NATCHITOCHES – Heading into the season's only home appearance Saturday with The Leon Johnson NSU Invitational, Northwestern State swept the Southland Conference men's track and field Athlete of the Week awards Wednesday as sprinter Justin Walker and jumper Aaron Williams were honored.
 
Williams, a junior from Duson-Acadiana, had some of the Southland's best marks in the long and triple jumps last weekend while NSU competed Friday at the Southeastern Invitational in Hammond, and Saturday at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge.
 
He won the long jump at SLU with a 24-3 ¼ mark that wasn't a season best, but would rank fifth in the Southland. His 24-9 ¼ earlier this spring is second in the conference and 34^th in the NCAA rankings.
 
Williams' 50-8 ¼ triple jump mark at LSU was the second-best mark by any Southland competitor in 2014, topped only by his 51-4 ¼ in a season-opening meet at McNeese State. He is the only Southland triple jumper with performances better than 48-9 this season and his season-best distance is 18^th nationally.
 
Walker won the Southland honor for the second time in three weeks after posting blistering times in the 100 and 200 meter dashes.  He won the century at Southeastern with a 10.23 time that is 17^th nationally. A day later at LSU, he ran a 20.52 in the 200, a time which tops the conference standings but didn't improve his NCAA ranking because it came with a 4.1 mph wind that was barely over the league allowance.
 
His 20.52, run in the outside lane, was just off his school record of 20.49 set in 2010, before he had reconstructive knee surgery in 2011. Walker's season-best legal-wind mark of 20.66 ranks 19^th in the country.
 
Saturday's competition in field events begins at 10 a.m. with races starting at 1 at the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex. Teams from Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette and Southeastern Louisiana will join NSU in the meet.
 
The women's hammer and men's javelin will be staged beginning at 10. The women's long jump, pole vault and the men's high jump start at 10:30. The men's hammer and women's javelin begin at noon.  The women's triple jump, discus and men's shot put start at 2.
 
Racing in the 12 events should take about four hours to complete after the 1 p.m. start with the 3000 meter steeplechase and the 4x100 meter relay.
  
The order of running events continues with the 1500, the 100/110 meter hurdles, the 400, 100, 800, the 400 hurdles, the 200 and 5000, and the 4x400 relay, with women's races first in each event.
 
It is the final competition for NSU prior to the Southland Conference Championships May 9-11 in Conway, Ark.