Feb. 8, 2001

Champaign, IL - Illinois redshirt-freshman Perdita Felicien (Pickering, Ontario/Pine Ridge Secondary School) has been named the Big Ten Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced this afternoon. Felicien earns the award for the second time in three weeks of competition during the 2001 indoor season.

Felicien had two record-setting performances over the weekend, at the Carle/Health Alliance Illini Classic. She broke her own Illinois school record and Armory Track record of 8.20 seconds, winning the finals of the 60 meter hurdles in an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 8.16 seconds. That new personal best performance came an hour after she broke her record the first time with a time of 8.17 seconds (also an automatic qualifying time) in the prelims of the 60 meter hurdles.

Felicien's time of 8.16 seconds is the fastest recorded time in the NCAA this season, and the second-fastest in Big Ten history. She is one of only six freshmen in the nation to have automatically qualified in an event for the NCAA Indoor Championships.