Sophomore sprinter Rhonda Lee led the way for the Northern Illinois track and field team at the Iowa State Classic when she set a NIU school record in the 60-meter dash to conclude the second and final day of competition at the Lied Recreation Center in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday.
"The coaching staff is very proud of the ladies that we brought to this out of state classic," NIU track and field coach Connie Teaberry said. "This competition is one of the top meets in the country during indoor season. We had 17 athletes compete. The girls were nervous entering the competition but they came in and competed well."
Lee shattered a 31-year old school record in the 60-meter dash when she raced to a personal-best time and 15th-place finish of 7.70 seconds, a time that qualified her for finals. Lee's time is NIU's highest finish in the 60-meter dash at the classic. The previous NIU 60-meter dash record was set by Cheryl Johnson in 1979 with a time of 7.74.
Megan Gregory also qualified for finals at the classic when she raced to a time of 8.93 in the 60-meter hurdles. Gregory, who is Northern Illinois' first athlete to qualify for finals in the event, went on to finish 11th in final-round action with a time of 8.88.
Courtney Oldenburg competed in the 1-mile run for the Huskies, finishing the race in a personal-best time of 5:01.60 to take home 23rd in the event. Junior Sunsea Shaw also represented NIU in the 1-mile run, finishing the race in a personal-best time of 5:13.47.
Rochelle Muskeyvalley was the Huskies top finisher in the 400-meter dash when she raced to a personal-best time of 58.46 to finish 22nd. Rebecca Cronin also set a personal record in the event finishing the race in time of 59.60.
