Juliane Totzke
The Northern Illinois track & field and cross country teams announced the signing of nine athletes Wednesday, bringing the total for the Class of 2012 signees to 10 for the Huskies.
“We are excited about our 2012 signees,” said Huskie director of track & field and cross country Connie Teaberry. “This group will help us continue in the positive direction our program is heading both athletically and academically. We are honored that these young ladies have chosen NIU to continue their endeavors with us.”
Overall, five of the nine new signees hail from Illinois. Additionally, two come to NIU from Wisconsin, while there is one each from Iowa and New Jersey.
In addition to October signee Juliane Totzke, the Huskie recruiting class has six distance athletes who will also be a part of the NIU cross country team this fall.
That group includes four 2011 all-state honorees – Ali Olson (Bloomer, Wis./Bloomer HS), Leah Raffety (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem HS), Hannah Savage (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls HS) and Taylor Vinhal (Dousman, Wis./Kettle-Moraine HS) – and Kansas State transfer Meghan Heuer (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North), who qualified for the 2010 NCAA Cross Country National Championships and the 2011 NCAA West Preliminary Round in the 1500 meters.
The Huskies will also add two highly talented sprinters in Alicia Osley (Dayton, N.J./South Brunswick HS) and local product Jaylaan Slaughter (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb HS). Not only have both set multiple records at their respective schools, but the duo has also qualified multiple times for USA Track & Field state and national meets.
In field events, NIU brings in Illinois products Olivia Herzog (Shelbyville, Ill./Okay Valley HS) and Ellen Renk (Peru, Ill./LaSalle-Peru HS). The two have placed in the top five at the state high school championships each of the last two seasons and have advanced to the Illinois state meet in their first three high school seasons.
Short biographies and statistics are available online.
For more information on NIU track & field, cross country and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
