Cora Caulfield
Cora Caulfield set another school record in the discus as the Northern Illinois women’s track and field team competed at the Viking Olympics at Augustana College. In addition to Caulfield’s record, the Huskies won nine other events while facing cold and windy conditions throughout the meet.
Caulfield won the discus with a school-record throw of 162-11, over 30 feet better than the second-place competitor. Caulfield’s mark bettered her own school-record of 159-8, set in the opening outdoor meet of the season, the Point Loma Invitational, two weeks ago.
“The ladies that travelled this weekend did very well to persevere through the weather,” said NIU head coach Connie Teaberry. “The weather conditions were not great but it showed the determination of our team to deal with that and still put up good marks. It showed the level of dedication that these ladies have to their sport, their university and to themselves that they did not let the weather effect their ability to compete. We look forward to the weather breaking and returning to competition at the University of Missouri.”
In addition to Caulfield’s discus record, the Huskies won two other field events at Augustana. Rochelle Muskeyvalley claimed top honors in the long jump, leaping 17-2.25, leading a one-two for NIU with Deida McIntosh taking second with a mark of 16-9.75. Jenner Sio was victorious in the triple jump with a winning leap of 36-3.50, nearly three feet ahead of the rest of the field.
The Huskies also swept the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relay events. In the 4×100, the NIU quartet of Rhonda Lee, Chanel Kellyman, Roneisha Frye and Rasheta Butler took first in a time of 47.96 seconds. Kellyman then led off the victorious 4×400-meter relay, she was joined by Jenelle McCalla, Courtney Oldenburg and Butler, who ran the anchor leg and finished in 4:03.15, six seconds ahead of the pack.
Both hurdle events were also won by NIU as Frye took the 100-meter hurdles and McCalla claimed the 400-meter hurdles. Frye was first to the tape in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.02 seconds, almost a full second ahead of the second-place runner. McCalla ran the 400 hurdles in a time of 1:06.31 to finish the hurdle sweep for NIU.
Other Huskie event wins came in the 100 meters, 400 meters and 800 meters. Lee picked up the victory in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.41 seconds. Butler led a one-two for NIU in the 400-meter dash, winning with a time of 59.84 seconds; Kellyman took second for the Huskies with a time of 1:00.03. Rebecca Cronin also led a one-two for Northern Illinois in the 800-meter run. Cronin was first across the line with a time of 2:20.89 and Oldenburg was just behind in second with a time of 2:23.72.
Jackie Sciacero also posted a personal-best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:56.56, good for second-place, and Mary Bull also recorded a personal-best in the shot put with a mark of 41-10.50, also finishing second.
NIU will return to competition at the Tom Botts Invitational, hosted by the University of Missouri. The two-day event begins on Friday, April 8, and will conclude the following day.
For more information on NIU womnen’s track and field and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
