The NIU track and field team competed in the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships on Friday and Saturday, where they placed third as a team.

How it happened

Senior Jazymn Smith got the Huskies off to a great start by setting a school long jump record on the first day of the competition. The long jump that set the record came in at 6.13 meters to place second in the competition. Graduate student Kenyae Majors put up points for the Huskies as well by coming in fourth in the long jump, measuring at 6.04 meters.

On Friday, the Huskies also had top-10 finishes in the 60-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash, hurdles, distance relay, high jump and shot put. At the end of the day, one of the Huskies sat at sixth heading into Saturday.

On Saturday, the Huskies picked up where they left off and by the end of the day, they would have a champion. Senior Kadeja Campbell won the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.58. Campbell helped the Huskies pick up points in two other events as well as placing top five in the 200-meter dash along with two other Huskies: sophomore Skylynn Blue and sophomore Malia Watkins. Campbell guided the Huskies to third-place finish in the 400-meter relay as well along with Watkins, junior Jahnetta Jones and sophomore Kennedy Crawford.

Sophomore Scout Regular came close to winning an event of her own as well, but fell just short, coming in second with a time of 8.368 in the 60-meter hurdles. This big second day for the Huskies had them finish with 70 points to come in third overall, trailing only Akron with 117.5 points and Eastern Michigan with 84.5 points.

Thoughts from coach Teaberry

Head coach Connie Teaberry spoke on her team’s performance and how she felt they competed over the two-day conference championships.

“To claim third place with the holes we have right now says a lot about the athletes that are here,” coach Teaberry said in an NIU Athletics news release. “Every point makes a difference in the team outcome, and they worked hard to capitalize on every opportunity.”

Looking ahead

The Huskies now move to outdoor competition. They will begin outdoor competition in Texas on March 24 at the Texas Relays in Austin and the Texas State Invitational in San Marcos.