Deanna Price Assistant Coach - Throws | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Deanna Price Assistant Coach - Throws | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
The Illinois women's track and field team saw three of its athletes qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships during the NCAA West Preliminaries in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Graduate student Amber Simpson, junior Tori Thomas, and sophomore Mia Morello secured their spots in the national meet.
Simpson qualified for the championships in the hammer throw with a fifth-place finish and a distance of 66.14 meters. This marks her second consecutive qualification, having previously qualified last year while competing for Memphis.
Thomas also earned back-to-back qualifications by finishing eighth in the pole vault, clearing 4.30 meters. Meanwhile, Morello claimed the 12th spot in the same event, achieving a personal best of 4.30 meters.
In other events, junior Jessica McDowell tied her personal best in the 400 meters with a time of 51.41 seconds, securing an automatic spot in Saturday's quarterfinals. Junior Halle Hill advanced to the quarterfinals in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:19.91.
Freshman Elizabeth Ndudi led Illinois in the long jump but fell short of advancing to Eugene with a 14th-place finish at 6.52 meters. Junior Tacoria Humphrey placed 17th, junior Darja Sopova finished 24th, and freshman Sophia Beckmon came in 35th.
The men's team will continue their competition on May 24 with events starting at different times throughout the day.
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