June 9, 2006

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Fighting Illini men's and women's track and field teams continued competition on Friday at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Sacramento, Calif. as three Illini advanced to Saturday's finals and junior Cassie Hunt place second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final.

After learning about her grandmother's death just hours before start time, junior Cassie Hunt ran one of the most impressive steeplechase performances one may ever see on a track. Hunt, with a heavy heart, managed to pull out the fastest steeplechase time of her extraordinary career (9:55.75), finishing just seconds away from a national title. The performance ranks as the fastest steeplechase in school history and earned her All-American honors.

"She was just incredible," cross country coach and assistant track coach Karen Harvey said. "She made the gutsiest move I have ever seen on a track with 800-meters to go and had it until she chopped the final hurdle. Cassie is a brave girl; not many people could have done what she did today. We are extremely proud of her."

Hunt's remarkable performance captured her squad's first points of the collegiate championships. At the conclusion of day three the Illini women's squad finish tied for 12th with a total of eighth points.

Sophomore Nick Brown and junior Yvonne Mensah both found success in the triple jump event on Friday. Brown, the only member of the Illinois men's squad remaining in the NCAA Championships, jumped a length of 15.61-meters (wind: -1.9) to advance to tomorrow's final. He placed third in his flight and ninth overall.

"Nick has really worked hard," assistant coach Mike Turk said. "He is just starting scratch the surface of his ability, so it's very exciting to watch him. Nick is capable of really great things not only tomorrow, but in the future as well. It's hard to learn on the job, and that's what he has been doing all season long, so it's great to see him have success like this."

Mensah reached the finals in the women's triple jump with a leap of 12.80-meters (wind: 2.0), her third-best jump of the season. The junior finished sixth in her flight and 12th overall.

"All the triple jumpers were struggling today," women's head coach Gary Winckler said. "All Yvonne needed to do was finish in the top 12 to move on to tomorrow's final, and that is exactly what she did. Her legs may have still been tired from yesterday's 4x400 race. She'll be ready to go tomorrow."

The women's semifinal in the 400-meter hurdles saw two impressive performances by the Robinson twins, however only one was good enough to advance to tomorrow's final.

In the first of two heats, junior Camile Robinson recorded a 56.54 to finish fourth (seventh overall). The time was a season-best and helped Camile move onto Saturday's final.

A day after posting a personal-best in the event (56.76), junior Carlene Robinson only managed a 57.66 to finish fourth in her heat and ninth overall, failing to advance to tomorrow's final.

"Camile and Carlene both ran good races today," Winckler said. "It's the first time that I can remember needing a 56 second time to advance to the finals, so it's tough for Carlene. She ran two excellent races this weekend. She put up a career-best yesterday and had the second-best time of her career today, so we are very trilled with her performances.

Brown, Mensah and Camile Robinson will wrap up the 2006 NCAA Championships on Saturday beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT. All results from the three days of competition at the NCAA Championship can be found at: www.flashresults.com.

***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.***