The Northern Illinois women's track and field team concluded the second and final day of competition at the 2010 Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships as several Huskies achieved both personal records and season-best performances Saturday afternoon at the Jack Skoog Indoor Track in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
"As a team and coaching staff we knew the team could do a lot better than we did," NIU track and field coach Connie Teaberry said. "The girls worked really hard this weekend. They stepped up and performed well today and I think their focus and drive really showed in some areas."
Rasheta Butler, Rebecca Cronin, Rochelle Muskeyvally and Brittany Houghton represented the Huskies in the 4x400-meter relay. The Huskies raced to a season-best time of 3:56.69 in the relay to achieve an eighth-place finish that earned the teams only scoring of the day.
In the 3,000-meter run Courtney Oldenburg and Nancy Maritim each raced to personal-best performances. Oldenburg led the way for the Huskies in the event with a 15th-place time of 10:20.73. Maritim improved her personal record time in the event by nearly 20 seconds when she crossed the finish line in a time of 10:59.44.
Off the track, Jenner Sio set a personal record in the triple jump, leaping to a mark of 37-08.00 to finish 13th in the event.
Kent State finished the championships with 107 points to claim the 2010 MAC Indoor Championship title. Central Michigan came in second with 100 points while Western Michigan finished third with 92 points. NIU finished 12th at the championships.
"Coming out of this weekend we are going to regroup and look forward to the outdoor season," said Teaberry. "As we regroup we will look to improve our performances and improve our finish at the MAC Outdoor Championships in May."
