May 13, 2006

EAST LANSING, Mich. - With the weather continuing to place a major factor in all of the events at the 2006 Big Ten Track and Field Championships in East Lansing, Mich. head coach Gary Winckler's Fighting Illini remained focused to pull off a successful second day of competition. Highlighting the day for the Orange and Blue was a first-place finish by Yvonne Mensah in the long jump.

After the conclusion of day two, Illinois is fifth overall with a total of 26.66 team points. Minnesota leads the league with 96.50 points, Michigan is second with 47.66 points and Purdue (36.33) and Penn State (31) are third and fourth. On the day, the Illini had a total of three individuals with point-scoring performances and nine qualifications for tomorrow's finals.

Coach Winckler feels that day two of the conference championships went well for his squad and expects another strong day of performances tomorrow.

"Looking back at today, it looks like we got most of what we thought we would get done," Winckler said. "We didn't qualify anyone in the 200-meters and Carlene (Robinson) not qualifying in the 400-meters, those were probably our disappointments for the day. In terms of everything else, we did a good job of getting everyone to the finals."

Just as she did throughout the entire indoor and outdoor season, Mensah dominated the long jump event helping the Illini secure 10 team points. Her regional-qualifying performance of 6.21-meters (20-04.50) (Wind aided 0.9) topped the field and was good for the Orange and Blue's second medal performance of the championships.

Winckler was satisfied with Mensah's performance in the long jump and hopes to see another strong performance from her in tomorrow's triple jump.

"Yvonne had a nice performance in the long jump today," Winckler said. "She had to work hard to get that. It was a long, cold wet afternoon. The triple jump is going to be another real competitive event. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little drier and warmer. The trouble with being out on a cold, wet day like today is that you may feel cold and stiff tomorrow. Hopefully Yvonne will feel alright."

Mensah posted another strong performance in the 100-meter prelims as she qualified for tomorrow's final with a regional-qualifying time of 11.64. The time led her heat and was good for a second-place finish overall.

The Illini secured an additional qualification in the 400-meter prelim from freshman Omoye Ugiagbe. Ugiagbe's time of 55.75 was good to place seventh overall

Sophomore Mariesa Green helped the Illini gather two more team points from the field events with a seventh-place showing in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 42.81-meters (140-05).

The Illini had much success in the hurdle events as they qualified for four positions in tomorrow's finals.

Junior Camile Robinson posted regional qualifying marks in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdle prelims to advance her to tomorrow's finals. Robinson's 13.63 (Wind aided 0.9) was good for a first-place finish in her 100-meter hurdle heat and a second-place finish overall. Her time of 59.02 in the 400-meter hurdle prelim topped all performances in the event on the day.

Sophomore Tiffany Nesfield also qualified for the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.97. She took second in her heat and sixth overall in the prelim competition.

Junior Carlene Robinson qualified in the 400-meter hurdles with a third-place finish overall as she posted a regional qualifying time of 59.83. The time was good for a first-place finish in her heat and a third-place finish overall.

Freshman Briana Cunningham placed third in her heat and seventh overall in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 61.11 to qualify for tomorrow's final. The race was Cunningham's first 400-meter hurdle race of her career.

The lone relay race of the day saw sophomore Tiara Armstrong, Mensah, Camile Robinson and sophomore LaNeisha Waller post a qualifying time of 45.67 in the 4x100 prelims. The time was good to place second in their heat and third overall.

In the distance events, sophomore Stephanie Simms and senior Jaime Turilli both recorded qualifying performances in the 1,500-meter run. Simms placed second in her heat with a time of 4:40.30. Turilli placed third in her heat with a time of 4:31.83.

The final event of day two saw junior Cassie Hunt try to defend her conference title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Hunt dominated the entire race until the final blockade on the final turn of the race. Minnesota's Emily Brown slid past Hunt in the final 50 meters to win the race and to break the Big Ten Championship steeplechase record of 10:12.26 (Amber Ferner, Purdue, 2004). Hunt went on to record an impressive 10:01.40.

On Sunday, May 14 the 2006 Big Ten Championship Meet continues at 11:40 a.m. with the women's triple jump. All results from today's competition can be found on www.bigten.org.