SOUTH BEND, Ind. ­– The Northern Illinois University women's track & field team returns from Notre Dame's Blue & Gold Invite on Friday with a promising start to open the 2017-18 season as junior Jehvania Whyte (Kingston, Jamaica/Vere Technical) earned an indoor school record triple jump mark.
 
Whyte's first-place jump landing at 12.38 meters (40-07.50) surpassed her previous school record that she set last indoor season, marking an 11.92-meter jump at Grand Valley State (2-10-17).
 
"The athletes delivered solid performances today," said NIU head coach Connie Teaberry. "The veterans stood their ground and the freshman competed with heart. We walk away from this competition with several personal best performances, 4 automatic MAC qualifiers, and 1 School Record broken. "
 
Senior Chennel Palmer (Kingston Jamaica/St. Andrew), also won her event as she pulled off a 1.75-meter high jump to top her best jump last season and inch closer to her 1.77-meter school record that was set during her sophomore season.
 
In the 60-meter dash, senior Kedisha Dallas (Ocho Rios, Jamaica/GC Foster) led the Huskies in the preliminary round with another first place finish for the team running a 7.56 to qualify for the finals, where she took second place with a marginal gap of a thousandth of a second. Joining Dallas in the finals were freshmen Khenadi Jones (Sioux City, Iowa/Sioux City West) and Courtney Sockwell (Rockford, Ill./Rockford Lutheran) as they finished third and sixth place, respectively.
 
The Huskies recorded six additional top-three marks with second place finishes from Dallas in the 200-meter race and freshman Nora Finegan (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) in the 800-meters as well as third place finishes from Whyte in the long jump, senior Ashanti Hutton (Grandview, Mo./Grandview) in the 600-meters, sophomore Elizabeth Evans (Hampshire, Ill./Hampshire) and the 4x400-meter relay squad that included senior Doshawn Franks (Los Angeles, Calif./Palisades Charter), Hutton and sophomores Neshay Curtis (St. Louis, Mo./McCluer South Berkeley) and Grace Harris (Dousman, Wis./Alpha Omega Academy).
 
"This was our starting point," said Teaberry. "If the Ladies continue on this path, it's a sign of great things to come. Now, our focus shifts to finishing up the semester strong academically and making sure we can maintain our fitness during the winter break. When we return in January, we literally hit the ground running. There must be dedication on their part to complete their workouts, which I have no doubt they will. Definitely proud of our start!"
 
Final marks for the Huskies are listed below:
 
60-meters
Preliminaries
1 Dallas, Kedisha Northern Illinois 7.56q
3 Jones, Khenadi Northern Illinois 7.69q
5 Sockwell, Courtney Northern Illinois 7.78q
7 Johnston, Syanne Northern Illinois 7.82
11 Amarteifio, Remy Northern Illinois 7.97
14 Majors, Kenyae Northern Illinois 8.09
Finals
2 Dallas, Kedisha Northern Illinois 7.52 7.512 missed first by a thousandth of a second.
3 Jones, Khenadi Northern Illinois 7.69
6 Sockwell, Courtney Northern Illinois 7.73
 
60-meter hurdles
Preliminaries
6 Amarteifio, Remy Northern Illinois 8.81q
9 McCray, Kishona Northern Illinois 9.01
11 Majors, Kenyae Northern Illinois 9.06
Finals
6 Amarteifio, Remy Northern Illinois 8.91
 
200-meters
2 Dallas, Kedisha Northern Illinois 24.42
5 Johnston, Syanne Northern Illinois 25.27
9 Jones, Khenadi Northern Illinois 25.52
11 Amarteifio, Remy Northern Illinois 25.60
12 Sockwell, Courtney Northern Illinois 25.67
15 McCray, Kishona Northern Illinois 25.87
 
600-meters
3 Hutton, Ashanti Northern Illinois 1:33.87
4 Harris, Grace Northern Illinois 1:35.23 2
6 Franks, Doshawn Northern Illinois 1:35.39
8 Curtis, Neshay Northern Illinois 1:37.98
 
800-meters
2 Finegan, Nora Northern Illinois 2:15.28
3 Evans, Elizabeth Northern Illinois 2:36.94
 
4x400 Relay
3 Northern Illinois 'A' 3:52.74 2 1) Franks, Doshawn 2) Hutton, Ashanti 3) Curtis, Neshay 4) Harris, Grace
 
High Jump
1 Palmer, Chennel Northern Illinois 1.75m 5-08.75
 
Long Jump
3 Whyte, Jehvania Northern Illinois 5.54m 18-02.25
4 Majors, Kenyae Northern Illinois 5.49m 18-00.25
 
Triple Jump
1 Whyte, Jehvania Northern Illinois 12.38m 40-07.50
5 Green, Krysteena Northern Illinois 9.51m 31-02.50
 
Shot Put
7 Sicard, Ashley Northern Illinois 12.44m 40-09.75
13 Stingily, Fatima Northern Illinois 11.08m 36-04.25
 
 
-NIU-