June 5, 2007
Champaign, Ill. -
Illinois Women's Track Bio Updates for NCAA Championships in PDF Format
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Start lists for the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Complete results for the NCAA Championships will be available at both hornetsports.com and ncaasports.com.
The Fighting Illini women's track & field program has a total of six athletes competing in five events at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, which begin Wednesday, June 6 and conclude Saturday, June 9. This year's NCAA Championships are being hosted by Sacramento State at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex. Representing the UI at the national meet are seniors Yvonne Mensah, Camile Robinson and Carlene Robinson, juniors Tiara Armstrong and LaNeisha Waller and freshman Angela Bizzarri.
Illinois won the 2007 Big Ten Outdoor Championship, marking the 11th conference title overall and sixth outdoors during head coach Gary Winckler's 22-year tenure. The Illini then finished seventh at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, automatically qualifying four athletes to nationals by virtue of top-five finishes. Following regionals, Illinois had an individual and a relay team earn at-large berths, bringing its total of competitors to six for the NCAA meet. Here is a look at the Illini athletes competing this week:
Yvonne Mensah
Sr., Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Triple Jump, 4x100-Meter Relay
Mensah is the most decorated athlete on the current UI squad, winning 15 Big Ten titles and earning three All-America honors during her career. She finished eighth in the 60m hurdles at the 2005 NCAA Indoors, eighth in the triple jump at the 2006 NCAA Indoors and sixth in the long jump at the 2007 NCAA Indoors en route to her All-America accolades.
Mensah has had an outstanding senior season, being named the 2007 Big Ten Field Athlete of the Indoor Championships after winning conference titles in the long jump and triple jump and dominating the Big Ten Outdoor meet, winning four conference titles in the 100m, 200m, triple jump and 4x100m relay in leading Illinois to the team championship.
Mensah posted regional qualifying marks in six events during the regular season, choosing to compete in three events at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships. She automatically qualified for nationals in the triple jump by finishing fourth at the regional meet. Mensah won the Big Ten title with a season's best jump of 42 feet, 6 1/4 inches (12.96m). That mark has her seeded 27th entering the NCAA Championships.
Camile Robinson
Sr., Manchester, Jamaica
400-Meter Hurdles
Camile Robinson is making her fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in her signature event, the 400m hurdles. She earned her first career All-America honors last season, finishing sixth at the 2006 NCAA Outdoors. Robinson was this year's Big Ten runner-up in the 400m hurdles and earned an automatic berth to nationals by finishing third at the NCAA Mideast Regional meet with a season's best time of 56.71. That time has her seeded eighth entering the NCAA Championships.
Carlene Robinson
Sr., Manchester, Jamaica
400-Meter Hurdles, 4x100-Meter Relay
Carlene Robinson is also making her fourth straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, including her second straight in the 400m hurdles. Robinson earned All-America honors at the 2004 NCAA Outdoors, finishing seventh in her previous event, the 800m. Robinson automatically qualified for nationals in the 400m hurdles after placing fourth at the NCAA Mideast Regional meet, tying her personal best time of 56.76. That time has her seeded ninth entering the NCAA Championships.
LaNeisha Waller
Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa
100-Meter Hurdles, 4x100-Meter Relay
Waller is making her first career appearance at the NCAA Outdoor meet. She was the Big Ten runner-up in the 100m hurdles and automatically qualified for nationals after finishing fourth at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, clocking a personal best time of 13.18. That time has her seeded 12th entering the NCAA Championships.
Angela Bizzarri
Fr., Mason, Ohio
1500-Meter Run
After a stellar freshman campaign in cross country, Bizzarri is making waves on the track, earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Outdoor meet in the 1,500m. A 2006 All-American in cross country and the 2006-07 University of Illinois Female Newcomer of the Year, Bizzarri recorded the second fastest 1500m in school history during the prelims of the NCAA Mideast Regional meet, running a personal best time of 4:20.96. That time has her seeded 23rd entering the NCAA Championships.
4x100-METER RELAY
Illinois' 4x100-meter relay team of Tiara Armstrong (Jr., Dayton Ohio), LaNeisha Waller, Carlene Robinson and Yvonne Mensah earned an at-large berth to nationals. The quartet won a Big Ten title in the 4x100m relay and ran a season's best time of 44.63 in winning the event at the California Collegiate Challenge. That time has the UI relay seeded 14th entering the NCAA Championships.
Here is Illinois' schedule this week. All times listed are Central Daylight Time (CDT):
Wednesday, June 6 Season Best Seed
5:20 p.m. 4x100m Relay, Semifinal
Tiara Armstrong, LaNeisha Waller,
Carlene Robinson, Yvonne Mensah 44.63 14th
7:40 p.m. 100m Hurdles, First Round
LaNeisha Waller 13.18 12th
9:25 p.m. 100m Hurdles, Semifinal (Qualifiers)
Thursday, June 7 Season Best Seed
6:30 p.m. 400m Hurdles, First Round
Camile Robinson 56.71 8th
Carlene Robinson 56.76 9th
8:25 p.m. 1500m, Semifinal
Angela Bizzarri 4:20.96 23rd
Friday, June 8 Season Best Seed
5:15 p.m. Triple Jump, Qualifying
Yvonne Mensah 42-6 ¼ 27th
6:40 p.m. 4x100m Relay, Final (Qualifiers)
7:45 p.m. 100m Hurdles, Final (Qualifiers)
8:55 p.m. 400m Hurdles, Semifinal (Qualifiers)
Saturday, June 9
Noon Triple Jump, Final (Qualifiers)
12:12 p.m. 400m Hurdles, Final (Qualifiers)
1:22 p.m. 1500m, Final (Qualifiers)
