DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's track and field team will conclude its regular season at home on Saturday (May 3) as it hosts the Huskie Classic at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex. Field event competition is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. with track events slated to start at 1 p.m. NIU will recognize its 2025 seniors in a ceremony at 12:15 p.m. Admission to Saturday's meet is free of charge. 

Saturday's meet is the lone opportunity for the Huskie to compete at home during the track and field season, something that NIU Director of Track and Field Connie Teaberry says gives the meet extra significance. 

"This weekend is extremely important to our student-athletes," said Teaberry. "We are often traveling, both during indoor and outdoor season, and we only have this one opportunity to compete on home soil. It gives our athletes the opportunity to see the support they have on campus from friends and family."

The meet also represents the final opportunity to compete before the conference championships which begin in less than two weeks. 

"It gives our athletes the opportunity to fine tune, and qualify, for the conference meet," said Teaberry. "And being able to do it here with the support at NIU at their backs will hopefully catapult our athletes to something special."

Coming into Saturday's final meet of the regular season, Emma Vorpagel (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) holds the top time in the Mid-American Conference in the 800 meters, having run 2:08.00 last weekend at the Drake Relays. 

Kamiya Dendy (Anderson, S.C./Pendleton) has the fourth-best mark in the high jump in the conference after clearing a season-best height of 1.75 meters (5-08.75) at Drake. Jasmijn Raes (Amsterdam, Netherlands) and Arianna Calloway (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) are tied for fifth in the high jump, both having cleared 1.74 meters (5-08.50) this spring. 

The trio, along with Samira Rosenfeld (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) who is ranked 17th in the MAC, combine to be the sixth ranked high jump group in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) rankings. 

Two Huskies are ranked in the top-10 in the MAC in the long jump, with Malia Watkins (Upper Marlboro, Md./Frederick Douglass) ranked third and Precious Umukoro (Villarreal, Spain) ranked seventh. Watkins is also eighth in the 100 meters while Umukoro is eighth in the triple jump. 

After this Saturday's meet, the Huskies will return to action at the MAC Outdoor Championships in Athens, Ohio, May 15-17.