By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
Except for Antarctica, every other continent on Planet Earth has at one time been represented by women's athletes who've worn the Orange & Blue of the Fighting Illini.
The list of more than 100 Illini who've hailed from countries outside of the borders of the United States is headlined by Hall of Famers Lindsey Nimmo Bristow from England and Perdita Felicien Campbell and Emily Zurrer from Canada, but there are countless other foreign athletes who've also flown the University of Illinois' colors.
UI Director of Athletics Josh Whitman says that the international student-athletes with whom he's been associated seem humbled to have had the opportunity to compete in America.
"By and large, our international student-athletes are very grateful to be here," Whitman said. "It's fun to watch them grasp the American athletics experience and come to understand the platform they've been provided. They're a lot of fun to be around because they're incredibly humble and they're very motivated to take advantage of and really enjoy the full spectrum of the opportunity that exists in a place like Illinois. I think that anytime someone gets the chance to experience something that's truly different than what you're accustomed to or what you grew up knowing, it always gives you a different view on that opportunity."
Executive Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator Sara Burton harkens back to the international student-athletes she encountered as a soccer player at Knox College.
"Certainly, what was modeled to me through their behavior and their words was that they weren't taking that opportunity for granted in any way, shape or form," Burton said. "They really looked to maximize that opportunity. And I think that is congruent with today's international student-athletes. I've worked with several personally. In fact, I have a thank you note here from one of my women's basketball student-athletes who shared a point of gratitude for our support of her around some specific travel needs related to her visa. That's something that doesn't go unnoticed with our international student-athletes. They take great pride in having an opportunity to compete and perform on behalf of Illinois. There's just a great deal of gratitude around those opportunities and they look to maximize them."
One of UI's very first international athletes who had an unusually high profile occurred in 1988 when Coach Mike Hebert added Bolsward, Holland's Petra Laverman to the roster. She earned first team All-Big Ten honors two years later. And two years after that, in 1992, Hebert threw a second net into The Netherlands to land first team All-American Kirstein Gleis.
The Illini track and field program has had a sizable number of foreign athletes. One of the very first was heptathlete Carmel Corbett Welso from New Zealand. She was a three-time All-American in the heptathlon and high jump. Canada has been especially kind to the Illini track program, sending future Olympians Felicien and Yvonne Mensah to Champaign-Urbana.
The Great White North has also dispatched top-notch athletes to soccer (Zurrer and Leisha Alcia), volleyball (Lorna Henderson), and other sports.
Besides Bristow, Europe's contributions to U of I athletics have included Swedish track Olympians Jenny and Susanna Kallur, Lithuanian volleyball standout Rasa Virsilaite and basketball starter Iveta Marcauskaite, and Czech Republic hoops star Petra Holesinska.
Among current 2022-23 Illini rosters, slightly more than a dozen current female student-athletes hail from foreign countries, including three swimmers (Suvana Baskar from India, Jenri Buys from South Africa and Paloma Canos Cervera from Italy), three basketball players (Geovana Lopes from Brazil, Aicha Ndour from Senegal and Liisa Taponen from Finland), three gymnasts (Amelia Knight from the United Kingdom, Mia Scott from England and Kiera Wai from Canada), and two Canadian soccer athletes (Ashley Cathro and Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal).
Former International Illini
Leisha Alcia (Canada), soccer
Sara Anastasieska (Australia), basketball
Camille Baldrich (Puerto Rico), tennis
Carmel Corbett Welso (New Zealand), track & field
Gayathri DeSilva (Sri Lanka), tennis
Ilkau Dikman (Turkey), swimming & diving
Perdita Felicien Campbell (Canada), track & field
Kirsten Gleis (The Netherlands), volleyball
Shivani Ingle (India), tennis
Yvonne Harrison (Puerto Rico), track & field
Lorna Henderson (Canada), volleyball
Nikita Holder (Canada), track & field
Petra Holesinska (Vracov, Czech Republic), basketball
Jenny Kallur (Sweden), track & field
Susanna Kallur (Sweden), track & field
Ashley Kelly (British Virgin Islands), track & field
Petra Laverman (The Netherlands), volleyball
Ashleigh Lefevre (Australia), soccer
Iveta Marcauskaite (Lithuania), basketball
Yvonne Mensah (Canada), track & field
Lindsey Nimmo Bristow (England), tennis
Pedrya Seymour (Bahamas), track & field
Kornkamol Sukaree (Thailand), golf
Pimploy Thirati (Thailand), golf
Rasa Virsilaite (Lithuania), volleyball
Emily Zurrer (Canada), soccer
Current International Illini
Suvana Baskar (India), swimming & diving
Jenri Buys (South Africa), swimming & diving
Paloma Canos Cervera (Italy), swimming & diving
Ashley Cathro (Canada), soccer
Siyan Chen (China), golf
Amelia Knight (United Kingdom), gymnastics
Geovana Lopes (Brazil), basketball
Aicha Ndour (Senegal), basketball
Mia Scott (England), gymnastics
Liisa Taponen (Finland), basketball
Tracy Towns (Canada), cross country/track & field
Joanna Verzosa-Dolezal (Canada), soccer
Kiera Wai (Canada), gymnastics
International Athletes in UI's Athletics Hall of Fame
Perdita Felicien Campbell was a three-time NCAA hurdles champion and was named 2001 and 2003 NCAA Track Athlete of the Year. She earned All-America honors 10 times while at Illinois. Felicien was a two-time world champion in the 100-meter hurdles and two-time world silver medalist. She set UI, Big Ten and NCAA records in 60 meter and 100-meter hurdles. Felicien represented Canada at 2000 and 2004 Olympic games and is a 10-time Canadian champion. She set the Canadian record in the 100-meter hurdles in 2004, which still stands today. Felicien was the first Canadian woman to ever win a medal at the World Championships. During her career, she won gold and silver at both the World Championships in the 100-meter hurdles and World Indoor Championships in the 60 meter hurdles. Felicien was inducted into the Athletics Canada Hall of Fame in 2016.
Lindsey Nimmo Bristow is the most acclaimed women's tennis player in Fighting Illini history after being named the 1993 Big Ten Player of the Year and earning All-Big Ten honors three times from 1991-93. Nimmo was the first Fighting Illini women's tennis player to earn All-America honors, doing so as a senior in 1993. A native of Sutton Coldfield, England, Nimmo also earned the Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1993 for excellence as both an athlete and student as she was named Academic All-Big Ten three times. She finished her Illini career as the school's record holder for career wins and wins in a season (48), compiling a career mark of 103-33 and season record of 48-7 in 1993 and was her team's most valuable player each of her final three years. Nimmo was named CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1993. Nimmo remains as Illinois' only Big Ten Player of the Year in women's tennis. She currently lives with her husband, Dal, in Naperville, Illinois.
Emily Zurrer earned All-America honors three times in 2006 (1st/3rd/3rd teams), 2007 (2nd/4th teams) and 2008 (3rd team), was a three-time First-Team All-Big Ten selection her final three seasons and selected to the All-Freshman squad in 2005. She was First-Team All-Region as a junior and senior. During her tenure on the back line, Illinois produced 42 shutouts and gave up the second-fewest goals in program history in 2008, allowing just 19. As a senior, Zurrer was the Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Year. She competed for Canada at the 2008 (starting every game) and 2012 Olympics, helping her squad to a bronze medal in 2012. Zurrer was the 2009 Big Ten Medal of Honor selection from Illinois. She played professionally in Sweden, Germany, Canada and the U.S., and now works as a realtor and fitness instructor in British Columbia, Canada.
