University of Illinois
Big Ten Outdoor Championships
Fighting Illini Women Finish Third At The Big Ten Championships
May 19, 2002 | Women's Track & Field
May 19, 2002
MADISON, Wis. - Jenny Kallur led the Illinois women's team to a third-place overall finish with 93 points by scoring in five events and Bernard Grady earned a bronze medal in the shot put for the men to highlight the final day of competition at the 2002 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Madison, Wis.
Illinois' third-place finish in the women's competition wasn't decided until the final race of the meet. Coming into the 4x400m relay, the Illini and the Badgers were tied at 89 points apiece and the winner between the two schools in the race was going to claim third. The Illini did their job by running a time of 3:45.80 to finish fifth overall in the relay and earn the team's top finish at the Big Ten Championships since 1998. Illinois finished just behind the Michigan Wolverines who won the meet with 109 points and Indiana who finished second with 94.5 points.
The first running event of the day was the men's and women's 4x100m relay where the Illinois women finished second and the men ran to sixth. For the women, it was another outstanding performance as the group of Jenny Kallur, Nicole Whitman, Shanna Pickett and Perdita Felicien turned in their second fastest relay time of the season, 44.37 seconds. Illinois and Indiana ran neck-and-neck most of the way and at the end, the Hoosier's Rachelle Boone was able to edge Felicien at the tape in a time of 44.22 seconds.
For the men, the group of Kendall McCroy, Anthony Moorman, Charles Burton and Josh Fournier finished sixth after running a season-best time of 40.68 seconds. It was a tight race most of the way as the top six teams finished within .43 seconds of each other.
The men got their second scoring performance of the day in the shot put from junior Bernard Grady. Grady, a native of San Diego, Calif., earned his best career finish at the Big Ten Championships after his throw of 58'11.50" propelled him into third. The finish by Grady was the highest for an Illini in the shot put since 1995 when J.D. Teach won the event.
"I threw alright today," Grady said. "I would have liked to go over 60-feet and I think I could have, but it just didn't happen. Overall I am happy that I finished third. It feels good to medal."
In the women's 100m hurdles, Illinois had another strong showing, scoring 23 points in the event, but for the first time this season, Perdita Felicien failed to pick up the win. Felicien finished with an impressive time of 13.00 seconds, but the final hurdle of the race kept her from the victory and possibly the fastest time in NCAA history. After leading the entire race, the junior from Pickering, Ontario, hit the final hurdle and nearly fell, but she was able to regain her balance in time to finish second. Danielle Carruthers of Indiana got the win in a time of 12.68 seconds, which is the fastest time in the country this year and third fastest time in NCAA history. Susanna Kallur finished third in the race with a time of 13.26 seconds, Camee' Williams ran a personal-best time of 13.35 seconds to finish fourth and Jenny Kallur finished fifth with a time of 13.66.
"I felt great for the first-nine hurdles," Felicien said. "I was running the fastest I have ever run before and I think that is why I hit the last hurdle. It came up on me a little faster then I was ready for it to and that's why I clipped it. I am just happy I was able to keep my balance and score for the team. I bruised my heel on the hurdle and it made it tough to run the rest of my races, but I wasn't going to let my team down. We needed the points and I was going to be there. I'll be ready for the NCAA meet in two weeks."
Felicien and Jenny Kallur returned to the track about a half hour later to score for the Illini in the 100m dash. Kallur led the Illinois finishers with a time 11.95 seconds to finish fourth, while Felicien, who ran the race on a severely bruised heel, finished just behind her in fifth in a time of 11.98 seconds.
Jenny Kallur, Felicien and Chequetta Bearfield scored for the Illini in the final sprint of the day, the 200 meters. Again, Kallur led the Illini by finishing fourth with a time of 24.53 seconds, while Felicien finished sixth with a time of 24.84 and Bearfield seventh in a time of 24.99.
For the men, Anthony Moorman got the best Big Ten finish of his career in the 100m dash, running to fifth-place in a time of 10.52 seconds. It was a solid race for the senior who also doubled as a scorer in the 200 meter dash. The senior from Streamwood, Ill., finished fourth in the 200m with a time of 21.18, his third-fastest time of the season.
"It's disappointing for me because I wanted to win both races," Moorman said. "I wanted to run well at my last Big Ten meet. I felt great coming into the day, but I didn't get the times I wanted and needed to finish higher."
The Illini men also got another scoring performance in the sprints from Kendall McCroy. For the second straight season, McCroy scored in the 400m dash by turning in a time of 48.06 seconds to finish eighth.
The Illinois women got two more scoring performances in the 400 meters when Carolyn Estes finished seventh with a time of 57.48 seconds and Nicole Whitman finished eighth with a time of 57.93 seconds. It was a busy morning for Whitman who had to twice leave the triple jump competition in order to participate in the running events. First, Whitman left to run the second leg of the 4x100m relay, helping the Illini to second and then returned to the track for her scoring performance in the quarter mile. In the triple jump, Whitman turned in a personal-best jump of 42'03.50" to finish fourth and score five points for the team.
"It's a little distracting going back and forth between events," Whitman said. "It would be easier to just stick with one event, but we have to do what's best for the team. I am happy about improving my personal best in the triple jump, but I could have jumped further. I am really happy for our 4x100m relay though. We are going to have the chance to go to the NCAA meet in the event and that will be a great experience for all of us."
Estes was equally busy on the day turning in an impressive performance in the 400m hurdles. Estes, who finished fifth in the event in 2001, improved to finish fourth this year with a time of 1:00.50.
Allison Williams turned in one of the top performances of her career to finish seventh in the half mile. Williams ran a time of 2:10.87 to score two points for the Illini and top her personal-best time coming into the meet by nearly five seconds.
Another personal-best performance was achieved by Ade Oshinowo in the discus. Oshinowo used a toss of 161'03.00" to finish sixth and score three points for Illinois. The toss was nearly an eight foot improvement for the senior whose previous best was 153'05.00" coming into the meet and moves her into third on the Illinois performers list in the event.
"I'm very happy that I was able to score today," Oshinowo said. "I didn't throw well in the shot put yesterday and I knew that I needed to come out and score in the discus. I was able to improve a lot in the event and that feels great."
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 Sunday's results, visit the Big Ten Conference website at www.bigten.org.
