Illini Legends, Lists & Lore

By Mike Pearson

Saturday, May 30, 2009 9:54 PM CDT

Thirteen years ago, Illinois women's track and field star Tonya Williams won the 400-meter hurdles at the NCAA Women's Track & Field Championships. She set an NCAA meet record with a time of 54.56 seconds. Also in that meet, Williams finished second in the 100 hurdles and third as a member of the 4x100-meter relay team. The Illini finished fourth in the team standings at the 1996 outdoor meet and sixth at the indoor championships. The 14-time All-American won 20 Big Ten championships, 10 in individual events and 10 as a relay member. Williams was the conference's Female Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 1996. She is listed among Illinois' top five performers in history in the indoor 200, 600, 55 hurdles and 4x400 relay. Outdoors, Williams is among the leaders in the 100 hurdles, the 400 hurdles, the 4x100 relay, the 4x200 relay, the 4x400 relay, the sprint medley relay and the shuttle hurdle relay. She was Illinois' Female Athlete of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

Illini birthdays this week

Today: Jenna Hall, softball (25)

Monday: Chris Babyar, football (47)

Tuesday: Cully Welter, track & field (40)

Wednesday: Sara Sorrell, volleyball (31)

Thursday: Larry Smith, basketball (41)

Friday: Reese Jones, swimming (40)

Saturday: Kurt Steger, football/baseball (53)

Next Sunday: Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor

By Mike Pearson, author of Illini Legends, Lists & Lore and assistant athletic director at Miami (Ohio)