By Karen Eknaian

The clapping, screaming, running, jumping, throwing; it was all happening at the Husky Invitational last Friday. Crimson, gold, blue, black, white, red, and purple uniforms streaked across the indoor track of the Reggie Lewis Center. With fifteen teams competing, the starting gun went off for the first race at around 4:30 and was the beginning of a very exciting night.

“It was a big turnout. I mean it’s a Friday and there are so many people here. It just gets better every year,” said Joane Merlain, a middle distance senior and one of three captains for Northeastern woman’s track and field team.

The competition centered around this eighth of a mile track began with the singing of the National Anthem, sung by four Northeastern track members, Shanae Henry, Natalee Pennicooke, Ahndraea Allen, and Ashley Wilson. Northeastern came in second out of those fifteen, with 102. Southern California came in first with 110.33, Connecticut was third with 81, next came Syracuse with 79 in fourth, Yale was fifth with 70.50, sixth was Boston College with 69.50, Williams College with 44.33 in seventh, UMass Lowell with 23 in eighth, Rhode Island with 22.33 in ninth, New Hampshire came in 10th with 16, Vermont was 11th with 14 points, tied for 12th was Jacksonville and Stonehill College both with 10, 14th was UMass-Amherst, and 15th was Colgate with three.

With fellow teammates, coaches, and spectators screaming and cheering for their athletes, the track was exploding with noise. With about five hundred people just as spectators, not to mention all of the teams and official personal, the arena was hot and hoppin’.

“Everything is coming together. It’s a good meet. Jordine [Kimbrel] and Ahndraea [Allen] are running well. The freshmen are stepping up with DaviAnn [Brown] with the 500, Zara [Northover] in shot put, Nubia [Newsome] and Wittly [Jourdan] who ran the hurdles,” said Tina Ibraheen, sophomore sprinter and jumper.

Northeastern came in first in the 400 meter dash with Allen’s time of 55.12 seconds and placed first in the 500 meter dash with Brown’s run in 1:16:25. Northeastern held second and third place in the 200 meter dash with runs by Kimbrel and Allen, with times of 24.79 and 24.81, respectively. In the women’s relays, Northeastern came in second in the 4 x 400. After the third event, athletes were lining up to get ice and attention from the trainers, who had set up a station on one end of the field.

“Everyone is stepping up to the plate. There’s a lot of competition. This is the best meet I’ve seen with the competition and everything,” said Ebony Jack, senior sprinter and another of the three team captains.

Jourdan placed second in the 55-meter high hurdles with a time of 8.34 seconds. Nicole Parker put up more points for Northeastern when she came in third in the women’s high jump with a height of 1.73 meters. In pole vaulting, Joanelle Bailey-Chandler came in third, vaulting a distance of 3.66 meters. Northeastern came in third with a shot put throw of 48 feet and 7.25 inches by Northover.

“The team is like a family. There’s a connection. Everyone works together and everyone does their part,” said Newsome, freshman hurdler and jumper.