April 6, 2002

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Perdita Felicien and Susanna Kallur became the first Illinois athletes to turn in NCAA automatic-qualifying performances this season as they claimed the top-two spots in the 100m hurdles at the 75th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas.

On the men's side, Jason Van Swol (800m), Nick Gow (1,500m), Marty Keifer (pole vault) and the 4x400m relay all won event titles to help Illinois to a third-place finish at the Clemson Invitational in Clemson, S.C.

It was a dominating performance for Felicien, who sprinted to a time of 12.90 seconds to win the race ahead of Kallur. In addition to being the fastest time run by a collegiate this season, the Pickering, Ontario, native now owns the world's fastest 100m hurdle time in 2002. The performance also established a new Texas Relay meet record breaking the time of 12.92 seconds run by Dawn Bowles of LSU in 1992.

Finishing just behind Felicien was Susanna Kallur with a time of 13.07 seconds. That performance also earned her an automatic trip to the NCAA meet and gives the sophomore from Falun, Sweden, the nation's third-fastest hurdle performance this season.

Jenny Kallur and Camee' Williams also performed for the Illini in the finals of the 100m hurdles. Kallur sprinted to her second provisional-qualifying mark in as many races as she was clocked with a time of 13.54 seconds to finish fifth overall, just ahead of Williams. Williams rounded out the Illinois dominance in the event as she finished sixth overall in a time of 13.64 seconds.

"I think we were all a little surprised by the times because the weather condition here were a little cool and it had been raining off and on," head coach Gary Winckler said. "But obviously we ran well and I don't know if we expected this since we have only been practicing outside for a week. A year ago at this time we had been outside for about three weeks, but with the weather recently, that just hasn't been possible. The field was a very tough one and when you compete against people that are this good your times are going to be faster."

In the field events, Nicole Whitman turned in another strong performance as she finished fifth overall in the triple with a distance of 42'01.25". The distance by the junior was just shy of her personal-best 42'02.00" set last weekend, but still ties Dawn Riley for the fourth longest jump in Illinois history. The distance is also an NCAA provisional-qualifying performance.

"Overall, I thought it was a good week," Winckler said. "Nicole did a good job for us in the triple jump as did Crystal Riley yesterday. Camee' did a nice job in the high jump and I was happy with how are group ran in the 4x800m relay. We still have some work to do, but we did a nice job."

It was another solid meet for the Illinois men, as Van Swol, Gow, Keifer and the 4x400m relay team paced the Illini with event victories.

It was the first 800m victory of the season for Van Swol who continues to impress as he begins his quest for a third Big Ten Championship in the 800m. The Frankfort, Ill., native finished with a time of 1:50.70 to win the race by nearly two seconds.

"Jason is back," assistant coach Erin Tucker said. "He has run great for us the last couple of meets now and he is running with a sense of urgency. He got out right away in his race and never looked back. He was also big for us in the 4x400m relay. He was our last leg and we were in second when he got the baton. He did what he had to do to win the race."

Van Swol's effort helped the 4x400m relay team to edge out the host Clemson Tigers as the group finished with a time of 3:12.48 seconds.

Nick Gow also got his first win of the season, but he had to hold of a teammate in the process. Gow won the 1,500m run in a personal-best time of 3:50.69 and held off teammate Tim Hobbs who finished second in a time of 3:51.51.

In the field events, Marty Keifer earned his first outdoor victory of the season. Keifer, a junior from Sugar Grove, Ill., won the pole vault with a jump of 16'02.75", his best mark of the year. Freshman standout Josh Fourier also turned in his best performance of the season in the long jump. The former high school national champion used a jump of 23'05.50" to finish second overall in the event.

In the sprints, Illinois got solid outings from both Anthony Moorman and Kendall McCroy. Moorman finished second and third in the 100m and 200m dashes respectively and did it with season-best times in each event. Moorman's time of 10.61 seconds in the 100m dash set a personal-best mark, while his time of 20.94 seconds in the 200m established his best mark of the season.

It was a busy day for the Peru, Ind., native McCroy as he ran the 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay races for the Illini. In addition to running the opening leg of the victorious 4x400m relay team, McCroy earned a second place finish in the 400m dash in a time of 47.60 seconds.

###Illinois###