April 12, 2003

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Illinois men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up competition at the Tom Botts Missouri Invitational with a number of outstanding performances as the Illini competed against men's and women's teams from Missouri, Notre Dame and Iowa State.

The Illini men brought home three NCAA Regional qualifying performances on Saturday led by the effort of senior pole vaulter Marty Keifer. The Sugar Grove, Ill., native jumped a career best 17'01.00" to handily win his event and stamp his ticket to the NCAA Regional on May 30-31 in Columbus, Ohio. Keifer, who finished second at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, continues to be outstanding as he moved into tenth on the all-time Illinois pole vaulting chart.

The next Regional qualifying performance was turned in by freshman Andre English in the 110 meter high hurdles. Already being singled out by the coaching staff for his early-season efforts, English ran a career-best time of 14.39 seconds to finish second overall and qualify for the NCAA Regional that will be held in his home state of Ohio. The Dayton, Ohio, native was also solid in the 200 meters as he finished second with a time of 21.46 seconds.

"Andre is the spark of the team right now," assistant coach Erin Tucker said. "He's running very well right now and that's because of his competitiveness. In his hurdle race, he was in lane seven and the guy who won was in lane three. When Andre saw him, he took off and nearly won the race. He's leading by example for this team right now."

The third Regional-qualifying performance was registered by senior Bernard Grady in the shot put. Although he qualified for the meet after a throw of 56'11.50" at the Florida Relays on March 30, Grady was again steady today as he finished second with a throw of 55'03.50". Finishing behind Grady was sophomore Kurt Glesne who had a career-best throw of 50'10.25" to finish fifth.

The two also competed in the discus where Grady was again the top Illini finisher. The San Diego, Calif., native had a career-best throw of 162'09.00" to finish fifth, while Glesne finished sixth with a distance of 162'08.00".

In the distance events, Justin Mitchell and Adam Palumbo led the Illini in the 5,000 meters as the duo finished first and second respectively. Mitchell, a native of Geneva, Ill., handily won the race in a time of 14:53.64, while the Elmhurst, Ill., product Palumbo, finished second in 15:00.01.

Illinois' distance success continued in the 3,000-meter steeplechase where John Kronforst finished second overall with a time of 9:18.10. That time by the senior was dramatic improvement over the 9:24.97 he ran March 30 at the Florida Relays. Freshman Jon Houseworth also competed in the steeplechase finishing fifth overall with a career-best time of 9:29.30.

Another Illini competitor performing well the last two weeks has been redshirt freshman Aaron King. After standing out in the 4x800 meter relay last weekend at the Texas Relays, King was again solid as he finished fifth in the 800 meters with a career-best time of 1:51.37. Following King were freshmen Tre` Smith who was sixth (1:51.91) and Jimmy Kinn (1:53.02) who was seventh.

In the jumping events, Charles Burton claimed the triple jump title with a distance of 48'04.00", despite competing in poor jumping conditions. Burton and Jamaal Folks also saw action in the long jump, where the duo claimed second and third respectively. Burton jumped 23'01.50" to finish just ahead of the freshman Folks who finished with a distance of 23'00.00".

"We had a some very good performances today," head coach Gary Wieneke said. "Of course Marty's jump in the pole vault was outstanding. He's been steady as a rock all season long for us and Andre' English is a great competitor. He ran well today and he's going to keep getting better. And of course Aaron King continues to step up for us in the 800 meters. So we obviously had some good things happen for us this weekend."

Despite competing in its first meet of the season, the Illinois women's team also had a number of outstanding performances led by senior Chequetta Bearfield and the 4x100 meter relay team.

After an outstanding indoor season that saw her ranked among the top sprinters all-season long, Bearfield picked up where she left off, running an outstanding season-opening time of 11.60 seconds to win the 100 meters. That time by the Omaha, Neb., native qualified her for the NCAA Regional meet and was nearly a career-best time. Bearfield was also key for the Illini in the 4x100 meter relay where Illini cruised to an easy victory in a time of 44.90 seconds to also qualify for the NCAA Regional.

The Illini also won the 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:53.10. Illinois was able to outlast Iowa State who finished in 3:53.56 to get the win.

In the 400 meters, Laura Gerke and Shanna Pickett finished second and third respectively for the Illini. Each runner turned in career-best times as Gerke finished in 56.93 seconds, while Pickett turned in a time of 56.95.

In the distance events, the Illini women got solid efforts from Celi Dietzen and Amber Hunt in the 5,000 meters. Dietzen ran a season-opening time of 17:23.84 to finish second overall, while Hunt finished in 17:43.86 to place fourth.

In the field, senior Nicole Whitman won the triple jump with a distance of 41'02.50", while senior Tracy Moss finished second in the discus with a distance of 146'03.00".

"Overall I am happy with the way we performed today," Gary Winckler said. "We had a number of solid performances. A thought Chequetta (Bearfield) ran well today. That's a great opening time for her, but she ran well during the indoor season as well. We have something to build on for next weekend and I think this team will continue to get better as we go along."

The Illini women return to action next weekend when they travel to California to take part in a pair of meets. Illinois will compete at the Pamona Pitzer Invitational in Claremont, Calif., on April 18 and then the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., on April 19.

###GO ILLINI###