COLLEGE STATION, Texas – If the goal is to be at your peak performance level at the end of the season, Northwestern State is doing just that.
 
In the final meet before the Southland Conference championships next week the Demons and Lady Demons racked up nine podium finishes with many new personal and school best marks set.
 
"We wanted this meet to be a tune up for conference next week," head coach Mike Heirmerman said. "I think we saw a lot of good stuff and some stuff we can still improve on before next week. We did what we needed to do.
 
"The highlight of the day was definitely Lauren (Clarke) and how she jumped but we had another good day overall and are definitely trending in the direction we want going into the conference championship."
 
Clarke was responsible for two podium finishes on the day, setting bests in both the triple and high jumps.
 
She cleared 5-7.75 on her third attempt at the height, setting a new personal best, then made the next jump of 5-8.75 on her second try to set a new meet record. Clarke shared the high jump title with Texas A&M's Kirby Matocha who matched the meet best mark with neither jumper able to clear the next height.
 
With the triple jump title already in her back pocket going into her final jump, Clarke left no doubt who the event winner would be.
 
Smashing her previous best jump, Clarke landed at 42-11.75, the second longest leap in school history and moving her into contention for a spot in the NCAA meet as the 19^thbest mark in the country. Ariel Watson nabbed a bronze finish in the triple with a PR jump of 40-2.
 
Clarke wasn't the only jumper to have success in Aggieland on Saturday. Both Jasmyn Steels (20-7.25) and Markeit Steverson (24-0.75) took easy wins in the women's and men's long jumps respectively.
 
"It was really just another work day for the jumpers," Heimerman day. "Obviously what Lauren did was special, especially in the triple. Jasmyn was out there to stay sharp and keep working on her form, and when you can go out doing that and still jump 20 feet, that's pretty impressive."
 
In the throwing events Kristin McDuffie threw for 53-8.5 for a career best in the weight throw while Adrian Del Toro set a new best with 47-5.25 in the shot put.
 
On the track the PRs fell left and right just as they did in the field events.
 
In the final race of the day the men's 4x400 relay team of Junior Charles, Kennedy Harrison, Slavoski Wright, and Dejon Blake set a new school record with a time of 3:12.60 taking bronze in the event.
 
"I was really happy to see Junior do what he did today," Heimerman said. "All the guys ran great legs in the relay but Junior ran two 400s today and had only run one other this season due to injuries. That just shows you the talent that he has to be able to do that with such limited time to train.
 
"What's even more exciting about the result is that this is a young relay group with Kennedy and Dejon both freshmen and Slavoski a sophomore. They are all getting better and better each time."
 
Kie'Ave Harry clocked a 6.84 time in the men's 60 meter finals just 1/100^thoff his season best time and the only other podium finish for the Demon men on the track.
 
Diana Granados took third in the 400 with a 57.58 PR for the only Lady Demons podium finish. Aliyah Craswell set a new best time of 26.30 in the 200 and Peyton Vidourek shaved eight seconds off his best time in the mile with a 4:23.56 run.
 
"We suffered a little bit today with our starts on the track," Heimerman said. "We've been hampered by the weather a lot and haven't been able to get the work in that I'd like there. But it's definitely something that we can work on this week as we get ready for conference."
 
The Demons and Lady Demons head to Birmingham, Alabama for the Southland indoor championships beginning on March 1.
 
Stay connected to NSU track and field by following @NSUDemonsTF on Twitter.