JOPLIN, Mo. – The Northwestern State men's and women's track and field teams had another good showing in the first day of competition at the Missouri Southern Lion Open on Friday with first place finishes by Kendal Taylor and Keona Jackson highlighting the performances.
 
Taylor won the 200m dash with a blistering time of 21.78 while Jackson grabbed the top mark in the weight throw with a heave of 54-05.50.
 
In addition to the two first place finishes, the Demon and Lady Demon squads also posted five top-three performances.
 
Second place finishers include senior Janae Allen in the weight throw (53-09.75), Angelica Kotun in the 200m dash with a season-best time of 25.59 and Hanoj Carter in the men's 200m dash (22.26).
 
Emmanuel Williams and Sarah Jones each placed third in the long jump, leaping for 23-03.25 and a season-best 18-02.25, respectively.
 
Rechelle Bessard also had a stand out day, placing fourth in the weight throw and registering a personal-best mark of 50-07.50, which surpassed her previous throw of 38-08.00 by a staggering 12 feet.
 
In the 60m prelims, Keshira McKnight (7.93) and Angelica Kotun (7.93) qualified for the women's finals while Hanoj Carter (7.02) qualified for the men's finals. Both races will take place on Saturday.
 
“We had a fairly good day all around today,” said Lady Demon head coach Mike Heimerman. “Keshira and Angelica did well and were able to qualify for the finals in the 60 and we had good times in the 200 with Angelica, Constance and Quiana (Griffin).
 
“Tough lane assignments affected some of our performances but I think we still did a pretty good job.”
 
Both NSU squads will continue competition on Saturday.