SHOWCASING THE TALENT.

With graduation season come the guest speakers, and at more than a few universities, the protests.

DeKalb was host to both Northern Illinois University's graduation, and the Mid-American Conference's outdoor track championships for men and women.  Northern Illinois field only a women's team, such are the realities of complying with Title IX on a tight budget, and most of the points they earned were in jumping and throwing events.

Despite all the traffic heading for the west side of campus, and the street closures provided for the competitors to get to their between-events support tents, everybody kept their calm.

The doors have not yet opened at the convocation center.  There was a brisk north wind blowing.  All the friends and relatives congregating there were seated in time for the steel pans to play.  (Can you name any other university where there's a pan arrangement of Land of Hope and Glory?

Face the other way, and you're at the gates to the football pitch, repurposed for the weekend for a track meet.

Recognitions and medals had just been distributed to competitors in one of the long-distance relay events.  That tree line behind was once the western boundary of the campus.  The arena was built in what was once a corn field.

Here they come, spinning out of the turn, oh, wait, this is the women's final of the 800 meter run.  I miss my chains and furlongs, there used to be the 220, 440, 880, and 1760 yard races, now they do the 200, 400, 800, and 1500 meters.  Remind me again the logic of metrics?

I mentioned there was a strong northwest wind blowing all day.  That might matter in the record keeping as Kent State's Jaheim Jones ran the 100 meters in under ten seconds, setting a conference record as well as the third best time in college running this season.

I had the video function running for that sprint and might have a decent short clip of the finish.  Kent had lots of men on the podium, Akron, however, won the men's meet.  Zips faster than Flashes, go figure.

One of the few events with a Northern Illinois runner participating in the finals.  Graduation formalities continue in the arena on the other side of the tree line.