DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's track and field team heads to Athens, Ohio, this weekend to compete in the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships, hosted by Ohio University, at Goldsberry Track. The competition will begin on Thursday, May 15 and continue through Saturday, May 17. 

Each of the meets three days will include coverage on ESPN+, the broadcast will begin at 11 a.m. CT all three days.

"These ladies have been training since the fall, since August for our distance ladies and the others since September for this very moment," said NIU Director of Track and Field Connie Teaberry. "The outdoor championship is the end of it all and they know that this is the time to put it all on the line. With the ladies we have traveling, we feel like they are ready to go, they just have to seize the moment and do what Huskies do, and that's show up."

NIU ranks among the nation's elite in the high jump, where the Huskies are tied for eighth in the current United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Event Rankings. 

Kamiya Dendy (Anderson, S.C./Pendleton) is the top-ranked Huskie in the high jump this spring, clearing a height of 1.75 meters (5-08.75) to tie for fourth in the MAC and 82nd nationally. Jasmijn Raes (Amsterdam, Netherlands) is tied for sixth in the conference, having cleared 1.74 meters (5-08.50). 

Last season at the MAC Outdoor Championships, hosted by NIU, Dendy finished third in the high jump. Earlier this season at the conference indoor meet, Dendy earned runner-up honors with Raes taking third. 

Buffalo's Zahra Amos is the defending champion and holds the best mark in the league this spring, having cleared 1.78 meters (5-10.00). 

In the 800 meters, Emma Vorpagel (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) has run personal-best times in each of her last two meets, including a time of 2:07.65 at Indiana's Billy Hayes Invitational last Friday (May 9). That time made Vorpagel the second-fastest Huskie ever in the 800 meters, behind Hope Schmelzle, and is also the third-best time in the 800 this season. Last year, Vorpagel finished seventh in the 800 at the MAC Outdoor Championships. 

Earlier this year at the MAC Indoor Championships, Precious Umukoro (Villarreal, Spain) was named Women's Indoor Freshman Field Performer of the Year after claiming second in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump. She enters the outdoor meet ranked eighth in the league in the long jump and ninth in the triple jump. 

Giorgia Fino (Francavila Fontana, Italy) heads into the MAC Championships ranked seventh in the javelin. 

Action will begin at the MAC Outdoor Championships at 9 a.m. CT Thursday with the heptathlon, field events will start at 10 a.m. CT and running events at 4 p.m. CT.