AUSTIN, Texas – Northwestern State senior sprinter De'Shalyn Jones set a school record in the women's 200-meter dash Friday evening at the Texas Invitational, with her 23.04 clocking ranking second all-time in Southland Conference history.
 
Jones, a Tyler, Texas-John Tyler product, finished first among collegiate runners and second overall in the event, topping Baylor's Taylor Bennett (23.23) and A'Keyla Mitchell of Kansas State (23.34). Her time sits 18^th nationally.

Jones breaks her own school record set at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships last May (23.16).
 
"Jones came close to running 22 seconds and ran a great race. She ran the fastest time at the collegiate level today," said associate head coach Adam Pennington, who coaches NSU's sprinters.
 
In the men's 200, Demon senior Amir James ran 20.70 for second among college contestants and third overall. James' time is 17^th nationally. Teammate Micah Larkins was sixth among college runners and seventh overall (20.93). Michael McGruder ran 21.08, 10^th overall.
 
"All three guys ran an amazing race. Amir looked like his old self, Micah ran a very good race, and McGruder ran his best race in this event this season," Pennington said.
 
Also competing in the 200 for NSU but not cracking the top 10, Kie'Ave Harry ran 21.36 and Tre'Darius Carr crossed in 21.39. Lady Demons' sprinters Deja Moore clocked 24.39 and Natashia Jackson ran 24.78.
 
The 200 was the only event involving Northwestern athletes in Austin Friday.
 
Meanwhile, no results for the men's and women's hammer throw, involving Northwestern seniors Marquis Foster and Gerianna Lyons, were immediately available from UL Monroe Friday evening. The rest of the Warhawk Classic competition is set for Saturday.
 
James, McGruder, Larkins, Harry, Carr, Jones, Moore, and Jackson return to action Saturday at the Texas Invitational. James, McGruder, Harry, and Larkins will run the 4x100 and the 100 with the exception of Larkins. For the Lady Demons, Jones, Moore, and Jackson will be joined by Daeshon Gordon in the women's 4x100. Jones and Moore are competing in the women's 100 and Gordon is entered in the 400 hurdles.
 
NSU is participating in five events Saturday at Austin: the women's 4x100 relay at 11:45 a.m., men's 4x100 relay at 11:50, the women's 100 dash at 1:15 p.m., the men's 100 dash at 1:25, and the women's 400 hurdles at 1:45.
 
The rest of the Northwestern State teams are participating at ULM Saturday. Field events begin at 11 a.m. with the women's pole vault with the final one, the men's discus, starting at 4 p.m. Running begins at 12:30 p.m. with the men's 4x400 relay wrapping up racing at 5 o'clock on Groseclose Track at Brown Stadium.
 
Demon seniors Cedric Paul and Kyrin Tucker headline NSU's throwers, both competing in the men's shot put. Tucker is also entered in the discus. Paul is the Southland Conference leader in the shot with a 59-6 ¾ throw ranking 19^th nationally.  Tucker is fifth-ranked in both in the shot (56-3) and discus (172-1).
 
Ceaser Stephens, JaCorious Jeter, and Jasmyn Steels are top performers in the Southland in the horizontal jumps. Stephens is second in the conference in the men's triple jump (50-4 ½) and ranks 16^th in the nation. Jeter is third in the Southland in the men's long jump (24-1 ½), and Steels is sixth in the women's long jump (19-2 ½).
 
Live results for Texas Invitational are available at http://texas.karmarush.com/2018-Texas-Invitational/.