NATCHITOCHES—The freshmen for Northwestern State have been among the best groups in the history of the school, and they were rewarded, earning both of NSU's superlative awards, the Southland Conference announced Friday.

Sanaria Butler has done nearly everything in her first season at NSU. After being named Women's Most Outstanding Performer during the SLC championships, she added to her laundry list of accomplishments, earning the Women's Athlete of the Year.
Butler scored 30.5 points in the championships after collecting a gold and three silvers.

As if that wasn't enough, Vanessa Balde, took home Freshman of the Year honors. Balde earned three gold medals, including one in the 100-meter hurdles.

It is the second consecutive season NSU has picked up the women's freshman of the year award after sprinter Maygan Shaw earned the honor in 2022.

In four events, Butler is ranked in the top three in the SLC this season, including finishing at the top spot in the 400-meters and is a member of the 4x100 relay team.

The pairing led the Lady Demons to a second-place finish in the SLC outdoor championships this past weekend.

In the 400, Butler ran a 52.22 at the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational, which was a personal record, school record, meet record and complex record, but followed that by doing one better. She ran the event at a 52.19 the following week at the Michael Johnson Invitational to break her own personal and school record.

Butler and Balde are each on the 4x400 team that ran a conference-best and school record of 3:35.77 at the SLC championships.

The pair was joined by Sian Weller and Maygan Shaw.

Butler also finished second in the SLC in long jump (20-0.25) and third in the 200-meter dash (23.66) and would have the second-best triple jump performance at the SLC championships, but the wind was too big of a factor in her 42-0.75 jump.

In addition to the 4x400 relay team, Balde also ran a leg on the 4x100 relay team that earned the gold with a time of 44.99 to begin the final day of running events at the SLC championships.

She was joined on the team by Shaw, Aarika Lister and Lynell Washington.

Her 13.46 in the 100-meter hurdles also earned her a gold and a first team All-Conference nod.

Overall, NSU collected eight gold medals and first team recognition. The other five were collected by Washington (100m), Shaw (400), Madison Brown (pole vault), Djimon Gumbs (shot put) and Diamante Gumbs (discus).

Djimon Gumbs, the Men's Most Outstanding Performer during the SLC championships, earned All-Conference recognition three times. In addition to being named first team in the shot put, he garnered second team in the discus and third team in the javelin, despite the latter not being a main event of his.

Not only did the women's relay teams find the podium, but the men's relay teams did so as well, each claiming the silver medal and a spot on the second team.

The 4x400 relay team of Desmond Duncan, Cyrus Jacobs, Galen Loyd and Destine-Unique Scott ran its best time of the season to conclude the SLC championships, clocking in at 3:08.57.

The 4x100 team of Zachaeus Beard, Simon Wulff, Cyrus Jacobs and Dylan Swain also grabbed the silver with a time of 39.54.

Also earning silvers and a spot on the second team are Randy Kelly (high jump) and Andrew Gilreath (long jump).

Seven NSU student-athletes grabbed bronze medals as well and a third team spot. Shaw continued a strong season with one in the 200-meters. She was joined with bronzes by Weller (400h), Wulff (200), Scott (400), Ashley Duffus (javelin), Adam Lindo (long jump) and Tarajh Hudson (discus).

Hudson was a part of a Demon sweep in the men's discus, as Diamante Gumbs won gold, Djimon Gumbs the silver and Hudson the bronze medal.

Around 20 student-athletes from NSU are in Canyon, Texas, on the campus of West Texas A&M for the Last Chance Meet in attempts to go to the region prelims.

 
2023 All-Southland Conference Outdoor Track & Field Teams
Men's Outstanding Field Events Performer: Isaiah Hudgens, UIW
Men's Outstanding Running Events Performer: JT Smith, A&M-Commerce
Men's Freshman of the Year: Cameron Chin, Lamar
Men's Newcomer of the Year: Jayden Sloan, New Orleans
Men's Athlete of the Year: JT Smith, A&M-Commerce
Men's Leon Johnson Award (Coach of the Year): Dr. Derek Riedel, UIW
Women's Outstanding Field Events Performer: Parl Eelma, Lamar
Women's Outstanding Running Events Performer: Jessica Rabius, HCU
Women's Freshman of the Year: Vanessa Balde, Northwestern State
Women's Newcomer of the Year: Rebecca DeKay, New Orleans
Women's Athlete of the Year: Sanaria Butler, Northwestern State
Women's Coach of the Year: Trey Clark, Lamar
 
2023 Southland Conference Men's Outdoor Track & Field All-Conference Teams 

Event	First	Second	Third
100 meter dash	JT Smith, TAMUC	Ibrahim Fuseini, TAMUC	Elliott Cumming, UNO
200 meter dash	JT Smith, TAMUC	Delan Edwin, TAMUC	Simon Wulff, NSU
400 meter dash	Eugene Omalla, SLU	Cameron Chin, LU	Destine-Unique Scott, NSU
800 meter run	Javon-Taye Williams, SLU	Alex Piquart, HCU	Omer El-Fadl, McN
1,500 meter run	Omer El-Fadl, McN	Christopher Daniels, UIW	Kelvin Chiku, UNO
5,000 meter run	Dennis Kipngeno, AMCC	Kolyn Saltzman, UNO	Enock Kimutai, AMCC
10,000 meter run	Dennis Kipngeno, AMCC	Enock Kimutai, AMCC	Kelvin Kimaiyo, AMCC
110 meter hurdles	Garrett Gibson, HCU	Olufalabo Ogunyemi, SLU	Matheo Bernat, UIW
400 meter hurdles	Jayden Sloan, UNO	Agerian Jackson, SLU	Daniel Armstrong, AMCC
3,000 meter steeplechase	Kolyn Saltzman, UNO	Christopher Daniels, UNO	Alexandre Fetizon, UIW
4x100 meter relay	Ronald Owens, JT Smith, Ibrahim Fuseini, Delan Edwin – TAMUC	Zachaeus Beard, Simon Wulff, Cyrus Jacobs, Canman Swain – NSU	Thomas Gignoux, Corin Burns, Cameron Crowe, Tevijon Williams – UIW
4x400 meter relay	Eugene Omalla, Jaimie Omalla, Omri Shiff, Agerian Jackson – SLU	Desmond Duncan, Cyrus Jacobs, Galen Loyd, Destine-Unique Scott – NSU	Jaden Powell, Samuel Gray, Jalon White, Ondray Miles – McN
High Jump	Slavko Stevic, SLU	Randy Kelly, NSU	Elijah Jackson, LU
Pole Vault	Nikita Strogalev, TAMUC	Kyle Sieracki, UIW	Austin Davisson, UIW
Long Jump	Sean Majors, AMCC	Andrew Gilreath, NSU	Adam Lindo, NSU
Triple Jump	Trayveon Franklin, TAMUC	Jacarius Demmerritte, LU	Yassin Salem, HCU
Shot Put	Djimon Gumbs, NSU	Marcus Francis, McN	Garrett Stokes, UIW
Discus Throw	Diamante Gumbs, NSU	Djimon Gumbs, NSU	Tarajh Hudson, NSU
Hammer Throw	Terrell Webb, SLU	Garrett Stokes, UIW	Tyler Challis, McN
Javelin Throw	Hunter Longino, McN	Darren Taylor, McN	Djimon Gumbs, NSU
Decathlon	Isaiah Hudgens, UIW	Kyle Sieracki, UIW	Jeremiah Gilliam, UIW

 
2023 Southland Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field All-Conference Teams

Event	First	Second	Third
100 meter dash	Lynell Washington, NSU	Leah Pettis, TAMUC	Capri Wilson, AMCC
200 meter dash	Sydne Porter, LU	Sanaria Butler, NSU	Maygan Shaw, NSU
400 meter dash	Maygan Shaw, NSU	Sanaria Butler, NSU	Faith Outing, LU
800 meter run	Yasmin Austridge, LU	Faith Bett, AMCC	Alexandra Weir, UNO
1,500 meter run	Jessica Rabius, HCU	Alexandra Weir, UNO	Tshwanelo Maruping, UNO
5,000 meter run	Jessica Rabius, HCU	Rebecca DeKay, UNO	Ariana Jimenez, UNO
10,000 meter run	Rebecca DeKay, UNO	Elsa Eijpstra, Nicholls	Nia Clatworthy, LU
100 meter hurdles	Vanessa Balde, NSU	Kayli Johnson, LU	Sarinity Bracey, UNO
400 meter hurdles	Chloe Rodriguez, LU	Naomi Ndukwe, TAMUC	Sian Weller, NSU
3,000 meter steeplechase	Yasmin Austridge, LU	Ariana Jimenez, UNO	Oxano Bonjorn-Giros, UNO
4x100 meter relay	Aarika Lister, Maygan Shaw, Vanessa Balde, Lynell Washington – NSU	Brianna Howard, Kayla Smith, Kayli Johnson, Sydne Porter – LU	Aisha Johnson, Vivette Green, Helen Baumgarten, Alimot Alowonle – UNO
4x400 meter relay	Sian Weller, Maygan Shaw, Vanessa Balde, Sanaria Butler – NSU	Naomi Ndukwe, Francesca Aquillino, Mariana Shostak, Sofia Khenfar – TAMUC	Faith Outing, Kayla Smith, Adebola Odunlami, Chloe Rodriguez – LU
High Jump	Veronika Kramarenko, TAMUC	Katrine Olsen, SLU	Maia Maury, TAMUC
Pole Vault	Madison Brown, NSU	Matilde Poli, UIW	Lara Zupanc, SLU
Long Jump	Rebecca Pecora, HCU	Kayli Johnson, LU	Parl Eelma, LU
Triple Jump	Crisstin Riley, LU	Sanaria Butler, NSU	Reem Tammam, HCU
Shot Put	Klaire Bentley, UIW	Kristian Jackson, SLU	Ashari Jones, McN
Discus Throw	Kristian Jackson, SLU	Liza Lap, HCU	Reese Grossie, McN
Hammer Throw	Mariah Lee, McN	Glennis Woolridge, LU	Katrine Olsen, SLU
Javelin Throw	Blanche Beard, McN	Tamara Susa, TAMUC	Ashley Duffus, NSU
Heptathlon	Parl Eelma, LU	Rebecca Pecora, HCU	Mariam Buenanueva Saleme, LU

---#EarnedEveryDay----