Feb. 23, 2001

Champaign, IL - The University of Illinois women's track & field team travels to West Lafayette, Indiana to compete in the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 24-25. The meet, hosted by Purdue University, will be held at Lambert Fieldhouse. Illlinois got a preview of Purdue's track last weekend, when the team competed at the Fred Wilt Invitational.

This will be the 20th Big Ten Women's Indoor Championships. Only four women's programs have won Big Ten Indoor titles. Here is breakdown of the team championships won by each school:

1. Wisconsin 7

2. Illinois 5

3. Michigan 4

4. Indiana 3

Illinois ranks second behind Wisconsin with its 5 indoor conference titles, all of which have come during Head Coach Gary Winckler's tenure. Illinois' last indoor title came during the 1996 season. Illinois has also finished second indoors three other times. Winckler's success at Illinois has been steady and continuous. In fact, in 15 indoor meets under Winckler, Illinois has finished in the upper half of the conference 13 times.

Here is the scoring breakdown from last year's Big Ten indoor meet:

1. Indiana 150

2. Wisconsin 112

3. Minnesota 80

4. Purdue 78

5. Michigan 77

6. Ohio State 76

7. Illinois 75

8. Penn State 21

9. Michigan St. 18

10. Iowa 15

Leading the way for the Illini is star hurdler Perdita Felicien. Felicien, running her first indoor season of collegiate track, has assaulted the Illinois records book, breaking the school record in the 60 meter hurdles four times. She is ranked second in the Big Ten and second in the nation in the hurdles, owning a time of 8.07 seconds, an NCAA automatic-qualifying time.

Always a powerful sprinting team, Felicien will also run the flat sprints along with senior Aleisha Latimer and sophomore Chequetta Bearfield. Latimer has been Big Ten runner-up in the 60m dash the past two seasons, and is ranked sixth in the conference this year. Bearfield placed in the 60 last year, and will run both the 60 and 200 this weekend.

Illinois has a trio of hurdlers capable of scoring, as junior Camee' Williams and sophomore Crystal Riley join Felicien. All three hurlders rank among the top eight in the Big Ten heading into the championships.

Carolyn Estes and Allison Williams will run the quarter mile, while junior Jordana Meyer will run the 600m, an event in which she placed sixth a year ago.

Freshman Breanna Wabick has been strong in the mile, posting a season's best time of 5:00.70.

Illinois will field one of its deepest groups in the long distance races, as sophomores Cecelia Williams and Amber Hunt and grad. student Elizabeth Kampfe are strong in the 3,000m, while Williams and Kampfe can cover the 5,000m as well. Williams owns the Big Ten's seventh-fastest time in 3K, with Kampfe and Hunt right behind. In the 5K, Williams ranks third while Kampfe ranks fifth.

Illinois is the defending Big Ten champion in the 4x400 meter relay, and will also unveil one of its stronger distance medly relay teams in recent years. Earlier this season, the DMR ran the fifth-fastest time in school history of 11:55.66.

Leading the way in the throwing events is junior Adeoti Oshinowo. Oshinowo placed seventh in the shot put at last year's indoor meet. Earlier this season she broke the school record in the weight throw with a toss of 55 feet, 1-1/2 inches. She ranks in the top ten in the conference in both the shot and weight.

Camee' Williams will high jump in addition to her hurdling duties. Williams owns a season's best jump of 5 feet, 7 inches, ranking sixth in the Big Ten.

In the pole vault, freshman Angela Hilgers will be competing for a scoring spot. She is the Illinois school record holder in the event with a vaul of 11 feet, 5-3/4 inches.

Crystal Riley will participate in both horizontal jumps. She just missed placing in the long jump at last year's outdoor meet, and has set personal bests in both jumps during the indoor season. She is ranked sixth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump heading into this weekend.

Here is the schedule of events for the Big Ten Men's Indoor Championships: (All times Central)

SATURDAY

Pentathlon begins 8:00 a.m.

Pole Vault (trials & finals) 1:00 p.m.

60 Meters (trials) 1:15 p.m.

Shot Put (trials & finals) 1:30 p.m.

60 Meter Hurdles (trials) 1:30 p.m.

Mile (trials) 1:50 p.m.

Long Jump (trials & finals) 2:15 p.m.

400 Meters (trials) 2:15 p.m.

60 Meters (semifinals) 2:35 p.m.

800 Meters (trials) 2:45 p.m.

60 Meter Hurdles (semifinals) 3:10 p.m.

600 Meters (trials) 3:20 p.m.

200 Meters (trials) 3:35 p.m.

3,000 Meters (finals) 4:00 p.m.

Distance Medley Relay (finals) 4:20 p.m.

SUNDAY

Weight Throw (trials & finals) 9:00 a.m.

Triple Jump (trials & finals) 11:45 p.m.

High Jump (trials & finals) 12:00 p.m.

Mile (finals) 12:50 p.m.

400 Meters (finals) 1:00 p.m.

60 Meters (finals) 1:10 p.m.

800 Meters (finals) 1:25 p.m.

60 Meter Hurdles (finals) 1:30 p.m.

600 Meters (finals) 1:40 p.m.

200 Meters (finals) 1:50 p.m.

5,000 Meters (finals) 2:00 p.m.

4x400 Meter Relay (finals) 2:30 p.m.