ATHENS, Ohio – Northern Illinois University senior Kamiya Dendy won the high jump, and Emma Vorpagel, Precious Umukoro and Jasmijn Raes scored in the 800 meters, triple jump and high jump, respectively, as the Huskie track and field team enjoyed its best day at the 2025 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships Saturday.
 
"I am extremely proud of this young group.  Our place does not show the work these athletes put in this weekend," said NIU Director of Track & Field Connie Teaberry. "We had several near misses point wise. As we grow mentally and physically, they will come into their own and shock the conference.  So happy for Precious, Emma Vorpagel, and Kamiya, and the 4 x 400 for putting points on the board today, they rose to the competition." 
 
Dendy, a senior from Anderson, S.C. (Pendleton HS) became the first MAC Champion in school history in the high jump at the MAC Outdoor Championships. After 12 athletes, including Dendy and NIU teammate Jasmijn Raes, who finished tied for eighth, cleared the bar at 1.71 meters, only Dendy and Eastern Michigan's Micah Martin went over the next height of 1.76. Dendy won the title with a career best jump of 1.79, which she cleared on her first attempt as Martin could go no higher.
 
"Our first MAC Champion in school history in the high jump, Kamiya Dendy did not disappoint," Teaberry said. "She was ready to do great things. Her practices leading up to MACs were amazing and she had to show up and compete and she did. This young lady has a story and has overcome so much adversity. This win is special and I'm so happy I was able to see her put the exclamation point on her final outdoor MAC Championship competition!"
 
Hartland, Wisconsin native Vorpagel (Arrowhead HS) earned the bronze medal with a third-place finish in the 800 meters in a time of 2:08.94, becoming the first medalist in that event for NIU since 2018.   
 
"Emma's race was electrifying," Teaberry said. "Each year she has worked hard, and her last two outdoor seasons have really shown her growth. Coach [Juan] Carrillo kept her confidence up mentally and physically, focusing on medaling and she did just that. She has worked herself into the second fastest time in NIU history this season." 
 
Umukoro, a freshman from Villareal, Spain, started the scoring for NIU with a fifth-place finish in the triple jump. After fouling on her first two attempts, she needed to move into the top nine on her third jump to advance to the finals and secure three more attempts. She did that by going 12.00 meters and followed a similar script in the finals, fouling twice before jumping a career best 12.33 (40-5 ½) to score four points.
 
"Precious was backed into a corner with two fouls in the prelims and on her last jump leaped from last to eighth," Teaberry said. "Then given three more jumps, she and Coach [Robin] Butler decided to go for it and it paid off with a huge improvement moving her to fifth. What a clutch competitor and performance."
 
In addition to the individual performances, the NIU 4 x 400 relay team of Esther Momalife, Talayssia Sanders, Sam Huber and Vorpagel closed out the meet by running a season-best 3:45.77 to place seventh and add two points to the NIU total.
 
Despite missing several potential point scorers, the Huskies finished the meet with 25.5 points, 1.5 behind 11th-place Ohio.   
 
SATURDAY HUSKIE RESULTS
2025 MAC Championships
Athens, Ohio – Goldberry Track
 
High Jump
1. Kamiya Dendy – 1.79/5-10 ½ (10 points)
T8. Jasmijn Raes – 1.71/5-7 ¼ (0.5 points)
T19. Samira Rosenfeld – 1.61/5-3 ¼
 
800 Meters
3. Emma Vorpagel – 2:08.94 (6 points)
 
Triple Jump
5. Precious Umukoro – 12.33/40-5 1/2 (4 points)
17. Aniya Barton – 11.08/36-4 ¼
 
4x400-meter Relay
7. NIU (Momalife, Sanders, Huber, Vorpagel) 3:45.77 (2 points)
 
4x100-Meter Relay
9. NIU (Momalife, Oyebode, Huber, Rouse) – 46.94
 
Discus
20. Ella Bertram – 36.05/118-3
 
-- NIU --
 
Twitter: @NIUAthletics
Facebook: NIU Huskies
Instagram: niuhuskies
YouTube: NIU Athletics Official