University of Illinois
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Felicien Defends Big Ten 60-Meter Hurdle Title
March 2, 2003 | Women's Track & Field
March 2, 2003
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Perdita Felicien can check the first accomplishment off her 2003 track and field "to-do list" as she successfully defended her 60-meter hurdle championship during Sunday's final day of action at the 2003 Big Ten Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Despite facing Big Ten rival Danielle Carruthers on her home track, Felicien ran a confident, clean race to finish with a time of 8.02 seconds and pick up her second consecutive Big Ten Indoor championship in the 60-meter hurdles.
"I really thought Perdita would have a tough one being on Danielle's home track, but she took control of the race and never looked back," head coach Gary Winckler said. "It was classical Perdita Felicien. As far as I could tell, she never really felt pressured during the race it didn't seem like the race was as close as the times would indicate."
Illinois also boasted the fifth-place finisher in the hurdles as Crystal Riley ran a time of 8.53 seconds to earn four points for the Illini. On Saturday, Riley ran a career-best time of 8.37 seconds to qualify for today's finale`.
Illinois also scored valuable points in the 60 meters as Nicole Whitman, Chequetta Bearfield and Perdita Felicien each finished among the top eight. Whitman led the charge by finishing fourth with a time of 7.44 seconds, while Bearfield was sixth (7.47) and Felicien was seventh (7.51).
While Whitman earned five points for Illinois in the 60-meter dash, her appearance in the race may have been costly. While competing in the 60-meter final, Whitman missed out on her fifth attempt in the triple jump, an event that she ranks second nationally in. Whitman still finished third in the triple jump overall, but only got five attempts in the event opposed to the six by her opponents.
"Nicole had a little bit of trouble getting on the board during her first couple of jumps and that, combined with running the 60 meters, can really throw you out of your rhythm," Winckler said. "Her best jump came on her final attempt and it would have been nice to have had that extra jump, but Nicole was really our workhorse today. She scored 15.5 points today and that's the effort we are looking for."
Four of those 15.5 points came in 200 meters where she finished fifth in a time of 24.57 seconds. She was joined by sophomore Shanna Pickett who finished sixth with a time of 24.67 seconds. Senior Chequetta Bearfield also competed in the finals of the 200 meters, but was unable to compete at her top level because of a reoccurring ankle injury.
The Illini also got solid efforts in the middle distance events as senior Allison Williams finished fifth in the 800 meters with a career-best time of 2:11.97 and freshman Natalie Young finished fifth in the 600 meters with a time of 1:33.69.
"I thought at one point Allison was going to be third, but she started her kick a little too late and couldn't catch the last-two runners," Winckler said. "Natalie just ran a smart race in the 600 meters. It was harder to make the finals of this race this year, than it has been in the past. I was real proud of her effort today."
While Illinois finished sixth in the team standings, the finish was nearly much better. Illinois stood in fourth entering the final event, the 4x400-meter relay. The Illini finished seventh in that race, allowing Wisconsin and Ohio State to slip ahead in the final standings, pushing Illinois back to sixth.
"I can't say I'm happy with the meet right now," Winckler said. "We went from fourth to sixth-place after that final race and it should have never come to that. However, we had some people step up this weekend and that's what you want to see. You want people competing at their best during this time of year and we had some people do that this weekend.
# Illinois #
