DeKALB — NIU women’s track and field opened their outdoor season over the weekend, competing in two different events in Texas.

The Huskies split time between the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin and the Texas State Bobcat Invitational in San Marcos, beginning Thursday and ending Saturday.

Texas State Bobcat Invitational

The Bobcat Invitational featured ten top-10 finishes by the Huskies. Sophomores Malia Watkins and Skylynn Blue ran times of 11.86 and 11.97 at the 100-meter dash respectively. Watkins’ time was fifth in the event and Blue’s earned 10th.

Blue and Watkins also teamed up with seniors Jazmyn Smith and Kimone Hines on the 4×100-meter relay team, finishing as the event runners-up. The quartet clocked in at 46.09, about a quarter second short of the University of South Dakota’s event-winning time of 45.85.

Senior Kadeja Campbell and graduate student Kenyae Majors each accounted for a pair of NIU’s top-10 performances. Campbell ran a time of 24.23 on the 200-meter dash to earn fourth place and a time of 54.53 in the 400-meter dash for third place.

Majors’ top mark of 5.81 meters in the long jump was enough to secure an eighth place finish. The triple jump saw Majors leap for 12.08 meters, warranting seventh place. Senior Diamond Riley was the only Huskie to finish higher in the triple jump. Riley finished directly above Majors on the event leaderboard in sixth place with her best leap measuring 12.37 meters.

Graduate student Sara Atkins and senior Taylor Ramsey rounded out NIU’s impressive outing in the Lone Star State. Atkins’ run of 18:15.85 on the 5,000-meter run was the seventh-fastest time in the event. In the high jump, Ramsey cleared the bar at a mark of 1.65 meters, the seventh highest by any competitor in the event.

Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays

NIU began competition at the Texas Relay Friday with a 13th place finish in the 4×100-meter relay. The team of Huskies clocked in at 48.76. NIU followed up with two finishes in the 100-meter hurdles. Sophomore Scout Regular’s time of 14.44 took 20th place and senior Dymier Jeffery’s 15.50 took 48th in the event.

The 100-meter dash concluded with Blue in 38th place at 12.10 and senior Katrina Small in 60th place at 12.49. The Huskies competed in the 4×400-meter relay, taking 16th place and recording a time of 3:45.50.

Junior Brooke Lytle closed out Friday competition for NIU in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. The Waukesha, Wisconsin, product made her mark early in the outdoor season with a time of 10:56.68, the highest in the Mid-American Conference. Lytle earned an 11th place finish.

Keeping upcoming competition within state lines

The Huskies will now return home and spend their next two events in-state. Their next out-of-state trip will be to the Mt. San Antonio College Relays from April 14-16 in Walnut, California.

NIU resumes outdoor competition Saturday when they travel to Normal to participate in the Redbird Invite. Saturday’s events are set to begin at 10 a.m. CT.