Northern Illinois University Athletics

Former American Olympian Connie Teaberry enters her 22nd season as head coach of the Northern Illinois University Track & Field program in 2025-26, which also marks her 15th season as the Huskies' Director of Track & Field. During Teaberry's tenure as the head coach of the NIU track & field program, the Huskies have broken 125 school records, won 43 MAC titles, qualified 63 for NCAA regionals and sent seven individuals to the NCAA Championships.

Since being named as NIU’s head coach on December 2, 2004, the Huskie record book has literally been rewritten as every current school record has been set during Teaberry’s time in charge of the NIU program.

Teaberry’s accomplishments at NIU have not gone unnoticed as she represented USA Track and Field as a coach numerous times. This fall, Teaberry will serve as the women’s multis/jumps coach for Team USA at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She served in the same role at the 2024 World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. 

Teaberry’s international coaching resume also includes the 2019 NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean) U23 Championships, where she was the multis/jumps coach for Team USA. She was also slated to be on the Team USA staff at the 2020 World Athletics U20 Championships before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Since 2015, NIU has had four All-America honors and won 37 MAC Championships. Teaberry was named the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year during the indoor season in both 2020 and 2021 and guided the Huskies to the 2021 MAC Indoor team title. 

This past season (2024-25), Precious Umukoro was named the MAC Women’s Indoor Freshman Field Performer of the Year and Kamiya Dendy became the first Huskie to win the high jump at the MAC Outdoor Championships. In 2024, Arianna Calloway was named the MAC Women’s Indoor Freshman Field co-Performer of the Year. 

Teaberry's inaugural season as the head coach of the women's track and field team was in 2004-05, when she helped mentor NIU’s first individual MAC Championship in over 25 years as Alicja Czajka won the 3,000-meter steeplechase. 

The following year, Teaberry guided the Huskies to first-place finishes in both the indoor and outdoor Chicagoland Championships meets. The 2005-06 season also saw Teaberry's charges reach unparalleled success as the Huskies set and re-set 30 school individual records and produced NIU's second-ever MAC Champion as Ashley Morrow won the shot put. The 2006-07 indoor and outdoor track seasons featured three NCAA Regional Qualifiers, six school records, and saw Morrow advance to the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif.

In 2007-08, Teaberry’s fourth season, Brittany Houghton broke a 28-year old school indoor long jump record and Coretta Evans set a new school mark in the 200-meter dash. 

Seven school records were set during the 2008-09 campaign. During the indoor season, Patty Bautista broke the school record in the pole vault and went on to do the same during the outdoor campaign. Also in the outdoor season, new records were set in the 3,000-meter run, 4x200-meter relay, the triple jump and the javelin throw.

During the 2009-10 season, two Huskies qualified for the NCAA West Region Preliminary in Megan Gregory and Courtney Oldenburg. Gregory reset the school 100-meter hurdle record five times during the season as she reached the NCAA West Regional while Oldenburg qualified in the 1,500 meters. 

In 2010-11, the Huskies sent two entries - thrower Cora Caulfield and the 4x100m relay team of Chanel Kellyman, Roneisha Frye, Brittany Smith and Rasheta Butler - to the NCAA West Preliminary in Eugene, Ore. Additionally, seven indoor and six outdoor records were broken during the season, while the team posted a program best for total points at the MAC Outdoor meet. 

In 2011-12 the Huskie track and field team broke 24 school records in the indoor and outdoor seasons. NIU also set then-program records for most points scored at the indoor (48) and outdoor (55.33) conference championships, placing seventh and eighth, respectively. On an individual level, NIU fielded four conference champions, as Kellyman (60 meters), Gregory (60 hurdles), Janay Mitchell (100 meters) and the 4x100 relay team each reached the top of the podium. The Huskies also sent a record four entries - Mitchell in the 100 and 200 meters, Frye in the 100 hurdles and the 4x100 relay - to the NCAA West Preliminary Round, with the 4x100 relay of Kellyman, Mitchell, Frye and Butler coming four-tenths of a second short of advancing to nationals.

Teaberry’s program continued to reach new heights in 2013-14 as freshman Claudette Day became the second Huskie ever to advance to the NCAA Championships, where she finished 21st in the high jump. To add to a season of success, a total of 14 indoor and outdoor school records fell, and NIU sent four student-athletes - Day, Meghan Heuer, Ali Olson and Sidra Sherril - to the NCAA West Preliminary Round in Fayetteville, Ark.

The 2014-15 campaign was another historic season for the Huskies as they finished fourth at both the MAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. NIU also more than doubled its all-time MAC gold medal winners list, as Huskies won three championships at the indoor MAC meet and five first-place honors at the MAC outdoor event, taking NIU’s all-time total from six to 14 in the span of one year. As the Huskies continued their upward rise to the top of the MAC in 2015, NIU also had nine qualifiers for the NCAA West Regional, while multi-event specialist Latesha Bigby won the heptathlon at the prestigious Penn Relays and the Huskies swept the 4x100 and 4x400 relays at the MAC outdoor meet.

In 2015-16, Teaberry’s Huskies had a program-record third-place finish with 110.5 points at the MAC Outdoor Championships. Kedisha Dallas, the MAC’s Most Outstanding Track Performer for 2016, was the standout performer among NIU’s six qualifiers for the NCAA West Preliminary Round, while distance runners Kelsey Hildreth and Schmelzle narrowly missed advancing to nationals.

NIU earned its third consecutive top-four finish at the MAC Outdoor Championships during the 2016-17 season, which included three MAC Champions as Lorena Martin took top honors in the 800 meters while Hope Schmelzle won both the 1,500 meters and the 3,000-meter steeplechase while also being named the MAC Championship Most Outstanding Track Performer. Schmelzle went on to earn NIU’s first All-America honor with a sixth-place finish in the steeplechase at the NCAA Championships while also garnering Academic All-America recognition. 

During the 2017-18 season, Whyte earned a pair of All-America honors as she finished eighth in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships, becoming NIU’s first indoor All-American, and also took seventh at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Whyte won the MAC Championship both indoor and outdoor in the triple jump and was also named the Indoor MAC Championship Most Outstanding Field Performer. In addition to Whyte’s accomplishments, Tutt was named the MAC’s Most Outstanding Freshman Track Performer at both the indoor and outdoor championships. 

The 2018-19 season saw Whyte win the MAC Championship in the triple jump both indoors and outdoors while also qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Taylor Tilmon was named the MAC’s Freshman Track Performer of the Year at the indoor championship while Diamond Riley earned the MAC Freshman Field Performer of the Year award indoors. 

During the 2020 indoor season, Teaberry was named MAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Huskies to a program-best second-place finish at the MAC Championship. NIU posted a program-high 102 points, just two points shy of capturing the title, and won three MAC titles as Tutt won at both 3,000 and 5,000 meters while Jehvania Whyte claimed the triple jump crown. Tutt was named Most Outstanding Performer at the meet and NIU’s Adrian Myers was named MAC Assistant Coach of the Year. 

The 2020-21 campaign saw the Huskies reach new heights as NIU won the MAC Indoor Championship, the first team title in program history. Teaberry was named MAC Coach of the Year for the second-straight indoor season as the Huskie scored 127 points, 23 ahead of second-place Akron. NIU captured four individual indoor titles as Ashley Tutt won the mile, 3,000 and 5,000 and Kimone Hines captured the 60 meters. Tutt went on to earn All-America honors in the 5,000, finishing 13th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Outdoors, Tutt won the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the 2021 MAC Championships while Jazmyn Smith took the conference crown in the long jump. Tutt and Remy Amarteifio qualified for the NCAA West Preliminary, with Tutt moving on to the NCAA Championships in the 10,000 meters. 

In 2021-22, Teaberry led the Huskies to top-four finishes at both the MAC Indoor and Outdoor Championships, taking third indoors and fourth outdoors. Kadeja Campbell won the 400 meters indoors while Skylynn Blue won the 200 and the Huskies claimed the 4x400-meter relay outdoors. NIU’s 94 points at the outdoor championships was its third-most points in program history; six Huskies qualified for the 2022 NCAA West Preliminary. 

During the 2022-23 season, Teaberry’s Huskies claimed four conference titles as Kadeja Campbell won the 200 and 400 meters at the MAC Indoor Championship, Diamond Riley won the triple jump at the MAC Outdoor Championship and the Huskies won the 4x400-meter relay indoors. Campbell was named the MAC Most Outstanding Track Performer at the Indoor Championships. NIU had three NCAA Preliminary qualifiers and also has three school records fall during the 2022-23 campaign. 

Teaberry came to NIU after brief stints as an assistant women's track coach at Ohio University (2004), Arizona State University (1998-99), the University of Toledo (1995-98), and the University of Kentucky (1992-95). She displayed her ability to develop jumpers and sprinters in eight years as an assistant, as she developed eight NCAA qualifiers and two individual conference champions.

A St. Louis, Mo. native, Teaberry began her outstanding athletics career at Lutheran North High School where she won four varsity letters in both basketball and track (1984-88). 

As a student-athlete at Kansas State, Teaberry began her ascension in the world high jumping hierarchy with three Big Eight Conference outdoor titles (1990-92). As a senior, Teaberry was selected the Most Valuable Female Athlete at the Big Eight indoor meet and the Kansas State Woman of the Year Award recipient. Teaberry was a six-time All-American in the high jump, placing at the NCAA indoors in 1990 and 1992, and all four season outdoors from 1989 through 1992. Teaberry's 6-1.5 jump at the 1992 Big Eight meet remains the third-best outdoor high jump in school history as does her 6-2.25 effort indoors at the 1992 Big Eight Championships.

At the international level, Teaberry participated in the U.S.A./Mobil Track & Field Championships and World Championships (1993-95), two Olympic Trials (1992 & 1996), the Olympics (1996), and the World University Games (1993).

Teaberry finished second in the high jump at the 1996 Olympic Trials and qualified for the U.S. Olympic team for the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, where she tied for 15th place. At the 1992 Olympic Trials, she placed 10th in the high jump.

She was inducted in the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 and the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame in 2018. 

Teaberry graduated from Kansas State with a Bachelor of Science degree in life science and pre-nursing and made the Academic Honor Roll in the spring of 1992. She is married to DeMarcus Lindsey of Mobile, Ala., who serves as a sergeant with the NIU Police. The couple has two children, sons Kameron, and Kollan.