BATON ROUGE – The balance the Northwestern State track and field teams seek showed up in Friday's indoor season opener.
 
Both the Demons and Lady Demons produced multiple podium finishes with those coming from both the track and field disciplines while each side produced a smattering of personal bests.
 
"I was very happy with how we performed, especially where we're at with our training," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "We've only been back for a week. What made me happy was the kids who were pretty upset with their performances, even though they were good performances. The kids were hungrier than what they performed today, and that's always good to see."
 
Sophomore Marco Arevalo's throw of 50-3/4 landed Northwestern State's first individual victory of the 2020 indoor season, landing him atop the podium in the shot put. Arevalo uncorked his best throw of the day on his final attempt. His four final throws all were good enough to land his first career victory.
 
Sophomore Slavoski Wright collected a third-place finish in the men's 600 meters, clocking a 1:23.28.
 
On the women's side, the Lady Demons were equally successful on the track and in the field events.
 
Janiel Moore, a junior transfer from South Plains College, scored a second-place finish in the 600 meters in her Northwestern State debut with a time of 1:37.71, just 0.40 behind LSU's Kiya Oviosun. Natashia Jackson gave the Lady Demons a pair of podium finishers in the event, finishing third with a time of 1:38.85.
 
Moore was one of a trio of Lady Demons who notched runner-up performances.
 
Latyria Jefferson finished second in the high jump with a leap of 5-9¾, finishing behind LSU's Abigail O'Donoghue (6-0½) in what was a busy event for Northwestern State. While Jefferson finished second, a pair of her teammates collected top-five finishes with personal bests.
 
Reigning NCAA indoor long jump national champion Jasmyn Steels did not participate in her signature event but produced a personal-best of 5-6.0½ in the high jump while Lauren Clarke matched Steels to deliver her personal best.  
 
Sophomore pole vaulter AnnMarie Broussard gave Northwestern State its third second-place finish, clearing 12-11½ on the first attempt to earn silver behind LSU's Lisa Gunnarsson. Both Broussard and Jefferson were close to adding to the NSU tally of personal bests.
 
"AnnMarie had three good attempts that would have been PRs, but that's just how the bar went," Heimerman said. "It was a good day for her right off the bat. Latyria had two good attempts at 5-11¾ that she should have had."
 
Steels' and Clarke's high-jump performances were part of a day that saw seven NSU student-athletes notch indoor career bests.
 
Six of them were Lady Demons as Jayla Fields' 18-6 long jump eclipsed her previous best by more than a foot and teammates Brooke Petkovich (38-0¾) and Monique Walker (35-11¼) established new career marks in the triple jump.
 
Will Malone started the run of personal bests in the day's first event, delivering a mark of 47-11 in the men's weight throw. Kristin McDuffie made it a pair of NSU throwers who set new career bests in that event, notching a 52-10¾ on her second attempt in the women's weight throw.
 
"The distances weren't always great, but we were pretty beat up from the training," Heimerman said. "When that happens – when you're tired or sore – you have to dig down mentally and perform. I'm very happy with a lot of them for doing that.
 
"Overall, it was a really, really good day for a big portion of the group. Most of our sprinters were off and our quarter milers all ran the 600, which is an extra lap on the indoor track. I'm very happy with the entire group. We got out and knocked the rust off. Most of them haven't competed since May and a select group since June. It was a good start to the season."
 
Northwestern State returns to action at the Texas A&M Ted Nelson Invitational on Jan. 17 in College Station, Texas.