Track and field started its outdoor season on the right foot, winning eight events over the weekend.

NIU picked up the eight victories while going up against Milwaukee, Drake and host school St. Louis on Friday and Saturday at the SLU Medical Center Stadium in St. Louis.

NIU’s eight event wins came in hammer throw, javelin, discuss, shot put, high jump, 4-by-100-meter relay, 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash.

Sophomore runner A’Iesha Irvin-Muhammad picked up three victories and was the lone Huskie to win multiple events. Irvin-Muhammad won the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash and was a part of the 4-by-100-meter relay team that took first place. She said the biggest difference for her between the indoor and outdoor seasons is getting adjusted to the outdoor elements.

“From changing from inside and then going to outside, it can be kind of tough as far as the air outside and breathing and stuff like that,” Irvin-Muhammad said. “But, once you get adjusted everything goes smoothly.”

Things also went smoothly for the field event athletes. Senior Erin Scott took first in hammer throw, sophomore Jasmine Wilson finished first in javelin and senior Sidra Sherrill topped the list of discus throwers. All three events are outdoor-only competitions, and this weekend was the first time this season the Huskies competed in them against other schools.

“I like outdoor season more,” Sherrill said. “It’s more competitive. It’s basically like the main season. Indoor’s first and outdoor’s second, so I’m getting stronger, working on more and more technique, so I should be throwing farther.”

Vince Bingham, assistant coach for field events, said the Huskies have been throwing the discus in practice for three months and picked up the number of repetitions of hammer throws as the outdoor season got closer. The javelin throw for the outdoor season is where Wilson focuses all her energy.

NIU capped off the throwing events with a win in shot put by sophomore Tyra Bickham. Unlike hammer throw, javelin and discus — which are outdoor-only events — shot put is an indoor and outdoor event. The difference is the indoor shot put is plastic and filled with sand while the outdoor shot put is metal.

With four throwing event victories in hand after the first outdoor competition, Bingham said his group of throwers have a bright future the rest of the season.

“I’m excited as a coach because we’ve got some pretty good throwers coming back,” Bingham said. “I think we could do some pretty great things during the outdoor season.”