University of Illinois Athletics

TRACK & FIELD • 1993-96

Tonya Williams was a two-time NCAA champion in the 400-meter hurdles in 1995 and 1996, setting an NCAA Championships meet record of 54.56 in 1996. A 14-time All-American (second-most in Illini women’s track history), she also finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in the 1996 NCAA Championships and third in that event in 1995. Williams also ran on Illinois 4x100-meter relay teams that finished third at both the 1995 and 1996 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was the 1996 Track and Field News Collegiate Athlete of the Year, and her first and second-place finishes at the NCAA Championships in 1996 were the best combo placing ever in the NCAA meet hurdles to that point. Williams won an impressive 20 Big Ten championships, 10 each in individual events and relays, second-most behind fellow Illini Hall-of-Famer Tonja Buford-Bailey. Williams was the Illinois Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year in both 1995 and 1996 and the Big Ten Track and Field Female Athlete of the Year in 1996. She is listed among Illinois’ top five performers in history in the indoor 200m, 600m, 55m hurdles and 4x400m relay, and outdoor in the 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, 4x100m relay, 4x200m relay, 4x400 relay, sprint medley relay and the shuttle hurdle relay. Williams currently resides in Pembroke Pines, Florida.