The Real News Louisiana

NATCHITOCHES—Eight athletes from Northwestern State as well as a pair of relay teams are on the way to Florida in the coming week as they all are slated to compete in the NCAA East Regionals on the campus of North Florida.
On the women’s side, Maygan Shaw (400-meter dash), Samari Finney (long jump), Jaslyn Smith (triple jump), Shakera Williams (shot put), Shakera Kirk (discus) and Teodora Samac (javelin) are all making the trip to Jacksonville, while Randy Kelly (high jump) and Roy Morris (long jump) reach regionals.
The four-day meet begins Wednesday, with the men competing on Wednesday and Friday and the women on Thursday and Saturday.
Both genders are sending a relay team as well, as the men’s 4×100 team is going, as is the women’s 4×400 team.
Shaw and Kelly are each going to the NCAA East Regionals for the third consecutive season.
As a part of the 4×400 relay team last season, Shaw ran to a Second Team All-American spot. All three seasons, Shaw went to regionals in both the 400 and 4×400.
She is coming off a 25-point performance at the Southland Conference Championships, earning four gold medals.
In her signature event, the 400, she clocked a blistering 52.10, which set a meet record. Shaw also added a 200 gold, clocking a 23.47, edging out Jizzale Davis of UTRGV, who ran a 23.70.
Shaw, who was named the SLC Female Track Performer of the Year, led the SLC in both the 200 and 400 in the entire outdoor season in the SLC, as well as a member of the 4×400 relay, and was second in both the 100 and 4×100 relay.
Kelly led the Southland with a clearance of 7-0.25, set at the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational. After finishing 34th in the high jump at the NCAA East Regionals in 2023 and 28th last season, he aims to continue his upward trend.
He is coming off earning points in both the high jump and long jump at the SLC Championships.
Finney and Kirk are each making their second consecutive trip to regionals.
At the SLC Championships, Finney made the podium five times, including three gold medals. Overall, she secured 27 total points during the SLC Championships.
That helped earn her the SLC Female Athlete of the Year.
She started her meet off with a gold in the long jump, recording a jump of a season-best 20-9.25 on her final jump, which not only earned her the gold, but also a trip to Jacksonville for the NCAA East Prelims.
Finney also added golds as a member of both the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams, the latter of which is also heading to regionals.
Kirk saves her best throws for the conference championships, as her top two throws during her time with NSU came at the conference meet. She is coming off a personal best throw of 168-5 to grab the silver medal.
Smith, Williams, Samac and Morris all are making a trip to regionals for the first time, with Samac and Morris making it as freshmen.
At the conference meet, Smith not only won gold, but a spot in regionals with a final jump 42-0.5 in the triple jump. That jump is the second-best mark in the Southland this season.
Williams tossed a 51-2.75 to punch her ticket to regionals and claim gold. That throw not only put her in regionals, but also the second-best mark in school history.
A pair of freshmen round out the qualifiers in open events, as Samac and Morris’ strong years each advanced them to Jacksonville.
Samac reached the podium in the javelin, finishing with a bronze with a toss of 149-9. That toss was her second-best throw of the season after her 150-0 set at the Lurline Hamilton Invitational.
Morris recorded the best jump in the SLC with a jump of 24-11.25 this outdoor season and earned points for the Demons with a jump of 24-7.75.
A pair of relays also made it to regionals, as the men’s 4×100 relay and women’s 4×400 relay, both of which made nationals last season.
Both relays have the top time in the Southland this season, as the 4×100 relay on the men’s side ran a school record 3:06.06. On the women’s side, they ran a 3:31.82, the top mark in the Southland by nearly nine seconds and dominated the field at the conference championships to run away with the gold.