WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Sophomore
Kenyae Majors (Burlington, N.C./Hugh Cummings) set a new school record in the long jump as the Northern Illinois University women's track and field team competed for the first time in 2019 on Saturday at Purdue's Gene Edmonds Invitational.
Majors recorded a best leap of 5.84m (19-02.00) to edge the previous school record of 5.83m (19-01.50) set by
Jehvania Whyte at last year's MAC Championships and finish fourth at the Gene Edmonds Invitational. Renate Van Tonder of Louisville won the long jump with a top mark of 6.11m (20-00.50), Majors' mark was a MAC Championship automatic qualifier.
"Kenyae really nailed a great jump tonight in her series," said NIU assistant coach
Adrian Myers. "That performance really shows what she's capable of and we look forward to seeing her consistency grow from that. Anytime you can take a school record off our board, it's a heck of a performance."
Junior
Remy Amarteifio (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) took second in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing just two one-hundredths of a second behind Amaya Chadwick of Purdue. After being the sixth qualifier out of the preliminaries, Amarteifio crossed the line in a time of 8.52 in the final, earning a MAC Championship automatic qualifying time and the fastest time in the conference this season.
"Remy is a consistent competitor that renders consistent high-level marks," said Myers. "She really started the night off right for our track competitors. Remy will always want more though, that's why she is great and we look forward to seeing her progress during both indoor and outdoor season."
Freshman
Jahnetta Jones (Romeoville, Ill./Romeoville) took second in the 400 meters, finishing with a time of 57.00 seconds, behind Purdue's Kyelah Hodges who won the 400 in 55.77.
"Jahnetta ran a great 400 tonight and showed everyone she will be someone to watch at this distance," said Myers. "She is an excellent competitor, her teammates
Taylor Tilmon and
Kaitlyn Lewis ran strong as well and continue to train to be great."
Tilmon took fifth in 58.76 and Lewis was seventh with a time of 59.35
In the 600 meters, junior
Grace Harris (Dousman, Wis.) claimed a second-place finish in a time of 1:39.00; Purdue's Samara Miller was first in a time of 1:34.26.
NIU had a pair of top-five finishers in the 3,000 meters as sophomore
Mackenzie Callahan (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) finished second and junior
Melissa Ricci (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) took fourth. Callahan recorded a time of 10:13.04 while Ricci was fourth, clocking in at 10:24.96. Aurilla Wilson of Louisville earned a first-place finish in 10:00.26.
"On the distance side, we wanted to take advantage of a low-key race environment to finish off a very hard training cycle," said Myers. "We got into deep waters this week in training and tonight had the women run off distances to challenge themselves a bit. It was fun just watching them race on tired legs but still finish strong."
The Huskies will return to action next Saturday, January 19, at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
60-Meter Dash
16.
Syanne Johnston, 7.85
19.
Britney Hew, 7.93
20.
Remy Amarteifio, 7.98
200-Meter Dash
12.
Syanne Johnston, 26.22
15.
Britney Hew, 26.38
400-Meter Dash
2.
Jahnetta Jones, 57.00
5.
Taylor Tilmon, 58.76
7.
Kaitlyn Lewis, 59.35
600-Meter Run
2.
Grace Harris, 1:39.00
6.
NeShay Curtis, 1:45.51
Mile Run
10.
Nora Finegan, 5:07.35
14.
Ericka Hibser, 5:10.14
15.
Vivian Overbeck, 5:11.05
18.
Daly Galloway, 5:13.29
24.
Sara Atkins, 5:18.73
3,000-Meter Run
2.
Mackenzie Callahan, 10:13.04
4.
Melissa Ricci, 10:24.96
8.
Brynn Bartlett, 11:01.78
9.
Meagan Biddle, 11:05.32
12.
Mercer Mack, 11:24.90
60-Meter Hurdles
2.
Remy Amarteifio, 8.52 (f), 8.74 (p)
10.
Aniese Phillips, 9.04
4x400-Meter Relay
2.
Taylor Tilmon,
NeShay Curtis,
Jahnetta Jones,
Kaitlyn Lewis, 3:55.14
6.
Britney Hew,
Remy Amarteifio,
Grace Harris,
Aniese Phillips, 4:10.24
Long Jump
4.
Kenyae Majors, 5.84m (19-02.00)
7.
Diamond Riley, 5.61m (18-05.00)
Shot Put
10.
Christina Wood, 9.91m (32-06.25)
Fatima Stingily, no mark
