May 1, 2007

Champaign, Ill. - Illinois senior Carlene Robinson (Manchester, Jamaica) has been named Big Ten Women's Track Co-Athlete of the Week as announced by the conference office today. This is the first career outdoor weekly award for Robinson, who shares the honor with Penn State's Bridget Franek.

Robinson had an outstanding meet last weekend at the California Collegiate Challenge, winning two events and recording three season's bests as well as three NCAA regional qualifying times. Robinson won the 400m hurdles title in a time of 57.88, which also ranks as the No. 2 time in the Big Ten and No. 11 time in the nation this season. She won a second title at the meet, running the third leg of Illinois' 4x100m relay that placed first with a time 44.63, the fastest time in the Big Ten and No. 19 time in the NCAA this year. Robinson also ran a season's best in a third event, the 400m Dash, to finish fourth in a time of 54.16. That is the No. 4 time in the Big Ten this season.

"Carlene really did well at Cal competing in a difficult combination of events over a short time frame," head coach Gary Winckler said. "She had season's bests in the 400 and 400 hurdles and was also part of the 400 relay that ran our fastest time since 2003. Her performance was certainly the highlight for our team last weekend."

Robinson and the Illini return to the track May 11-13, competing in the 2007 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Penn State.