Track and field will look to continue its record-breaking season as it winds down the year with the Wisconsin Open and the MAC Championships.

While graduation ceremonies take place in DeKalb, the Huskies will compete at the Wisconsin Open in Madison, Wis. Only a small group will participate, and the event will serve as a chance for those who haven’t qualified for the conference championships to see action for the final time. It will also serve as an opportunity for those who have qualified to move up the conference rankings.

“The Wisconsin Open will satisfy two things we need to accomplish,” said head coach Connie Teaberry. “One being giving our athletes a final opportunity to end out their season [if they] have not qualified for the MAC Championships. The other is to give the ladies who have qualified one last chance to fine tune before the [MAC] Championships.”

Five days after the Huskies finish up in Wisconsin, they will travel to Athens, Ohio, for the MAC Outdoor Championships.

NIU had two discus athletes hit the automatic qualifying standard last time the Huskies competed. Junior Sidra Sherrill tossed a career-best throw of 159-10. Freshman Tyra Bickham also hit the MAC-qualifying mark in the discuses after tossing a 154-07 mark.

At the MAC Indoor Championships on March 31 and April 1, the Huskies broke four NIU records and posted three top-five finishes to place 10th out of 12 teams.

The Huskies put up 37 points, which is the second-highest indoor MAC total in program history. Among the top finishes was junior Latesha Bigby’s third-place finish out of 20 in the 60 hurdles; it was an all-conference performance, as she crossed the finish of 8.50.

NIU heads into the conference championship with momentum and 12 athletes who have top-10 marks in the conference. The Huskies also have four athletes who rank in the top five with one weekend left before the MAC Outdoor Championships.

“We have one more meet that we could possibly get a couple more girls to solidify their positions in the MAC Championships,” Teaberry said. “As we get closer to it, we’re starting to see the eye of the tiger in some of these young ladies, and I think we’re sitting in a good position that if everyone walks into the MAC Championships believing in themselves and competing, we can fare pretty well.”

The senior class features a group of athletes with credentials that include program records and conference academic honors.

“We have an outstanding senior class that has represented NIU Huskies life for three, four, five years for some of them,” Teaberry said. “They have had ups and downs … but one thing that I can say as their coach, [I am] very proud of them getting their degrees …very proud of these young ladies moving onto the next chapter in their life, but they know Northern Illinois and the track and field program is always home and that we’re family.”

NIU has the opportunity to compete in two meets after the conference championships at the NCAA West Preliminary Round May 29 to May 31 in Fayetteville, Ark., followed by the NCAA Outdoor Championships June 11 to June 14 in Eugene, Ore.