BATON ROUGE—Northwestern State has one of the best sprinter groups in the country, and they proved it again.
 
On five occasions a program record was nearly set, headlining NSU's stellar day at the Battle on the Bayou.
 
Both the 4x400 and 4x100 women's relay teams finished in the top five in program history. Both teams consisted of Victoria Byrd, Lynell Washington, Vanessa Balde and Maygan Shaw.
 
The quartet started with the 4x100 with a blistering 44.91, the fourth-best mark in school history. If that wasn't enough, the group finished the day with another outstanding time, this one in the 4x400. They placed second with a 3:37.65, good for the third-best time in the event.
 
Shaw and Washington almost put themselves on top of the record books as a solo runner as well. Washington's 11.40 only trails De'Shalyn Jones' 11.37 in 2018 in the 100-meters.
 
Shaw and Sanaria Butler each posted big-time numbers in the 400-meter dash. Shaw (53.19) and Butler (53.40) went 1-2 in the women's 400-meters, each finished around three seconds before the third-place finisher, Brittney Roberson. The times come in fourth and sixth in program history, respectively.
 
"It was a great day for us," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "The weather was almost perfect. The kids like it warm and their performances showed. Not much to add. All three relays ran phenomenal. Lynell in the 100, Maygan and Sanaria in the 400—all were on fire. Sian in the 400-meter hurdles was awesome and that was her first time to ever run them.
 
"The men did really well too. Taj (Morris) was outstanding in the 110-meter hurdles, Destine (Scott) in the 400 was outstanding, as well as the 4x100. It was just a phenomenal performance. Overall, it was a great day and I am really proud of this group and it should lead to a great season."
 
In addition to the program records nearly being set, 26 personal bests were set by the Demons and Lady Demons, as well as four winning their events.
 
Taj Morris both posted a personal best and won his event, triumphing in the 110-meter hurdles, running a 13.98.
 
Morris also posted a personal best (21.64) in the 200-meter dash. Justin Walden (21.88) and Stefan Klefasz (23.18) also joined him at setting personal bests in the event.
 
Destine-Unique Scott won the men's 400-meters with a time of 46.77. In the event, four Demons-- Cyrus Jacobs (47.99), Mikkel Johansson (48.80), Desmond Duncan (48.92) and Stefan Klefasz (49.46)—all picked up personal bests.
 
Scott and Jacobs were also two of the four on the men's 4x100-meter relay team that cracked the top 10 in school history with a time of 39.51.
 
Five Lady Demons recorded personal bests in the 100-meter hurdles, led by Balde (13.75), who came in fifth. Orsciana Beard (14.53), Jessica Pitcher (14.53), Carolin Bielert (15.83) and Abria Paul (16.89) also registered a personal best.
 
In her first time running the 400-meter hurdles, Sian Weller came in fourth with a time of 1:00.87.
 
Other runners posting personal bests include Ceyda Bayur (2:17.09) in the women's 800-meter run, Jessica Pitcher (26.02) and Carolin Bielert (26.74) 20th in the women's 200-meter dash, Justin Walden (10.72) in the 100-meter dash and Conner Mackie (9.44.88) in the 3,000-meter run.
 
While it was not a personal best, Payten Vidourek posted a season best (4:02.22) in the 1,500-meter run, placing 13th.
 
In the field events, reigning Southland Conference Male Athlete of the Week Djimon Gumbs picked up where he left off after his stellar performances to start the outdoor season.
 
Gumbs won the shot put with a toss of 57-3.75, while Justin Craft came in eighth with an outdoor season best throw of 47-5.75.
 
Gumbs also came in second in the discus with a 196-08, which is the second-best throw in school history, just out-done by his nation-leading 205-11 toss he recorded at the Cowboy Relays to begin the outdoor season. This effort also cracks the top 10 nationally (sixth).
 
Tarajh Hudson (167-0) and Diamante Gumbs (159-11) also cracked the top 10 in the event.
 
In the women's discus, Kaitlyn Washington (146-09) and Bernesha Knowles (132-09) both posted personal bests, finishing sixth and 10th, respectively.
 
Carnitra Mackey led the Lady Demons in the shot put with a personal best toss of 46-3.25, good for fourth place in the event. Olivia Valliere (43-8.5) and Deonmonique Granville (42-7) also placed in the top 10.
 
In the men's javelin, Rei Parks posted a personal best throw of 154-07, finishing fourth.
 
Randy Kelly cleared 6-10.75 in the high jump, his best jump of the season.
 
Now the Demons and Lady Demons head to Austin, Texas, for the Texas Relays, a three-day meet that begins Thursday.