May 2, 2008

DeKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois women's track and field team will get a preview of the upcoming Mid-American Conference Championships, when it faces conference opponents Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan at the Jack Shaw Invitational in Kalamazoo, Mich., Saturday.

"This is one of those meets that gives you a good preview of where you're at in the MAC," head coach Connie Teaberry said. "Western Michigan is certainly in the top half of the conference, and is great competition for the girls to see before the MAC Championships in two weeks."

The Broncos are ranked 14th in the nation by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The Huskies are coming off a split-squad performance at Drake Relays and the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Twighlight, highlighted by the NIU sprint medley team of Rochelle Muskeyvalley (Rock Island, Ill./Rock Island), Brittany Houghton (Freeport, Ill./Dakota), Coretta Evans (Wheeling, Ill./Evanston Township) and Sunsea Shaw (South Bend, Ind./Riley) breaking the school record with a 4:08.87, and an eighth-place high jump finish by sophomore Jessica Statler (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Cedar Rapids Prairie).

"We're starting to get the big picture of where we want to be," Teaberry said. "The weather has been a tremendous hindrance this season, but the athletes always persevere and perform well in adverse conditions. I think we'll do well this weekend, because we're ready to compete."

The Jack Shaw Invitational will begin at 11 a.m. with the hammer throw and the last scheduled event is the 4x400 relay at 4:30 p.m. The MAC Championships are May 15-17 in Bowling Green, Ohio.