May 27, 2011

Results

EUGENE, Ore. - Senior Chantelle Groenewoud (3,000m steeplechase) and junior Ashley Kelly (400m) each advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines following personal-best performances in their respective events at the NCAA West Preliminary Round. Groenewoud notched her third trip to the semifinal round at the national meet with a personal-best time of 10:14.08 while Kelly clinched the first national bid of the day for the Orange and Blue with her PR mark of 52.95 in the 400m.

Groenewoud placed fifth in the second heat and grabbed the 12th and final qualifying spot with the second-fastest time in school history. She edged California's Rowena Tam, who timed 10:14.94 in the third heat, by just under a second to capture the last bid at Oregon's Hayward Field. The senior also reached the national meet in the steeplechase during her freshman and sophomore seasons.

"Chantelle had a great race, and it was nice for her to get a PR," distance coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "I knew it was going to be really close for that last spot, but she was able to get in by the skin of her pants and showed why you always sprint to the finish line. It is really awesome for her to get to go back to nationals as a senior and I am just so happy for her because she has done so much for our program."

Kelly's 400m time, which was .12 quicker than her previous best of 53.07, ranks third in school history and was the No. 6 time out of the 12 qualifiers to Des Moines. The junior will compete individually at the NCAA Championships for the first time after competing as part of an Illini relay during each of the past two seasons.

"I am so happy for Ashley," head coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. "She has been working hard to get under 53 seconds and it paid off today with a great race. She does so much for our team and will be key on our relays tomorrow."

Robinson breezed into the 100m hurdles quarterfinal with a wind-aided mark of 13.06, ranking as the second-fastest time overall and matching her personal best from a year ago at the NCAA West Prelims in Austin. She crossed the line as the runner-up behind only USC's Nia Ali (12.82) to automatically earn a spot in Saturday's race. The second heat featured five of the top-seven times on the day thanks to a tailwind of +3.6 m/s while the other five heats had nearly negligible wind or a headwind. In the 100m dash quarterfinal, Robinson fell short of qualifying for the national semifinal, as she finished 19th overall with a time of 11.91.

"Tamika ran a really solid race," Buford-Bailey said. "Her training has been going really well, so I wasn't surprised she was able to run that fast."

Freshman Stephanie Richartz came up two spots short of a trip to the NCAA Championships, placing 14th overall in the pole vault. The school-record holder in the event cleared her the first three bars on her first attempt and sailed over 13-3 ½ (4.05m) on her third attempt but was unable to make the next bar. Her final mark was just one centimeter shy of her personal-best and school-record mark of 13-3 ¾ (4.06m).

"Stephanie had a great performance to finish up her season," Buford-Bailey said. "She really fought hard, and it was outstanding for her to be right at her personal best at her first national competition."

The Illini also advanced a pair of sprinters to Saturday's 200m quarterfinal in Kelly (24.16) and senior Melissa Bates (24.22). Both athletes placed fourth in their respective heats and qualified based on time.

In the quarterfinal of the 400m hurdles, junior Latoya Griffith closed out her individual season in the event with a time of 1:00.32, which ranked 18th overall. Griffith is slated to run on the 4x400m relay on Saturday.

A full list of Illinois results along with the remaining schedule of Illini competition can be found below. The Orange and Blue will begin the final day of action at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. (CT) with the high jump. Live results along with a full recap can be found on fightingillini.com while live updates will be made at twitter.com/IlliniTrackXC.

Illinois Friday Results at NCAA West Preliminary Round
Q/q = qualified for quarterfinal
* advanced to NCAA Championships in Des Moines

100m (Quarterfinal)
19. Tamika Robinson 11.91

200m (First Round)
21. Ashley Kelly 24.16 q
23. Melissa Bates 24.22 q

400m (Quarterfinal)
6. Ashley Kelly 52.95*

100m Hurdles (First Round)
2. Tamika Robinson 13.06 Q

400m Hurdles (Quarterfinal)
18. Latoya Griffith 1:00.32

3,000m Steeplechase (Quarterfinal)
12. Chantelle Groenewoud 10:14.08*
36. Amber Stack 10:38.34

Pole Vault (Prelims)
14. Stephanie Richartz 13-3 ½ (4.05m)

Illinois Remaining Schedule at the NCAA West Preliminary Round
(All times Central)

Saturday, May 28
2:15 p.m. High Jump (Kendall McCaugherty)
3 p.m. 4x100m Relay Quarterfinal (Cheria Morgan, Ashley Kelly, Tamika Robinson, Melissa Bates)
3:30 p.m. 1,500m Quarterfinal (Stephanie Morgan)
4:05 p.m. 100m Hurdles Quarterfinal (Tamika Robinson)
4:35 p.m. 200m Quarterfinal (Ashley Kelly, Melissa Bates)
6:25 p.m. 4x400m Relay Quarterfinal (Ryisha Boyd, Melissa Bates, Ashley Kelly, Latoya Griffith)