June 8, 2011
Results
DES MOINES, Iowa - At Drake Stadium on Wednesday, junior Ashley Kelly raced to a personal-best time of 52.71 in the 400m semifinal at the NCAA Championships and advanced to the event final in the eighth and final qualifying spot. The Tortola, British Virgin Islands, native, who competed at nationals in an individual event for the first time, becomes the first Illini to qualify for the NCAA 400m final in 22 years since Celena Mondie-Milner in 1989.
"I am so happy for Ashley," head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. "She ran a personal best and advanced to the final, so you can't ask for anything more from an athlete at the national meet. She has been working so hard this year and can run even faster. She looked awesome on the 4x100m relay, so I knew she was ready to run."
Kelly ran a personal-best mark for the second race in a row after timing 52.95 in the quarterfinals at the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Her time, which ranks third on the Illinois all-time list, was the third quickest in the opening heat of the day and eighth overall in the event. She will run in the event final on Friday night at 7:55 p.m.
In the 4x100m relay, the team of senior Cheria Morgan, Kelly, and seniors Tamika Robinson and Melissa Bates posted its second-fastest time of the season (44.21) and placed 13th overall, which will earn the squad second-team All-America honors under the new USTFCCCA system. The relay placed sixth in the third heat, which featured five of the top-10 times on the day, and wrapped up their season in the semifinal for the second year in a row.
"The 4x100m relay did not run too bad," Buford-Bailey said. "It was a solid performance for that group even though they didn't advance. They were in one of the fastest heats, too."
The Illini will run in three event semifinals at the NCAA Championships on Thursday. Sophomore Stephanie Morgan will begin the action in the 1,500m relay at 6 p.m. followed by Robinson in the 100m hurdles at 6:50 p.m. and senior Chantelle Groenewoud in the 3,000m steeplechase at 7:30 p.m. Full results and a recap can be found on fightingillini.com, and live updates will be made at twitter.com/IlliniTrackXC.
Illinois Wednesday Results at NCAA Championships
Q/q = qualified for NCAA final round
400m (Semifinal)
8. Ashley Kelly 52.71 q
4x100m Relay (Semifinal)
13. Illinois 44.21
(Cheria Morgan, Ashley Kelly, Tamika Robinson, Melissa Bates)
