Coming off a season that featured three new program marks and a ninth-place finish at the MAC Championships, track and field’s short- and middle-distance groups are ready to improve.

Head coach Connie Teaberry and her staff welcomed a new face to their team after naming Phil Wollbrinck, former McCluer High School track and field coach, to the staff. Wollbrinck, who spent 11 seasons at the St. Louis high school, helped produce 115 Missouri All-State medalists and 22 Missouri state champions while being the head man of the program.

“Coach Wollbrinck comes from St. Louis, Mo., [and was] one of the best high school coaches in that area,” Teaberry said. “So, we are definitely fortunate to have him, and we will work together on anywhere from the 60-meter to the 800-meter runners.”

NIU had a special class of 18 freshmen last season, especially in the short-distance group. Five of the top seven indoor performance times in the 60 and 200 meters belonged to the freshmen. The standouts from the freshmen short-sprint group were A’Iesha Irvin-Muhammad and Tahtyana Peer. Irvin-Muhammad (7.64) and Peer (7.85) posted the second- and third-best marks on the team in the 60 meters, respectively, in the indoor portion of the schedule.

Irvin-Muhammad said preseason training has gone smoothly and she likes where the group is as a whole.

“I think as a team we’re doing really good,” Irvin-Muhammad said. “We’re in a better place than we were last year with the experience and just in better shape with the training we’ve been doing. I just feel good coming into our first meet.”

Teaberry said the dynamic duo of Irvin-Muhammad and Peer along with the rest of the short-distance group can step out of their comfort zone and can perform any distance they may be asked to participate in.

“The thing about us is when we recruit, we recruit that range from 60 meters all the way up to the 400,” Teaberry said. “So, every single one of those girls can multi-task, and our job is to figure out where they’re going to be the most productive and put the points on the board. So, they have a year under their belts now; they’re not scared little freshmen anymore, so we’re really looking at them to come in this season and do some damage in the conference.”

The 400- and 800-meter sprinters have a nice core as well, said Teaberry. Senior Julie Cronin’s 57.51 time in the 400 meters was the top performance indoors, and she will be looked at to repeat a superb senior season.

NIU will be without Cronin’s sister, Rebecca Cronin, this season due to graduation. Rebecca Cronin is the indoor 600- and 800-meter record holder. Senior Meghan Heuer and junior Ali Olson contributed to the success in the middle-distance events, but the Huskies will have to wait until after winter break before all the distance runners rejoin the squad as they’re resting after the cross country season.

NIU will take the track for the first time this season at the seven-team Blue & Gold Invitational Friday in Notre Dame, Ind.