June 5, 2006

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini men's and women's track and field teams travel to Sacramento, Calif., for the 2006 NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, a four-day event that begins Wednesday, June 7 at 12 p.m. CT. Men's head coach Wayne Angel has four athletes competing in four individual events for his squad and women's head coach Gary Winckler's squad is represented by five individuals competing in five events including the 4x400-meter relay.

Illini Men
Senior Abe Jones leads the Illini into California as he looks to have a career performance in the 400-meter hurdles. The senior has already pulled out victories in the event at the Drake Relays (50.37) and the Big Ten Championships (51.11). His best performance of the season came just over a week ago at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in Knoxville with a time of 49.81

Freshman Dominique Worsley will make his NCAA Championship debut when he races in the 200-meter dash. Worsley's top performance in the event this year came in Athens, Ga., at the Spec Towns Invite on April 7 when he recorded a 20.95 to place second overall. The freshman posted a 21.15 in the event at Regionals to qualify for the National meet.

Junior Nathan Vadeboncoeur and sophomore Nick Brown will be the two other representatives for the men's squad at the NCAAs this week. Vadeboncoeur, the Canadian National Champion in the 400-meter run, will compete in the event that he placed seventh overall at the Mideast Regional with a time of 46.77. Brown will compete in the triple jump. His best mark of the season in the event came at the Big Ten Championships with a leap of 15.74-meters, good for a fourth-place finish overall.

Worsley and Vadeboncoeur will kick off the NCAA Championships for the men when they take to the track on Wednesday, June 7 for first round competition in their respective events. Worsley will compete in the 200-meter dash at 7:30 p.m. CT, and Vadeboncoeur's 400-meter race will take place at 8:10 p.m. CT.

Illini Women
Junior Yvonne Mensah heads Illinois' group of five that will be competing at the collegiate championships. Mensah will compete in the 100-meters, the triple jump and the 4x400-meter relay. An All-American in the triple jump during the indoor season, the junior's most impressive performance of the outdoor season came just over a week ago at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships when she set a new meet and school record with a triple jump of 13.45-meters (44-01.50).

Junior sisters, Camile and Carlene Robinson will represent Illinois in the 400-meter hurdles. Camile, the Big Ten Champion in the event posted a season-best 57.01 at the Mideast Regional to place fifth overall. Carlene took seventh in the event with a time of 59.37.

Camile and Carlene Robinson and Mensah will team up with freshman Omoye Ugiagbe to represent the Orange and Blue in the 4x400-meter relay. The team's best relay performance of the year came at regionals with a time of 3:34.21 to finish fourth overall.

Junior distance runner Cassie Hunt rounds out the Illini traveling to Sacramento as she will come in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. At the 2005 NCAA Track and Field Championships, Hunt finished second overall in the event. Her best performance of the season in the steeplechase came at the Big Ten Championships with a time of 10:01.40 to finish second overall. Hunt kicks off the NCAA Championships for the women with the steeplechase semifinal at 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday, June 7.

Television Broadcasts
CSTV will broadcast three hours of competition on Friday, June 9 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. CT. Never before has the next-to-last day of the NCAA Championships been televised live.

CBS will broadcast over two hours of live coverage from 2:30 to 5 p.m. CT on Saturday, June 10, the final day of the four-day collegiate championships.