May 18, 2002

MADISON, Wis. - Perdita Felicien led the Illinois women's onslaught in the sprinting events and freshman Kurt Glesne scored for the Illinois men in the discus as the track teams completed day two of action at the 2002 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the Madison, Wis.

Felicien qualified for Sunday's finals in the 100m dash, 200m dash, 100m hurdles and anchored the 4x100m relay team to the fastest preliminary time of the Championships.

The first event was the 4x100m relay where the group of Jenny Kallur, Nicole Whitman, Shanna Pickett and Felicien ran to a season-best time of 44.26 seconds. In addition to being the fastest time of the prelims, it also provisionally qualified the group for the NCAA National Championships and should be enough to get the group to Baton Rouge, La., in two weeks.

The next event was the 100m hurdles where Illinois' talented group exerted their dominance. Felicien, Jenny Kallur and Camee' Williams were the top three finishers in the first heat after two of the three ran season-best times. Felicien's time of 12.83 seconds is the fastest of the year for the junior and is also the fastest time in the collegiate ranks this season. The time is also the third fastest in the world in 2002. Jenny Kallur's time of 13.42 is also a season best and should be enough to get the sophomore qualified for the NCAA meet in two weeks. Williams, who earlier in the day finished second in the Heptathlon, finished third in the heat, but still finished with a provisional-qualifying mark of 13.51 seconds.

"My goal was to make the finals in each of those events and I did," Felicien said. "It'll be a busy day tomorrow, but I've been preparing for this. I was in a lot of events at Drake with this meet in mind, so I think I'm ready. I think we are all ready. We did our job today and now we have to do it tomorrow. We need to score some big points, but we put ourselves in position to do it."

Susanna Kallur completed the Illinois sweep of the preliminaries after winning the second heat in a time of 12.94 seconds. That time is the fastest of the season for the sophomore and is the second fastest mark in the collegiate ranks this season.

The next event was the 100m dash where both Felicien and Jenny Kallur qualified for Sunday's finale. Felicien ran a season-best time of 11.73 seconds, while Kallur turned in a time of 11.79 seconds. Felicien and Jenny Kallur will also meet up in the 200m final after each ran season-best times in the event. Felicien finished second in her heat with a career-best time of 24.21 seconds, while Kallur finished with a time of 23.95 seconds. Chequetta Bearfield will be the third Illinois participant in the race after she qualified with a time of 24.48 seconds.

Bearfield was also busy for the Illini in the long jump where she and teammate Crystal Riley both turned in season-best performances to score valuable points for Illinois in the event. Riley had a career-best leap of 19'08.00" to place in third, while Bearfield finished seventh overall with a jump of 19'00.75".

Illinois will also be represented in the 400m dash, where both Nicole Whitman and Carolyn Estes qualified for the finals. Whitman ran a career-best time of 55.70 seconds, while Estes turned in a season-best time of 56.47. Estes will also be in the finals of the 400m hurdles where she turned in the fourth-fastest time of the prelims, 1:00.80.

While she qualified for the finals of the 100m hurdles, Camee' Williams did most of her work earlier in the morning as she finished second in the Heptathlon with a career-best point total of 5,268. Williams' highlight of the day came in the long jump where she had a leap of 6.10 meters to score 880 points to second the second place showing. The total also provisionally qualified the senior for the NCAA Championships.

For the men, freshman Kurt Glesne came through with Illinois' first points of the meet as he finished fifth in the discus. Despite throwing in tough conditions, the Pekin, Ill., native had a toss of 162'08.00" to score four points for the Illini.

"It's a good feeling to be able to score for the team," Glesne said. "I was a little nervous at the start, but after the first throw, it was just another meet. The wind was behind our back, so that kind of pushed the discus down and we weren't able to get off some big throws. But we all had to compete in the same condition and I am happy with where I placed."

Anthony Moorman also had a good day as he qualified for the finals of the 100 and 200-meter dashes thanks to career-best times in each event. Moorman finished second in his heat of the 100m dash with a time 10.45 seconds, the fastest time of his career and is in position to win Illinois' first 100m title since 1994. The senior from Streamwood, Ill., later returned to the track to record another personal-best time in the 200m, turning in a time of 20.90 seconds, the third fastest time of the prelims.

"I got into the finals of each event and that's what I wanted to do," Moorman said. "I'm really not that happy with my times, but I think they will improve tomorrow. I had a bad start in the 100 meters. I didn't react to the gun very well and that cost me. But I think I will be fine tomorrow."

Moorman also led Illinois into the finals of the 4x100m relay thanks to a strong second leg of the relay. The group of Kendall McCroy, Moorman, Charles Burton and Josh Fournier turned in a season-best time of 40.81 seconds to move into Sunday's finale.

In addition to running the opening leg of Sunday's 4x100m relay, McCroy will be a part of the 400m final after running a preliminary time of 47.81 seconds.

Nick Gow was another strong performer for Illinois on Saturday. Gow qualified for the finals of the 1,500m run after finishing with the second-fastest time of the prelims, 3:53.11.

"I felt good during the race," Gow said. "Ideally, I didn't want to take the lead until the end of the race, but I really wanted to pick up the pace so that's why I got up to the front. It's going to be tough tomorrow and I'll have to run a smart race. There is a lot of talent in the 1,500m field tomorrow and anyone could win it. I just want to run my race and be in a good position when we get to the final lap."

The Big Ten Outdoor Championships conclude tomorrow with the women's triple jump at 11:40 a.m. and the men's shot put at 12:30 p.m.

For more information on the Illinois men's and women's track and field programs, please visit our website at www.fightingillini.com. For a complete listing of Friday's results, visit www.bigten.org.