Northern Illinois sophomore Megan Gregory lowered her school record time in the 100-meter hurdles for the sixth time this season to advance to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Region Preliminary Round Friday.
Gregory ran the hurdles in a season and career best 13.70 to earn a spot in Saturday’s quarterfinals. As she has all year, the Chicago native stepped up to the level of her competition, said NIU coach Connie Teaberry.
“One of the biggest things with Megan Gregory is she is a competitor,” Teaberry said. “Each competition we go to, she has risen to the occasion. She believes in her ability and believes in what she can do. Before we even got here [to Austin], she told me she was going to the next round, and that’s what you have to have in your mind. If you believe it, you can achieve it.”
While Friday’s race resulted in yet another school record as Gregory has lowered her best 100-meter hurdles time from 14.52 to 13.70 during the outdoor season, Teaberry said there is still room for improvement.
“After she got off the track, I told her, you ran 13.70 but you didn’t run your race,” Teaberry said. “In the next round, you are going to run faster, but you’ve got to run your race. I definitely think she is capable of taking it to Oregon if she runs her race in the quarterfinals of the hurdles.”
The top three finishers from each of Saturday’s three heats, as well as the runners with the next three best times, will advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., June 9-12, 2010. The quarterfinal heats of the 100-meter hurdles are slated to begin at 7:05 p.m. (Central) Saturday at the Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium. Live results and video of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field West Preliminaries are available online at http://www.ncaa.com/sports/c-otrack/champpage/c-otrack-div1-west-index.html .
“Megan is doing an excellent job and we’re extremely proud of her,” Teaberry said. “She’s answered the challenge. The way our schedule was set, she’s seen some of these girls before we got here. Our outdoor schedule this year definitely helped prepare her for the competition today.”
NIU freshman Courtney Oldenburg also represented Northern Illinois at the NCAA Track & Field West Preliminaries as she was a provisional qualifier in the 1,500 meters. Oldenburg ran a season-best time of 4:29.83 at the Drake Relays in early April, but did not learn that she had qualified for NCAAs until five days before her race. The West Salem, Wisc. product ran 4:42.03 in the 1,500 Thursday to close out a stellar freshman season.
“Courtney has done a great job for NIU the entire year,” Teaberry said. “She has been our frontrunner as far as distances and it was only right that she made it to NCAAs with as hard as she has worked. Being here has been a great experience for her, and now she is even hungrier for it going into next season. I think she’ll be right back here next year and be better prepared We’re extremely proud of Courtney and everything she’s done all season.”
Gregory is the final Northern Illinois student-athlete left in competition for the 2009-10 season.
