DeKALB – NIU women’s track and field took an eighth-place team finish at the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships behind a strong performance from fifth-year Kadeja Campbell.

Campbell finished in first place for both the 200 and 400-meter dash on Saturday. This is the second straight season Campbell has taken home first place in the 400 at the MAC Indoor Championships. Campbell’s winning time at this event was 56.23 seconds, only eight hundredths of a second quicker than Eastern Michigan University’s Mair Edwards, who finished in second. 

Campbell also took home first-place honors in the 200-meter dash with her final time being 24.07 seconds. Campbell totaled 20 points for NIU from her first place finishes, boosting the Huskies to eighth place. 

Junior Skylynn Blue competed in the 200 and took a third-place finish with a time of 24.35 seconds. Blue was just six hundredths of a second behind the runner up, Saraiah Walkes of Eastern Michigan University.

The Huskies were also able to win a third event in the final event of the day, the 4×400 meter relay. NIU posted a time of 3:50.19. Their relay team consisted of senior Christine Irving, Campbell, sophomore Roshell Rowe and senior Jahnetta Jones. 

The Huskies finished as a team in eighth place, totaling 50.5 points – half a point behind Toledo University’s 51 points. The University of Buffalo finished in ninth place behind the Huskies with a score of 43.5 points. NIU surpassed Buffalo after the Huskies won the 4×400 meter relay.

“The final placing didn’t come close to showing what we can do, however hats off to the teams ahead of us. They had great performances and showed up on all cylinders,” NIU Director of Track and Field Connie Teaberry said. “I truly believe the ladies gave everything they had and competed hard. We just weren’t the better group this weekend.”

Fifth-year Diamond Riley finished in third place for the triple jump, which gave the Huskies six points. Riley jumped 12.42 meters in the event and finished behind Christina Wende from Buffalo. Riley also finished eighth in the long jump with her best jump being 5.67 meters. 

Junior Scout Regular earned herself another top-three finish for the 60-meter hurdles. Regular took third place with a time of 8.50 seconds – just two hundredths of a second behind the runner-up, Grace Johnson from Western Michigan University. 

The NCAA Indoor Championships will take place March 10 and March 11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the Albuquerque Convention Center.