Ten members of the Northern Illinois University women’s track and field team were named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team, announced by the league office on Friday (June 10).

Sara Atkins (Warrenville, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South) claimed her third outdoor conference academic recognition, having also been named to the team in 2019 and 2021. Meagan Biddle (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Hoffman Estates), Kaitlyn Lewis (Liberty, Mo./Liberty) and Hannah Ricci (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) were each named to the Outdoor Track and Field Academic All-MAC Team for the second time. This was the first outdoor academic all-conference award for Julia Finegan (Palatine, Ill./Fremd), Kayla La Fontain (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East), Grace Louis (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore), Kaitlin Miller (Rochester, Minn./Rochester Century), Kendal Only (Huntley, Ill./Huntley) and Scout Regular (St. Louis, Mo./Incarnate Word Academy).

Among the on-track success for NIU’s Academic All-MAC honorees, Lewis was part of the Huskies’ MAC champion 4×400-meter relay team while Scout Regular (St. Louis, Mo./Incarnate Word Academy) was a NCAA preliminary qualifier and MAC runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles.

NIU finished fourth at the 2022 MAC Outdoor Championships, scoring 94 points, its third-most points in MAC Championship history. The Huskies also finished third at the conference indoor championship earlier this year and had nine Academic All-MAC honorees during the indoor season.

The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must be in their second year or later, have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport.

2022 NIU Women’s Track and Field Outdoor Academic All-MAC Honorees

• Sara Atkins, RS Senior, Exercise Physiology, 4.0
• Meagan Biddle, RS Senior, Special Education, 3.281
• Julia Finegan, Sophomore, Software Development, 4.0
• Kayla La Fontain, Junior, Psychology and Sociology, 3.281
• Kaitlyn Lewis, Senior, Biological Sciences, 3.618
• Grace Louis, Senior, Sport and Exercise Physiology, 4.0
• Kaitlin Miller, Junior, Pre-Physical Therapy, 4.0
• Kendal Only, Sophomore, Health Sciences, 3.531
• Scout Regular, Sophomore, Kinesiology, 3.355
• Hannah Ricci, Senior, Pre-Physical Therapy, 3.832