invitational section of the 100m hurdles. The senior finished sixth overall with a time of 13.30. In the college section of the 100m hurdles, Holder timed 13.78 to take third.
Penney also ran in the 100m hurdles finals, posting a personal-best time of 14.16 in event preliminaries. More impressive, however, was the New Zealand native's performance in the long jump. Penney recorded the Illini's best distance of the year, marking 20 feet, 2 ½ inches to take sixth and improve her NCAA regional qualifying jump.
Freshman Danelle Woods earned an NCAA regional mark for the first time in the 1,500m, timing 4:26.64 in the event. Woods now has qualified for the regional championships in two events after doing so in the 3,000m steeplechase last weekend at Arizona State.
Senior Tiara Armstrong ran a season-best 11.70 in the 100m, finishing fifth in finals. Freshmen Cheria Morgan (11.91) and Analisa Austin (12.09) finished ninth and 10th, respectively, in the 100m with wind-aided times.
The Illlini 4x200m relay of Armstrong, freshman Melissa Bates, Morgan and junior Omoye Ugiagbe was third in 1:36.12, while senior Rachel Hernandez was sixth in the invitational section of the 800m (2:09.93).
Next weekend, the Illini will compete at the California Collegiate Challenge in Berkeley, Calif. on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26.
