The NIU track and field team battled the weather over the weekend to finish second at the 19-team Chicagoland Championships.

The Huskies were victorious in four of the 16 events, totalling 117.5 points. DePaul won the meet with 124 points.

“There were several moments throughout the weekend when we were actually leading the competition, and our ladies were pumped up,” NIU coach Shantel Twiggs said. “We were all very disappointed when the final scores came out, but nonetheless, it was a strong effort from everyone on our team in all the different events.”

Freshman Erica Smith won the 100-meter dash with a 12.53 time. Smith also finished third in the 200-meter dash.

Fellow freshman Lindsay Chamberlain was victorious in the shot put, throwing it 11.89 meters.

Ajahnae Hinley, Lorene Skipper Erica Meyer and April Lowery all contributed in the Huskies’ 4×400 relay win. NIU finished with 3:54.8, 12.5 seconds ahead of the nearest finisher.

“It was a cold day, but those four girls ran impressively,” Twiggs said. “They rose to the occasion and each separate legs ran their hearts out. It was an awesome way to end the meet.”

The fourth NIU victory came from sophomore Bonnie Miller, who won the 3,000 meter steeplechase.

Winning streak ends

A seven-game winning streak came to an end for the NIU women’s tennis team on Saturday. The Huskies lost the MAC match 5-2 against host Eastern Michigan.

The loss broke the longest winning streak since 1989-90 for NIU (11-1, 5-1 MAC).

“There is definitely a reason EMU is picked to win the conference,” NIU coach Laura Scott. “They are a good athletic team with some very strong players. We knew we needed to beat one of their top three singles players and win the doubles point to win the match and that just didn’t happen.”

Karrie Tyioran (No. 4) and Kristi McIntyre (No. 6) picked up the only singles victories for the Huskies.

NIU also beat Toledo 7-0 in the MAC meet on Friday.

Men’s tennis falls in MAC

The NIU men’s tennis team lost 5-2 the battle of MAC unbeatens on Saturday in Rockford.

The Huskies (8-3, 1-1 MAC) earned the doubles point, winning two of the three doubles matches, but won just one singles match.

“We competed really well in doubles play today,” NIU coach Steven Rodecap said. “In singles play, we just didn’t compete well enough in enough spots to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Raymond VanWasbeek won the only singles match for NIU. VanWasbeek beat Ravi Pathanjali, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.

VanWasbeek teamed up with Aaron Forsberg for a No. 1 doubles win, while Juan Pablo Barriga and Erick Martinez won their No. 2 doubles match for the Huskies.

The Huskies’ next match will be on the road against UIC.