Baseball: Northern Illinois continued to struggle at home, but did pick up a midweek win on the road. NIU started the week off with a rain-soaked 2-1 loss to Northwestern at Geneva's Elfstrom Stadium on Tuesday. The Huskies rebounded with a dramatic 11-9 win at UIC Wednesday. However, Central Michigan added to Northern's home woes, sweeping the Huskies in the three-game set with scores of 11-2, 3-1 and 7-0.

Softball: The Huskies' season came to an end over the weekend as they dropped two games to Western Michigan. After leading early in Saturday's tilt, NIU fell to the Broncos, 5-3. Things were very similar in the second game of the series on Sunday, as NIU took a 2-1 lead through the first inning and a half. However, WMU put up one run in the third, fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-2 decision.

Men's Golf: Northern Illinois finished in seventh place as hosts of the 2012 Mid-American Conference Championships at Rich Harvest Farms after the final round of the tournament was cancelled due to inclement weather. Individually, freshman Thomas Dunne led the way for the Huskies with a tie for eighth place.

Two Huskie squads - baseball and track & field - are in action during finals week. The track & field team heads to Central Michigan for the 2012 Mid-American Outdoor Championships, which take place Thursday through Saturday. For baseball, they head to Kalamazoo Friday for a pivotal three-game set against the Western Michigan Broncos.

Football: Quarterback Jordan Lynch showed that he plans a seamless transition into the starting role as he threw for 402 yards on 29-of-44 passing with four touchdowns Saturday at Huskie Stadium in Northern Illinois' Red-White Spring Football Game. Lynch led the Red team, composed of the Huskie starting units on offense and defense, to a 31-6 victory over the White team in the final spring football practice of 2012.

Baseball: Despite strong pitching, the Huskies were swept at home over the weekend by the Toledo Rockets. The series opened with a 7-3 win by UT despite the Huskies holding the lead through seven innings. The Huskie offense struggled again on Saturday with a 5-1 loss, then dropped the finale in extras by a 4-3 margin.

Softball: It was a rough week for Northern Illinois as they lost all five games during the week. The week began with a 6-1 loss at UIC before hitting the road for two MAC series. Things did not improve at Ohio, though, as NIU dropped both games of a doubleheader, 4-1 and 9-3. The Huskies fell Saturday at Akron, 8-6, then closed out the week with a 12-6 defeat against the Zips.

Track & Field: The Huskies had a big week at two major meets during the weekend, breaking five school records between the Kansas Relays and Mt. SAC Relays. On Thursday, Courtney Oldenburg broke her own NIU mark in the 1500 meters with a 4:27.64 run, while Juliane Totzke toppled the 10,000 meters record with a 36:23.93 clip. Friday saw Chanel Kellyman set a new record in the 100 meters and Roneisha Frye (100 hurdles) and Rebecca Cronin (800 meters) added their names to the record books on Saturday.

Men's Golf: The Northern Illinois men's golf team wrapped up the regular season portion of its schedule with a seventh-place finish at the Boilermaker Invitational at the Kampen Course on the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex. Freshman Thomas Dunne was the top-finishing Huskie, taking 13th with a final round 75.

Men's Tennis: The Northern Illinois men's tennis team surpassed the 20-win plateau for the first time since 1989 Friday with wins over Chicago State, 7-0, and Illinois-Chicago, 5-0. The Huskies close the regular season with a regular season record of 21-6 and MAC record of 4-1.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies dropped their final two regular season games at home this weekend. NIU was swept by Akron, 7-0, on Saturday, then dropped their Senior Day showdown with Buffalo, 5-2. The squad finishes their regular season at 11-11 overall and 2-6 in the MAC.

Six Huskie teams will compete this week. Three programs (men's tennis, women's tennis and women's golf) will head to their respective MAC Championships, including women's tennis hosting the conference tournament in DeKalb. In addition, softball hosts their final home game of the year Wednesday against Northwestern and baseball welcomes Milwaukee on Tuesday.

Baseball: The Huskies' week got off to a rough start Tuesday when they were dealt a 22-3 loss from Illinois State. The team rebounded quite well on Friday, as NIU took an 8-7 victory against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. Following Saturday's washout, the Huskies claimed the series behind a 7-5 victory in Sunday's first game, then got the sweep in the night cap with a wild 13-11 win against MU.

Softball: Northern Illinois went 2-3 during their week-long homestand at Mary M. Bell Field. On Tuesday, the Huskies' bats were silenced in a 6-1 decision against DePaul. Things would not improve on Friday, as NIU got swept in a doubleheader against Buffalo, 7-3 and 8-3. The team got back on the winning track Saturday with a 7-3 win against Kent State, then completed the two-game sweep with a 9-4 win on Senior Day.

Track & Field: The Northern Illinois track & field team closed out their weekend at the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational on a high note, taking four event titles Saturday in Macomb, Ill. Despite holding several of their top performers out of the meet, the Huskies took third place in the 13-team field with 126 points. Marquette won the meet with 202 points, while host Western Illinois was runner-up with 165.5 points.

Men's Golf: Junior Kurtis Luedtke recorded his best collegiate tournament finish, tying for eighth, helping lead Northern Illinois to a tie for fourth place at the COG Mizzou Intercollegiate. The Huskies posted a final round score of 298 to finish the 54-hole event with a total of 887, tied with IUPUI. Host Missouri won the team title for the second consecutive season with a total score of 856, the Tigers' Ryan Zech took individual medalist honors with an eight-under score of 208.

Women's Golf: The Huskies finished seventh at the Falcon Invitational hosted by Bowling Green Friday and Saturday. Allie Parthie moved up seven spots after trimming two strokes off her first round score of 80 to card a 158 and finish in ninth. Senior Kelsie Passolt made the biggest jump, climbing 15 spots to 22nd after posting a second round 80 to finish with a 163.

Men's Tennis: NIU went 1-1 over the weekend in their final home matches of the season. The Huskies stopped Toledo Saturday, 5-2, to move to 3-0 in MAC play. However, the team's unbeaten streak came to an end Sunday when Buffalo topped Northern, 5-2, in Rockford.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies split their two MAC matches for the second straight week. On Friday, NIU was bested by conference-leading Miami (Ohio), 6-1, in Oxford. The team ended their road trip on a positive note, though, with a tight 4-3 win against Ball State.

Six Huskie teams are in action during the upcoming week. The big event in DeKalb this weekend in SpringFest, which takes place Saturday with the Spring Football Game, baseball playing Toledo and women's tennis battling Akron.

Baseball: Northern Illinois came close to grabbing a win over the weekend, but Ohio emerged with a three-game sweep over the Huskies in DeKalb. The NIU bullpen lost control of the game Friday in a 13-2 Bobcat victory. The two schools were locked in a pitcher's dual on Saturday - including NIU's Jake Hermsen throwing 138 pitches and getting seven strikeouts. Yet, Ohio got timely hitting for a 3-1 win. The series concluded with a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams combine for 29 runs and 31 hits, but the Bobcats got the sweep in a 19-10 marathon.

Softball: Northern Illinois rebounded from a tough first week of April to grab thee conference wins over the weekend. NIU would split a Friday doubleheader with Eastern Michigan, dropping the first game, 2-0, before grabbing the second in a 4-0 win. Playing at Central Michigan on Saturday, the Huskies dominated the Chippewas in a 5-1 win. The next day, NIU got a go-ahead two-run home run from Dani Parrish in the top of the seventh for a 4-2 win against CMU.

Track & Field: The Northern Illinois track & field team won the Chicagoland Intercollegiate Championships Friday in Chicago behind six event titles and several top five finishes. NIU scored 174 team points on the blustery day to take first in the 18-team field, followed by DePaul in second place with 136 and UIC in third with 85.

Women's Golf: The Northern Illinois University women's golf team finished ninth at the Marsh Landing Invitational hosted by the University of Cincinnati Tuesday. The Huskies were unable to move up the leaderboard after shooting a final round 332 for a total of 697. Stetson won the event, carding an 894, with SU's Alex Buelow winning the individual championship posting a 217.

Gymnastics: Northern Illinois gymnasts Kim Gotlund and Tanya Rachan had mixed results in representing the Huskies in the 2012 NCAA Gymnastics Champaign Regional on Saturday at the University of Illinois' Assembly Hall. Representing NIU with two competitors in the NCAAs for the first time since 2009, Gotlund had one of her best all-around scores of the season while Rachan slipped up for the first time all season in the floor exercise

Men's Tennis: Northern Illinois stayed unbeaten in MAC action with a 6-1 win against Ball State. After dropping the doubles point, the Huskies rattled off six singles wins to defeat the 2011 MAC champions. On Sunday, NIU lost 4-3 to Marquette in Milwaukee, Wis.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies split two conference matches in DeKalb over the weekend. NIU dropped a 5-2 match to Eastern Michigan on Friday, but rebounded to knock off Toledo, 4-3, on Saturday.

Seven Huskie teams are in action during the upcoming week. Softball hosts DePaul Tuesday, Buffalo Friday and Kent State Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, baseball hosts Illinois State on Tuesday and men's tennis welcomes Toledo (Saturday) and Buffalo (Sunday) to Rockford.

Baseball: The Huskies posted a 3-1 record during the week with a quartet of home games. On Tuesday, NIU withstood a late Milwaukee rally to defeat the Panthers, 5-4.In their Mid-American Conference home opener Friday, the Huskies defeated Akron, 10-5. The Zips, though, evened the series with an 8-1 victory on Saturday. Northern's offense awoke on Sunday with 11 hits in an 8-2 win in the rubber match.

Softball: The Huskies opened their home slate Tuesday against in-state foe Illinois State. However, Northern Illinois was dealt a 5-0 loss by the Redbirds. The next day, NIU dropped both games of a doubleheader with Loyola, 10-3 and 9-1. In their conference opening doubleheader on Friday, the Huskies suffered two narrow defeats to Miami (Ohio) with an 8-5 loss in game one and a 7-6 extra innings heartbreaker in the nightcap. NIU grabbed their first MAC win of the season Saturday with a 12-5 throttling of Ball State before falling 11-10 in eight innings on Sunday to the Cardinals.

Track & Field: Northern Illinois broke three school records over the weekend with athletes competing at both the Texas Relays and the adidas Raleigh Relays. In Austin, Texas, the 4x400 relay team of Chanel Kellyman, Rebecca Cronin, Julianne Cronin and Rasheta Butler set the new NIU standard with a 3:46.21 run. In the sprint medley relay later that day, Kellyman, Janay Mitchell, Butler and Rebecca Cronin added their names into the record books at a 3:57.72 clip. Meanwhile, Juliane Totzke broke the 5000 meters record in North Carolina with a 16:57.17 run.

Men's Golf: The Northern Illinois men's golf team concluded play at the Irish Creek Collegiate on Sunday, closing the tournament with a 10th place finish. Junior Kurtis Luedtke was the highest-finishing individual for NIU, tying for 26th with a 54-hole total of 217.

Women's Golf: The Northern Illinois University women's golf team struggled in its final round, but still finished in the top 10, placing seventh at the 18th Annual Saluki Invitational at Hickory Ridge Golf Course Monday. The Huskies shot a second round 325 to finish the tournament with a 642. The host Salukis of Southern Illinois won the event with a 608. SIU's Cassie Rushing took the individual championship with a 146.

Men's Tennis: Northern Illinois took two non-conference matches over the weekend to improve their record to 17-5. The Huskies earned a solid 5-2 win against Saint Louis on Saturday and edged Bradley, 4-3, to close out the weekend.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies moved back above the .500 mark over the weekend with wins in their final two non-conference matches of the year. NIU handled Valparaiso, 6-1, on Friday and followed that up with a 7-0 sweep of Western Illinois.

Six Huskie teams will compete during the upcoming week. Among the events in DeKalb include baseball hosting Ohio for a three-game set, women's tennis welcoming Toledo and Eastern Michigan, and men's tennis hosting Ball State.

Gymnastics: Northern Illinois earned its highest team scores of the season on both floor exercise and vault en route to a fourth-place finish at the 2012 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships Saturday at the NIU Convocation Center. The result reflected a marked improvement from the Huskies' seventh place finish of a year ago as five different NIU gymnasts in six events earned spots on the awards stand at the conclusion of the meet.

Baseball: Northern Illinois won their home opener Tuesday with an 8-6 victory against the UIC Flames to give sophomore Eli Anderson his first career win. The team opened MAC play at Kent State, but were swept in the three game series. Alex Klonowski notched four hits against the Golden Flashes in a 12-6 Friday loss. Saturday turned into a pitchers' duel, but KSU emerged with a 6-1 win. The Huskies could not prevent the sweep Sunday with a 5-3 loss.

Men's Golf: The Huskies earned a pair of top four finishes in Florida during the week to complete their mid-March Florida trip. at UCF's Rio Pinar Invitational, NIU was led by Blake Emory's final-round 67 to earn fourth place in the 15-team field. Later in the week at the FAU Spring Break Championship, Northern took third place, trailing only Florida State and Ohio State in the team standings.

Women's Golf: The Northern Illinois University women's golf team sits in third place after posting a strong first round at the 18th Annual Saluki Invitational at Hickory Ridge Golf Course Sunday.The Huskies shot a season-low 317 with junior Allie Parthie leading the way with a four-over-par 76. Parthie is in the top 10 placing sixth after one round of play.

Men's Tennis: Facing the preseason Mid-American Conference favorite Western Michigan, the Northern Illinois men's tennis squad entered unafraid and defeated the Broncos, 5-2. It was the Huskies 11th win all-time versus the Broncos and the first win in at least a decade against WMU.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies dropped their first two Mid-American Conference matches of the season. On Friday, NIU was swept by Western Michigan, 7-0, in Kalamazoo. They returned to the courts Saturday in Bowling Green, Ohio, but were ousted by the Falcons, 7-0.

Seven NIU teams are in action during the week. Among the highlights are softball's home opener Tuesday against Illinois State and ensuing four-game weekend slate, the start of baseball's eight-game homestand and men's and women's tennis' DeKalb openers. 

It was another chock full week of Huskie action, with nine teams in action both in DeKalb and on the road.

Men's Basketball: The Huskies returned to MAC West play and stepped out for a non-conference matchup this week, but suffered a pair of losses. Playing in the Convo Wednesday night, NIU dropped a 78-63 decision to Western Michigan as Tony Nixon scored a season-high 12 points for Northern. The Huskies stepped out of conference play Saturday for a BracketBuster game at SIU-Edwardsville. Despite 12 points each from Abdel Nader and Nixon, the Cougars drilled a last-second shot to defeat NIU, 64-62.

Women's Basketball: Northern Illinois split a pair of MAC West games at home during the week to start on the regular season home stretch. NIU evened their record to 12-12 overall and 6-6 in the MAC with a 58-44 win against Ball State, with Claire Jakubicek leading the way with 17 points. That momentum did not last for the Huskies, though, as they dropped a 77-57 game to Eastern Michigan. Kim Davis led the way with 26 points.

Wrestling: The Huskies closed out their 2011-12 regular season Saturday with a 23-14 loss to Buffalo. Shawn Fayette (149), Brad Dieckhaus (184), Mike Lukowski (197) and Jared Torrence (285) each won matches on Senior Day, but Buffalo's six wins - including a pin and two major decisions - were too much to overcome.

Gymnastics: Northern Illinois came up with its second-highest score of the 2012 season but it was not enough to overcome a strong performance by Mid-American Conference powerhouse Kent State Sunday as the Huskies fell 195.525-193.625.

Track & Field: The Northern Illinois track & field team ended their 2011-12 indoor regular season with an impressive showing at the Ball State Quadrangular, as they captured three event titles and broke two school records en route to a second-place finish. Janay Mitchell Broke the school's 60 meters record for the third time this season with a time of 7.54, while Roneisha Frye eclipsed the 60 hurdles record with a run of 8.59.

Baseball: Northern Illinois opened their 2012 season at Tennessee, but were swept by the Volunteers in the three-game set. The Huskie bats went silent in the first game, only scoring one run in a 7-1 defeat. They would get more run support in a Saturday doubleheader, but dropped both games to the Vols, 10-5 and 7-2.

Softball: The Huskies dropped all three games in a rain-soaked weekend in North Texas to fall to 3-5 on the season. NIU lost their tournament opener to Creighton, 5-4, in eight innings Friday morning, then were bested, 8-3, by the host Mean Green. After Saturday's action was rained out, NIU could not get timely hitting in a 5-1 loss to Creighton Sunday.

Men's Tennis: The Huskies improved to 6-0 at home this year with a pair of wins against Valparaiso and IUPUI. NIU began the day with a 6-1 win over the Crusaders, then folloowed that up with a 5-2 defeat of the Jaguars.

Men's Golf: Northern Illinois opened their 2012 spring season in Dade City, Fla., where they took third place at the MAC Match Play tournament. After a convincing 4-2 win over Ohio in the opening round, the Huskies nearly knocked off top-seeded Ball State in the semifinals, but fell 3.5-2.5. NIU would rally in the third place match, though, with a 4.5-1.5 win against Miami (Ohio).

Another busy week awaits the Huskies with seven teams in action. Among them, only men's tennis and gymnastics are at home. the men's tennis squad looks keep their perfect home record intact Saturday against Dayton and Western Illinois, then Sunday versus Cleveland State. Meanwhile, gymnastics hosts Central Michigan Sunday in DeKalb.

Northern Illinois men's golf assistant coach Andrew Frame was recently inducted into the Manteno High School Wall of Fame. Frame, a 2005 Manteno graduate, was a four-time team MVP at Manteno, a four-time conference player of the Year and a two-time IHSA Class A State Runner-Up. Frame is also the Manteno school record holder for career scoring average (73.0). During his four-year career as a Huskie,  Frame had the fifth-lowest career scoring average (75.3).

It was clearly a successful week for Northern Illinois, as they won all but two games during the past week. Meanwhile, men's golf and women's tennis posted excellent performances in their final competitions of the fall season

Football: After building a 31-10 lead through three quarters, the Huskies held on to beat Buffalo Saturday, 31-30, when the Bulls missed what would have been the tying extra point with 14 seconds to go. During the game, Chandler Harnish broke another NIU career record by surpassing George Bork's completion record in the second quarter. On defense, the Huskies picked off two passes and recovered two muffed punt returns.

Volleyball: Northern Illinois pushed their winning streak to seven with two dominating wins over MAC East opponents over the weekend. On Friday, the Huskies blanked Kent State, 3-0, courtesy of 51 kills and a 33.6 hitting percentage. NIU repeated that performance Saturday against MAC East leader Ohio, sweeping the Bobcats, 3-0, in a rematch of last season's MAC Tournament championship.

Men's Soccer: NIU posted their first two wins in MAC play during the week to improve to 2-2 in conference and 10-4 overall. On Wednesday, the Huskies used two second half goals from James Stevenson and solid goaltending from Jordan Godsey to shut out Western Michigan, 3-0. For Sunday's Senior Day, it was Stevenson again who was the hero, finding the back of the net in the 41st minute to lift Northern past Florida Atlantic, 1-0.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies wrapped up the road portion of their schedule over the weekend, dropping two matches in Ohio. Against Miami (Ohio), the Huskies fell 3-0 after being outshot 19-8 in the match. The team's struggles continued Sunday, when they fell to Bowling Green by a 2-0 margin despite holding the Falcons without a shot in the first half.

Men's Golf: Northern Illinois traveled to Maryland Monday and Tuesday for the Georgetown Intercollegiate, placing seventh out of 12 teams. Bryce Emory paced the Huskies with a third place finish individually, while Matt Gorman took 27th place. The tournament was NIU's last for the fall season, as they will return to action in February for the MAC Match Play tournament.

Women's Tennis: The Huskies put the finishing touches on their 2011 fall season over the weekend, as they hosted the ITA Second Chance Regional in Rockford, Ill. In singles, the team posted eight wins over the weekend, while they were 4-2 in doubles play.

It will be a relatively light week for NIU Athletics, as only five teams will be in action. In DeKalb, women's soccer wraps up their season with a match Thursday against Western Michigan and wrestling begins their season Saturday with the annual Wrestle-Offs. Also, volleyball heads east to face Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan, men's soccer battles Bowling Green Saturday and cross country competes in the MAC Championships in Muncie, Ind.

Six Huskie teams were in action during the last full week of September, including volleyball opening MAC action at home and football closing up their non-conference slate against Cal Poly.

Football: Northern Illinois got back on track Saturday with a convincing 47-30 victory over Cal Poly. The Huskie offense set season-highs in first downs (33), rushing yards (355) and total yards (542), while the defense only allowed seven points in the first half to help NIU to a 34-7 halftime advantage. During the game, quarterback Chandler Harnish broke George Bork's 48-year record of touchdowns accounted for when he hit Perez Ashford on a three-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter.

Volleyball: The Huskies split their conference-opening matches over the weekend at Victor E. Court. NIU won only their second conference opener in 10 years on Friday with a 3-0 sweep of Central Michigan, extending their win streak to four and stopping CMU's win streak at four. That Huskie win streak, though, was snapped on Saturday night, as Eastern Michigan left DeKalb with a 3-1 victory over NIU.

Men's Soccer: Northern Illinois improved to 7-1 on the season Saturday with a 1-0 win over the Drake Bulldogs. The lone goal of the game came from the foot of James Stevenson, who pushed a shot past Drake goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec in the 26th minute. Jordan Godsey was again stellar in net with seven saves on the day.

Women's Soccer: NIU fought long and hard on Friday and Sunday, but lost both matches on their MAC opening weekend. The Huskies welcomed conference favorite Toledo to DeKalb on Friday and took them to overtime before falling 1-0 on an overtime goal by the Rockets. Their struggles continued on Sunday, as they dropped a 3-0 decision to Ball State.

Men's Golf: The Northern Illinois men's golf team headed to southern California for the Saint Mary's Invitational on Monday and Tuesday, where they finished tied for 13th with Pacific. Bryce Emory led NIU with a +10, 226 to finish tied for 31st overall, while Nick Schiavi was tied for 33rd with a +11, 227 performance.

Men's Tennis: The Huskies headed to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Invitational over the weekend. Axel Lagerlof highlighted NIU's weekend by advancing to the A Bracket finals before falling to Drake's Anis Ghorbel 6-2, 6-2. The Swede also won the doubles consolation bracket, teaming up with Max Phillips to go 2-1 in the doubles side.

The Huskies will wrap up September and begin October this week with a host of competitions. Both soccer team's will be in action Friday through Sunday, while the women's golf team hosts the NIU Huskie Classic Sunday and Monday.

Incoming men's golf freshman Nick Huggins placed 35th at the Rolex Tournament of Champions, which was held from June 27-July 1 at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore.  Conducted by the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA), the event is one of the most prestigious amateur tournaments associated with the AJGA.  The field featured 66 of the top amateur competitors from 31 different states, and Huggins held his own with rounds of 71, 79, 76 and 76 for a total of 302 (+14).

Incoming men's golf freshmen Nick Huggins has kept himself busy this summer. He tied for 52nd place in the 94th Western Junior Championship held at Beverley Country Club located in Chicago. The tournament attracts some of the best junior golfers in the nation. Past winners include current professional golfer Rickie Fowler, who won it in 2005.

Currently, Nick is playing in the AJGA Rolex Tournament of Champions. It is regarded as the "Masters" of junior golf events where only an elite field is invited to compete. Nick shot a 71 and is tied for third after day one.