April 17, 2008

DeKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois track and field team is set to compete at the Augie Invite, hosted by Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, Friday.

NIU Head Coach Connie Teaberry is confident in her team's continued upward climb, even as the athletes struggled through difficult weather last week at the Lee Calhoun Memorial. The Huskies expect see more inclement weather for Friday's meet, with an 80 percent chance of precipitation.

"We're heading in the right direction," head coach Connie Teaberry said. "In the outdoor season you always have the hiccups of the rain and wind, but the girls have done a good job persevering through that and battling the elements."

Seniors Elizabeth Berquist and Meagan Guenther will look for consecutive individual titles at the Augie Invite. Last weekend, Guenther captured first place in the hammer with a throw of 164-9, and Berquist picked up her first event win of the outdoor season with a 5-7 mark in the high jump. Sophomore Jessica Statler, who won the high jump at the expense of Berquist the week before, placed second.

"When you look at our results, you'll see (Berquist and Statler) go back and forth," Teaberry said. "One will do well one week, and the other will do well the next."

The pair may go back and forth, but they are always competing near the top. This outdoor season, the two have combined for two first, three second, and two third place finishes in just four events.

But the heights Statler and Berquist are achieving, 5-07.00 for Berquist at the Calhoun, aren't high enough to satisfy Teaberry, a former Olympian in the event. To get her athletes to perform at the next level, Teaberry is raising the bar in practice, up as high as 5-11.00.

"You've got to see it in practice to be able to do it," Teaberry said.

Junior Shoshanna Brown and sophomore Brittany Houghton are developing a similar internal rivalry to what Berquist and Statler share. Houghton, who normally prevails in the long jump, outleapt Brown in the triple jump for the first time two weeks ago. Last week at the Lee Calhoun, Brown scored in both events while Houghton sat with an injury.

"Shoshanna is one of those girls who came onto the team as a walk-on and has really improved each year," Teaberry said. "It took a lot last weekend, with the difficult weather and our top long jumper hurt, to step-up when we needed the points, and she did."

Houghton will likely return to the long jump and triple jump Friday for the Augie Invite, and the internal competition can continue.

"As much as they love each other, they're very competitive," Teaberry said. "I think that helps the team."

In addition to the emergence of Brown and Houghton as big scorers in the jumps, the Huskies saw several distance runners earn points for the first time this year at the Lee Calhoun Memorial. Denisse Valladares, Sunsea Shaw and Allison Grissom combined to score 12 team points for NIU in the 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter runs.

"The girls we have now stepping up and competing to get some points on the board for us is huge, because it's an area where we are still developing," Teaberry said. "Those girls know what they want to get when they go out there. They want to get first."

Teaberry said she expects the same consistency from Guenther and fellow thrower Cora Caulfield, along with sprinter Coretta Evans, all of whom scored in two events each last weekend.

With the additional strength of Brown and Houghton in the long and triple jumps, and the emergence of scoring athletes in distance events, Teaberry and the Huskies feel ready to attack the Augie Invite, despite the prospect of poor conditions.

"We're trying to instill in the girls that it could be like this at Drake Relays, and it could be like this at the conference championships," Teaberry said. "So we need to brave those elements, move forward and give a good effort, and that's what we're going to do."