NATCHITOCHES—When Maygan Shaw has a goal in mind, you better believe that goal will be achieved.
Prior to the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational, Shaw mentioned that she wanted to run in the 51s to beat her grandfather.
The senior from Pineville did exactly that, clocking a 51.87 in the women’s 400-meter dash, which not only broke the Northwestern State record, but also the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational record, the Walter P. Ledet Track & Field Complex record and the Southland Conference mark.
“It feels amazing,” Shaw said. “Honestly, I cannot even fathom what just happened. I am glad that I hit that goal I wanted to hit, running in the 51s. That is so crazy. I’ve been wanting to do that for six years, so it’s amazing.
“If he was here today, he would be so proud of me. I am so glad I was able to reach that goal before I graduated. It’s a great feeling.”
It highlighted a strong day from the Northwestern State athletes, as several personal bests and season bests were set during the school’s only home collegiate track meet of the year.
That run is just one more record Shaw has under her belt, as she now has both the indoor and outdoor school records.
Shaw broke a 25-year-old conference record, which was set by Christine Amertil of Southeastern Louisiana in 2000.
“They’ve all been grinding,” head coach Mike Heimerman said. “This is when you want to see all these things happening and this is the meet it generally starts coming around for all the athletes. It is a month out from conference, so hopefully good things are happening and leads us in the right direction.”
It wasn’t her only strong performance, as Shaw—along with Samari Finney, Dynia Lewis and Sileena Farrell—set a season best in the women’s 4×100, running a 44.94.
Not surprisingly, all three of her teammates from the 4×100 also went onto have sensational days.
In the same women’s 400, Finney came in behind Shaw with a personal best time of 54.23 to come in second and also set a personal best in the 23.68 in the women’s 200-meter dash to also come in second.
The reigning SLC Female Field Athlete of the Week also began her portion of the meet in strong fashion, winning the women’s long jump with a distance of 19-7.5.
“It feels good to go out there and perform like this,” Finney said. “I had a rough start to the season overall and I feel grateful and blessed to be getting back where I need to be and once that consistency keeps happening, I know something big is happening for me.”
Lewis, on the other hand, keeps setting personal bests. She recorded a personal best in both the women’s 200-meter dash (23.89) and 100-meter hurdles (13.68).
“It felt good to do this on my home track,” Lewis said. “I had a rough meet last weekend and I felt like I was going backward, but I came out here and set personal bests, it gives me confidence moving forward the rest of the season.”
Farrell won the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 11.69, winning it out of 16 competitors. She followed that up with a season-best 24.97 in the women’s 200.
Back at the women’s 400, Shaw and Finney’s personal bests were joined by Kahliyah Anderson, who ran an outdoor personal best of 55.57 to place fourth.
Tranasia Jones (55.06) and Jayla Mason (55.88) didn’t run personal bests, but they both finished in the top five, finishing third and fifth, respectively.
The women’s 200 was filled with personal bests and season bests, as Finney, Lewis and Farrell were three of the six set during the home meet.
Victoria Byrd ran a personal-best of 24.26 to finish fourth, while Tranasia Jones (24.44) and Jayla Mason (24.85) posted season bests to finish seventh and ninth, respectively.
Anderson had a strong day, finishing fifth with a time of 24.35.
Led by Lewis, the Lady Demons had four of the top five finishers in the 100-meter hurdles.
Silet Gray’s personal-best 14.26 placed second, right behind Lewis, while Cherie Neal (15.36) and Jessica Pitcher (16.15) rounded out the top five.
At the women’s 100-meter dash, Byrd (11.98) placed third, Jaslyn Smith (12.11) finished fourth and Neal ran a personal-best 12.42 to place sixth.
However, the women weren’t the only ones making headlines.
In the men’s sprints, Tavis Wilson posted personal bests in both the 100 and 200, as well as helping lead the Demons to a 4×100 relay victory,
He clocked a blistering 10.33 in the 100 to win the event, leading three of the top five. He was joined by Elijah Rowe (10.55) and Mikkel Johansson (10.62), who placed fifth and sixth.
Those three were also involved in the men’s 200, all placing in the top six, led by Rowe’s 21.06 to finish fourth. Wilson (21.10) also ran a personal best to place fifth and Johansson ran a season-best 21.10 to come in sixth.
“It feels really good to go and put together a good meet,” Wilson said. “Last year, I was hurting and had to get surgery last year, so I had to sit back and watch everyone do their thing. That hunger that I had to get back out, it finally felt good to apply that to the track today.”
The trio also teamed up, along with Galen Loyd, to run a season-best 39.80 to win the event.
Ever since his freshman season, Randy Kelly had been searching for that 7-0 clearance in the men’s high jump. The junior had come so close with his 6-11 and 6-11.5 performances.
That 7-0 clearance came Saturday, when he did so, putting the exclamation point on another high jump victory at the home meet.
“It feels like a weight off my shoulders,” Kelly said. “We came out here every day and never gave up. We knew it was going to happen eventually and it happened today and I am glad it did.”
On the women’s side in the high jump, senior Raven-Symone Jarrett cleared a season-best 5-6 to place third.
A Northwestern State athlete won both the men’s and the women’s long jump.
In addition to Finney’s 19-7.5, Jarrett (18-9.75) set a personal best to finish fourth.
Smith (19-6.75) and Briana Green (18-6.5) recorded season bests, placing second and fifth, respectively.
While she narrowly missed out on the win in the long jump, Smith did pick up the victory in the triple jump, recording a 39-6.
On the men’s side, Roy Morris took home the home meet crown, recording a personal best jump of 24-11.25, leading four of the top five for the Demons.
“It feels really good to go out and do this,” Morris said. “I wasn’t doing so well to start the outdoor season since I had surgery on my mouth, but I kept practicing and praying and God got me through this. It feels really good to win at your home meet.”
Rowe (24-2.5) placed second, Kelly (23-1.25) came in third and Bruce Boon posted a season-best 22-5.25 to finish in fifth.
Back at the indoor conference championships, the men’s 4×400 relay overcame a late deficit and William Achee slightly won out to win the gold medal.
That same event happened Saturday, as Achee overcame a deficit on the home stretch to edge out the competition and win the event for the Demons, as the quartet of Achee, Loyd, Desmond Duncan and Vincente Graiani ran a season-best 3:09.72.
In the men’s 400-meter dash, Achee ran a personal-best 46.78 to finish second and Loyd (47.36) placed third.
Duncan ran a season-best 47.69 to finish fourth and Kason Jones (48.32) came in seventh.
In the women’s 400-meter hurdles, Jarrett clocked a personal-best 1:00.30 to finish first, while Gray’s 1:04.20 was good enough for third.
All four 1500-meter run participants ran personal bests. On the women’s side, it was Leah Thompson (5:06.81) and Lalaina Wood (5:08.35), who placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
On the men’s side, it was Korbin Shumate (3:54.80) and Owen Rue (4:16.10), placing first and sixth, respectively.
Graiani led the way in the men’s 800-meter run, clocking a 1:51.39 to place second. Mason Bayne (2:00.59) ran a personal best and Evan Wilson (2:01.55) clocked a season best.
Both genders won in the pole vault, as Kalli Knott (12-2.5) won it on the women’s side and Kareem Nazim (14-7.5) did the same on the men’s side.
In the throws events, Ryah Dates tossed a personal-best 138-09 in the women’s javelin. She also threw a 46-5.5 to finish third in the women’s shot put.
The only Lady Demon she was behind in the shot put was Shanice Hutson, who tossed a season-best 49-5.5 to win the event.
In the men’s javelin, Joseph Yount tossed a personal-best 199-07 to place second. Maddox Reine (165-02) finished seventh.
Shakera Kirk began the day with a win in the women’s discus, tossing a season-best 159-1, while Hutson also posted a season best with a 149-6 to finish third.
Tahisha Thompson finished fourth with a toss of 148-11.
On the men’s side, Tarajh Hudson (169-07) finished second, running unattached. Abner Johnson (151-05) placed sixth and Boon tossed a personal-best 136-05.
Throwing unattached, former Demon Djimon Gumbs tossed a 61-0 to finish first. Abner Johnson (52-3.75) finished third and reigning SLC Male Field Athlete of the Week Justin Craft (51-7.75) placed fourth.
Donovahn Watkins tossed a personal-best 173-3 to finish sixth in the men’s hammer, while Bernesha Knowles (168-10) placed third on the women’s side.
The Demons and Lady Demons head to Baylor for the Michael Johnson Invitational, a two-day meet that begins Friday, as the teams aim to keep improving prior to the conference meet next month.
“I really think the team is hitting its stride,” Heimerman said. “We’ve got to get through finals since that will wipe them out mentally. That is how we set it up. After indoor, we have to get back to work to get them ready for outdoor conference because it is such a long season. The athletes have stepped up and this is generally the start of our push before conference and after today, I really like where we’re at but not satisfied.”