Dec. 27, 2004

The 2005 version of the Fighting Illini track and field team features a talented freshman class expected to mesh with Illinois' solid group of returnees, which includes 2004 All-Americans Cassie Hunt (steeplechase) and Carlene Robinson (800m) as well as Big Ten champions Camile Robinson (400m hurdles), Yvonne Mensah (60m hurdles) and the outdoor 4x400m relay team (Camile and Carlene Robinson, Mensah and Shanna Pickett).

That collection of experienced, yet youthful returnees (Pickett is a senior while the other runners are sophomores), combined with the skilled group of newcomers will give the Illini an opportunity to return to the top of the Big Ten standings.

Sprints/Hurdles:
"We're still pretty youthful in the sprints and the hurdles this year," Head Coach Gary Winckler said. "Our main strength in the sprints will be Yvonne Mensah and Shanna Pickett. We also have a bunch of freshman that we're still trying to figure out where they're going to be slotted."

Mensah, selected as last season's Big Ten Freshman of the Year after scoring in five events at the indoor conference meet, will look to improve on an outstanding rookie campaign. The Surrey, British Columbia, native will run the 60m dash and hurdles, the 100m dash and hurdles, the 200m and relays.

"Yvonne is looking really good," Assistant Coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. "What we're hoping overall is that she won't have such a hard job at the conference meet like she had last year. We'll be looking for people to step up and help her out there. I think things will start to come together for her once there isn't so much weight on her shoulders."

Mensah's help will come in the form of freshmen and the indoor addition Camile and Carlene Robinson, who red-shirted last year's indoor campaign.

Camile Robinson is coming off a season in which she won the Big Ten title in the 400m hurdles and will run the short hurdles indoors.

"They're all so highly regarded from high school that I think the top five that we've recruited should all do well by the time we get to the indoor Big Ten meet," Buford-Bailey said of Illinois' incoming freshmen. "The training is going very well and they're improving, but there are a couple of them who've never even run indoor track before. So that's why we need to take it easy and teach them how to run the turns and the different distances. It'll be a new experience for them."

LaNeisha Waller is a freshman from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Waller was a nine-time Iowa state champion, owns the Iowa state record in the long jump and was selected as the Gatorade Iowa Female Track and Field Athlete of the Year. She is expected to run the 60m and 100m as well as hurdles and the long jump.

Classmate Tiffany Nesfield brings with her eye-popping credentials. Nesfield, from Springdale, Md., was selected as a junior All-American after taking sixth at the USA Junior National Championships, was an eight-time state champion and earned the Gatorade Maryland Track and Field Athlete of the Year award.

Other influential freshmen will be Tiara Armstrong, a state champion from Dayton, Ohio and Briana Cunningham, who won the Indiana 300m hurdles title. Armstrong is expected to compete in the 60m, 100m and 200m, while Cunningham will run the 400m and 400m hurdles.

Rounding out the sprint and hurdle group is senior Shanna Pickett. Pickett was Illinois' top 200m runner last season and is expected to have a superior season this time around while also running the 400m and competing in the long jump.

"We're expecting Shanna to have her best season since she's been here," Buford-Bailey said. "Her training has been going excellent. We're expecting big things from her, especially in the long jump, and hopefully she'll surprise herself in the 400m where her workouts have been going great."

Jumps:
Another strong point of the Illinois attack is expected to be in the jumps. "We're pretty well blessed in the long jump area," Winckler said. "We have five or six people who can score in this event."

Leading the way will be Pickett, Waller, Kristina Jones, Alondra Cooper and Rachael Gliottoni.

"Shanna is doing really well in the long jump, and I definitely expect her to have a PR," Buford-Bailey said. "With the way she's been training Shanna can be a top-three finisher. If she can keep it together through the meets with the 400 and the other things she has going on, she'll really do well. But she's a senior now, so we expect more out of her."

Waller, the Iowa state record holder in the event, is an exceptional athlete who has impressed coaches.

"LaNeisha is still learning a lot about the event," Buford-Bailey said. "Before she just ran and jumped, but now she's learning a lot about techniques, so I expect her to do a lot. Before she was absolutely raw, raw in everything, but she's learning so much more about the hurdles, sprinting, posture, technique in all the events, and sometimes that takes time."

Cooper, Gliottoni and Jones are multi-event athletes who will give needed depth in this event. Jones has a personal best just under 18 feet while Cooper has jumped 18'10" and Gliottoni, a transfer from the University of Missouri-Rolla, has cleared 18-and-a-half feet.

In the high jump, the January addition of Indianapolis native Marissa Greene will give the Fighting Illini their first genuine high jumper since 1999.

"Marissa Greene was a good high school basketball player who also jumped 5'10" in the high jump," head coach Gary Winckler said, "So we hope to have our first real, legitimate high jumper since Stacy Grant was here, and that will really help us a lot, both indoors and outdoors. We'll just have to wait and see until she gets here."

While the Illini's multi-event athletes will also compete in the triple jump, junior Nina Henson will be relied on as the Illini's top threat.

"Nina Henson has had the best fall of training since she's been at Illinois," Winckler said.

"We expect this to be Nina's best year," Buford-Bailey said. "This year her jumping has been going really well. She's a lot more focused and a lot more motivated than she was last year and I think this will be her best year yet."

Winckler added, "The jumps, sprints and hurdles areas are much improved than they were a year ago, but I say that with a little bit of reservation because they're really young and have a lot to prove. But I think they'll be a better group outdoors than indoors."

Pole Vault:
"We're probably going to be better than we've ever been in the pole vault," Winckler said. "Ashley Hanshaw, Samantha Scheidegger and Amanda Pintaro have all gone over 11'5.00" in practice last fall, and all indications are they're each going to go higher. So I think it will be an exciting event for us. We've never had three at this particular level, so this could be a real plus for us."

Middle Distance/Distance:
"Coming off a really strong cross country season, we know we have a lot of very talented distance runners who can score in the Big Ten," assistant coach Karen Harvey said. "That's what it's about for us; scoring at the Big Ten meet and making finals. On top of that, going to nationals and making All-American is icing on the cake."

The top returnee for the distance crew is Cassie Hunt, who earned All-America honors last season after placing 10th in the 3,000m steeplechase. The sophomore set the school record, 10:17.55 in the event. Hunt also completed an outstanding cross country season in which she earned the Midwest Regional Runner of the Year honors after winning the regional race. She also earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, joining senior Jaime Turilli on the first team.

"Jaime's niche is the 5,000, both indoors and outdoors, and I really believe that this is going to be her year," Harvey said. "It's her final year and she's a totally different person. She's ready to go to nationals. Whether it happens indoors or out, she's ready to move up."

Harvey continued, "We've got three very special freshmen in Maggie Carroll, Rachel Hernandez and Sara Fassbinder. All three are very talented, but at this point they're very young, They will help us at the Big Ten level, mainly in the mile, 1,500 area."

Carroll earned second-team all conference honors for the Illini cross country squad, while Hernandez was a key contributor for the Big Ten's second-place team and Fassbinder was the Iowa state champion in the 1,500m.

Rounding out the distance crew are seniors Lindsey Reu and Tabitha Volling, both of whom were members of the school record setting distance medley relay team at last season's Big Ten Indoor Championships.

"Lindsey and Tabitha bring a lot of experience and I'm hoping that they'll help the young ones," Harvey said. "Lindsey scored in the 1,500 last year and I don't see why she won't this year. She's much better going into track this year just because of her fall cross country performance when she beat her time by a minute-and-a-half. Tabitha destroyed her cross country time and is better than she's ever been. Those two may run relays indoors, but mainly they'll be 1,500 runners outdoors."

Harvey continued, "We're one of the best distance programs in the nation now and we need to turn it over and run track now. I've said all along that I think we have a more talented track team than cross country. All these women have speed and they're very efficient."

Carlene Robinson is Illinois' top 800m threat after a busy freshman season in which she earned All-America accolades by finishing seventh at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She also smashed the Illini's 800m school record after running 2:03.52 at the Jamaican National Senior Championships. She and her sister, Camile, will be competing in their first indoor season after arriving in January of 2004 and red-shirting last year's indoor campaign.

"They don't have a lot of indoor experience," Buford-Bailey said of the Robinson's. "So we're taking it easy with them. To have them in the fall training was great; they're looking really, really good. Camile doesn't have her preferred event indoors (400m H) but she'll probably run the 60m hurdles and the 400m to prepare her for the outdoor season while Carlene will run the 600m and the 800m."

Natalie Young and Laura Gerke are two more returnees with scoring potential. Gerke scored at the Big Ten Indoor Championships and Young scored at the outdoor conference meet.

Multi-events:
The Illini have four multi-eventers who will compete in the pentathlon and the heptathlon: Alondra Cooper, Rachael Gliottoni, Kristina Jones and Lauren Shimmon. The quartet provides the Orange and Blue with talented depth in the event.

"I see them all being scorers," Buford-Bailey said. "Lauren and Kristina have scored for us before and Alondra and Rachael will score."