CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Skylynn Blue (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished second in the 200-meter dash as the Northern Illinois University women's track and field team competed at the Fighting Illini Challenge on Saturday (April 8) at the Demirjian Park Track. The Huskies had three top-10 finishers in both the 100- and 200-meter dash in Saturday's competition. 

"Today, the weather was kind to us which led to some decent performances," said NIU Director of Track and Field Connie Teaberry. "We walk away from the competition with several personal and season bests. The execution and confidence were better than Georgia across the board, showing more focus.  

"Several athletes jumped into the top 20 of the MAC performance list and the goal is to keep improving on what we built today. We are proud of the athletes' achievements and each week we will work to gain an edge over the competition."

Blue ran a time of 24.02 seconds in the 200, second-best in the Mid-American Conference this year, finishing just behind first-place Kerris Roberts of Purdue, who ran 23.78 seconds. Kimone Hines (Hanover, Jamaica) won heat two and claimed sixth overall, running 24.76 seconds while Suerethia Henderson (Lima, Ohio) also earned a top-10 finish, crossing the line in 24.94 seconds to take ninth. 

The trio also earned top-10 finishes in the 100-meter dash. Hines took the top spot in the third heat of the 100, running 11.76 seconds, the second-fastest time in the MAC this season, to finish fifth overall. Blue was sixth overall in a time of 11.82 seconds, third-best in the MAC, while Henderson took 10th in 11.97 seconds. 

In the 100-meter hurdles, Scout Regular (St. Louis, Mo.) placed seventh with a time of 13.78 seconds, fourth-fastest in the MAC this season, while NIU also had a pair of top-10 marks in the 400 meters where Talayssia Sanders (Waco, Texas) recorded a time of 56.88 seconds to take eighth and Roshell Rowe (Manchester, N.J.) was ninth in 57.26 seconds. 

Next weekend, the NIU Track and Field team will head to the State of California as it competes in the Bryan Clay Invitational, Mt. SAC Relays and Beach Invitational. 

100-meter Dash
5. Kimone Hines, 11.76
6. Skylynn Blue, 11.82
10. Suerethia Henderson, 11.97
31. Ari Christian, 13.36

200-meter Dash
2. Skylynn Blue, 24.02
6. Kimone Hines, 24.76
9. Suerethia Henderson, 24.94
15. Scout Regular, 25.38
46. Ari Christian, 27.64

400-meter Dash
8. Talayssia Sanders, 56.88
9. Roshell Rowe, 57.26

800-meter Dash
20. Kennedy Crawford, 2:16.29
30. Emma Planck, 2:22.30
34. Emma Vorpagel, 2:23.46
40. Kayla La Fontain, 2:34.79
42. Carly Leonard, 2:39.85

1,500-meter Run
20. Emma Planck, 4:43.77
31. Julia Finegan, 4:51.87
36. Katelyn Robbins, 5:03.29
38. Joy Jackson, 5:07.07

5,000-meter Run
36. Lydia Bauer, 19:09.43
38. Sarah McLaughlin, 19:48.93

100-meter Hurdles
7. Scout Regular, 13.78
13. Aquilla St. Louis, 14.58
22. Kendal Only, 15.27

4x400-meter Relay
5. Rowe, Sanders, Blue, Crawford, 3:55.13
13. Regular, Southby, Vorpagel, La Fontain, 4:24.53

High Jump
10. Dymier Jeffery, 1.60m (5-03.00)

Triple Jump
7. Lovie Annafi, 11.34m (37-02.50)

Discus
16. Emily Rublein, 25.49m (83-07)

Shot Put
20. Emily Rublein, 7.09m (23-03.25)