The Northern Illinois track and field team opened its 2010 campaign with a strong performance Saturday as the Huskies captured three first-place finishes and broke a school record at the Eastern Michigan Invitational in Ypsilanti, Mich. Jenner Sio claimed two first-place titles at the invite, while Megan Gregory reset the 60 meter hurdle record for the second-straight competition.
"Overall the girls competed with great intensity today and they performed very well at the meet," coach Connie Teaberry said. "We went head to head with a MAC school and did very well. We were able to see some of the changes we need to make before we get into indoor MAC competition."
After breaking the NIU school record in the 60-meter hurdles event in her first collegiate meet with a time of 8.95 (Dec. 11, 2009), Gregory reset the school record when she raced to a second-place time of 8.94, a career best for Gregory. Competing alongside Gregory, Roneisha Frye finished the race with a season-best time of 9.12 to tie for fourth in the event.
NIU leapt to success in the long jump when six Huskies finished among the top-10 performers in the event. Rhonda Lee and Sio tied for first in the event when they each notched a mark of 17-7.00, a personal-best mark for Lee. Deidra McIntosh finished among the top-performers when she captured a fourth-place mark of 17-475.
Rochelle Muskeyvalley April Anderson and Anisha Johnson were among the top-10 performers in the long jump event. Muskeyvalley notched a career-best 17-1.25 to finish sixth, while Anderson recorded a season best 16-9.75 to place eighth. Johnson rounded out the top-10 performers with a 16-3.00 mark, placing 10th.
Sio captured her second first-place title of the invite when she leapt to a 36-4.00 (11.07m) in the triple jump. Rebecca Cronin also finished among the top-five performers in the event when she notched a mark of 35-3.25 to place fifth.
Racing to season-best finishes in the 60-meter dash, Rasheta Butler and Lee finished among the top-five finishers in the event. Butler ran the race in a time of 7.86 to place fourth, while Lee finished fifth with a time of 7.91. Lee carried her success into the 200 meter dash as she ran the race in a personal-best time of 26.63 to finish fifth.
Brittany Houghton and Cronin raced to season-best finishes in the 400 meter dash as the Huskies finished fifth and sixth in the event, respectively. Houghton completed the race in a time of 1:00.17, while Cronin followed closely behind clocking in at 1:00.59.
Competing in her first collegiate indoor meet, Courtney Oldenburg made her mark in the 800-meter run when she placed fourth with a time 2:22.52. Kelly Moser was also among the top-five finishers for the Huskies, when she leapt to a fourth place 5-1.00 (1.55m) in the high jump event.
"We showed some really strong results out of some the events today, but we still have a long way to go," said Teaberry. "It is still early for us, but we have plenty of time to get better through training, and to get ready for indoor conference."
