JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Justin Walker put aside the frustration of an earlier failed 4x100 meter relay qualifying effort and overcame his sore Achilles' heel Saturday evening to win his heat in the 200 meter dash at the NCAA East Preliminary Round track and field meet, earning the Northwestern State sprint star a second berth in the national championships June 11-14 in Oregon.
 
Walker ran the East regional's fourth-fastest 200 meter time, 20.58, about 90 minutes after his third leg in the 4x100 relay was not enough to help the Demons' foursome of Shakeir Ryan, Keenan Jackson, Walker and Ty Shilling to advance to Eugene, Ore., in two weeks. The Demons posted a 40.15 time, 20^th in the East.
 
Friday evening, Walker nabbed one of the region's 12 spots in the national 100 meter semifinals with a subpar 10.31 for 11^th, having to alter his start due to the flare-up of the heel injury. But Saturday, he ran better, approaching his school-record 20.47 in the 200 while winning the third and final heat among 24 regional finalists.
 
"He was hurting  after the 4x1, physically and emotionally," said first-year NSU head coach Mike Heimerman. "He really wanted to get those other three guys out to Eugene. We didn't want to push our luck so we left it up to him whether or not to even run the 200, and he was bound and determined to go out there and get it done.
 
"Unlike Friday night, he got a good drive phase coming out of the blocks. He came out of the curve in front and looked around, and he was shutting it down in the last few meters once he knew he was going to be in the top three and advance," said Heimerman. "Now we need to get him healthy and ready to go out to Eugene and run like he's capable."
 
Walker earned All-America honors in the 4x100 last year, helping the Demons to an 11^th place finish at the national meet, but did not make the top 16 in the 100 for All-America in that event. This will be the senior's first national meet in the 200.
 
Outrunning him Saturday in the 200 were Florida's Dedric Dukes (20.23), Aaron Ernest of LSU (20.38) and Brendon Rodney from LIU-Brooklyn (20.578 to Walker's 20.579).  LSU's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran ninth (20.69) while Louisiana Tech's Trey Hadnot was 11^th (20.79) to also fit in the region's top 12 going to Eugene.
 
Heimerman said the 4x100 team had "a couple bad handoffs, and we probably ran a little tight. This group has been running together just for the last month so for them to get this far is very, very impressive, and 40.15 is a very good time, just not good enough at this meet. You have little or no margin for error at this level of competition."
 
The Lady Demons' two first-time regional participants didn't advance Saturday. Triple jumper Por'Sha Thomas, a sophomore who swept the Southland Conference indoor and outdoor crowns this year, was two feet behind her season's best with a 39-3 ¾ mark, 44^th regionally, while shot putter Keona Jackson, the Southland runner-up outdoors, had three fouls and did not place.
 
"They were both tense in their first regional championships. Keona had two big throws, around 51 feet, but she had foot fouls, problems staying in the ring while she watched the throws," said Heimerman.  "Por'Sha just didn't hit a good one in the first round (of three attempts) and at this meet, it takes a big one to move on and get to the final round (for three more jumps). They both should be back at this meet next year and so this is a valuable experience for them.
 
"That's really our storyline this week. We have eight of the 11 athletes we brought here who will come back to compete for us next year, and they all should be back here with more experience under their belts. This was Justin's fourth regional meet and he'd had some disappointments in the past, but you could really see how well he handled the adversity and the nerves this time," said Heimerman. "We're very proud to have 11 athletes at this meet and proud of how they competed here against some of the best in the country."
 
Walker, women's long jumper Kenyah McDaniel and women's 400 meter hurdler Consuela Lindsay were the seniors in NSU's travel party, which will return home Monday evening.