University of Illinois
Bill Cornell Spring Classic
Women's Track & Field Wins Four Event Titles At Bill Cornell Classic
March 23, 2019 | Women's Track & Field
Felicia Phillips, Nicki Cast, Kristin Slaughter and 4x400m Relay capture Saturday titles for the Illini.
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Fighting Illini women's track & field won four event titles in their outdoor season opener at the SIU Bill Cornell Classic Saturday. Junior Felicia Phillips placed first in the 400m for the Illini. Sophomore Nicki Cast set a PR and placed first in the 1500m, with junior Grace Rogers and sophomore Caroline Fix also finishing in the top-10 of the event. Sophomore Kristin Slaughter took home the pole vault title at SIU with a mark of 3.70m The women's 4x400m relay squad comprised of Phillips, freshman Brooke Delahanty and sophomores Mikaela Lucki and Kelli Callahan closed out the day for the Illini by placing first in the relay event.
"It was a successful opener to our outdoor season," said head coach Mike Turk. "As a coach, I am always concerned about few aspects of our team this time of year: How have we used the last few weeks of training? How well do do we compete after time off? How healthy are we? Healthy is good, as we've been able to give appropriate time off for recovery from competition and training. For the most part, our preparation looks to be above average for this time of year and one thing for sure, we've got some people competing very well."
"Overall, our performances reflect that we are in a good position to progress through the outdoor season moving in a positive direction," Turk said. "The women's distance and men's sprint events performed exceptionally well and we received significant contributions in lots of other areas. Both of our 4 x 100 relay teams showed great promise."
The Illini had a strong day in the 1500m, featuring three top-10 finishes in the event. Sophomore Nicki Cast took firs place in the event by clocking a 4:36.85 finish, a new personal-best. Junior Grace Rogers placed fifth in the event with a time of 4:40.96. Sophomore Caroline Fix also placed in the top-10 and set a new PR in the event, finishing ninth with a time of 4:36.85. Sophomore Katie Stapleton finished in the top-15 with a PR finish of 4:46.33 to place 15th.
Felicia Phillips would continue her stellar junior campaign by starting her outdoor season with a first place finish in the 400m. Phillips clocked a time of 55.96 to win the event at SIU.
The Illini also took the top four spots in the women's pole vault. Sophomore Kristin Slaughter won the event with a mark of 3.70m. Juniors Carolyn Nye, Chisom Nwoko and freshman Josie held placed second, third and fourth, respectively.
The Illini finished the day with a first place finish in the 4x400m relay. The Illini team of Felicia Phillips, Brooke Delahanty, Mikaela Lucki and Kelli Callahan timed a 3:56.58 finish to win the event title at the Bill Cornell Classic.
Sophomore Amira Aduma returned to the track for the outdoor opener. She placed second in the 400m Hurdles with a time of 1:02.41. Sophomore Mikaela Lucki would also earn a second place finish in the 800m, finishing the race with a personal-best time of 2:10.11.
"Both relays look capable of being competitive on a national level, and (Jaden) Jackson for the men and (Amira) Aduma for the women had promising openers in the 400 hurdles. Those are events we only contest outdoors so obviously their preparation over the past three-four weeks has been on point. Its' great to have Amira back after missing the indoor season due to injury."
The Illini will split the final weekend of March between the Stanford Invite and the Ole Miss Classic. Both meets will take place on Friday, March 29 and Saturday, March 30.
Illinois Event Winners
Pole Vault: Kristin Slaughter- 3.70m
400m: Felicia Phillips- 55.96
1500m: Nicki Cast- 4:36.85
4x400m: Felicia Phillips, Brooke Delahanty, Mikaela Lucki, Kelli Callahan- 3:56.58
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