Senior Brittany Houghton led the Northern Illinois women's track and field team with two first-place titles Saturday, when the Huskies competed in the Panther Open, hosted by Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Roneisha Frye, Courtney Oldenburg and Megan Gregory also walked away with first-place finishes at the Panther Open.
"The girls came out and competed hard today," NIU coach Connie Teaberry said. "Their results showed the girls determination to continue to do better in competition. Each week the girls continue to improve. As a coaching staff we are proud of how the girls continue to do better as the weeks go on."
Houghton raced to a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash, when she finished the race in a time of 1:00.61. She went on to claim her second first-place finish of the afternoon when she notched a season-best mark of 17-09.75 in the long jump event. Following Houghton's lead in the 400-meter dash, Rebecca Cronin notched a second-place finish with a time of 1:00.80.
For the third consecutive meet, Gregory has set a new school record in the 60-meter hurdles. Gregory, who broke her own school record at last week's EMU Invitational (1/9), re-set the school record when she finished the event in a time of 8.60 seconds. Gregory took home first-place in the 60m hurdles.
Frye won the 200-meter dash, when she finished the race in a season-best time of 26.48. Following closely behind Frye, Rhonda Lee finished the 200m with a time of 26.84 to place fourth and Gregory placed fifth with a time of 26.85.
Oldenburg contributed to the success of the Huskies when she raced to a first-place and personal-best time of 10:24.62 in the 3,000-meter.
Representing the Huskies among the top-five performers in the 60-meter dash, Lee and Rochelle Muskeyvalley finished second and fifth, respectively. Lee crossed the finish line in a time of 7.78, while Muskeyvalley clocked in with a time of 8.04.
The long jump proved to be a success for NIU, as the Huskies walked away with seven of the top-nine performances. Lee (17-09.50) and Muskeyvalley (17-09.00) notched personal-best marks to finish second and third, respectively. Deidra McIntosh finished fourth with a mark of 17-06.75 , while April Anderson rounded out the top-five performances with season-best jump of 17-05.50.
