BIRMINGHAM, Alabama—Stop me if you've heard this before.

Randy Kelly and the relay teams each showed out in a meet.

Kelly collected two finishes in the top two in his pair of events and the women's 4x400 relay team broke the meet record, highlighting another terrific day for the Northwestern State track and field teams Friday in the Samford Invitational at the Birmingham CrossPlex.

NSU's 'A' team in the women's 4x400 relay team of Maygan Shaw, Vanessa Balde, Tranasia Jones and Sanaria Butler broke the meet record and nearly broke the school record with time with a 3:42.10, landing at No. 3 in school history and broke the meet record that stood for just one year.

Trying not to be out-done, the 'B' team of Samari Finney, Lynell Washington, Victoria Byrd and Kahliyah Anderson finished fourth in the race with a time of 3:55.63, beating out the 'A' teams of Tulane, New Orleans, Alabama and Alcorn.

NSU's 'A' team shattered the previous record of 3:46.98, set by Alabama in 2023.

"It was a good day overall," associate head coach Adam Pennington said. I thought we would have ran a little faster, but not a bad start. Last week we were training through the week, so this was more of the opener for us. We still have a lot of work to do, but it is a good start."

At the LSU Purple Tiger, Kelly showed his talent in the high jump.

Kelly, a sophomore from Blythewood, South Carolina, showed just how good he was in the long jump on Friday. He posted a personal best 22-10.5 on his final jump to earn a tie with South Alabama's Caleb Mabins.

While he didn't finish first in the high jump, he came close, placing second, clearing 6-9.5.

Kelly was not the only athlete to finish on top of his or her event. He was joined by Sanaria Butler in the 200-meters and Samari Finney in the 400-meters.

Finney posted a personal best time of 57.18, narrowly beating out her previous best of 57.20, which she posted at Oakland University.

She was one of NSU's two in the top five in the event, being joined by Tranasia Jones, who continued a strong start to the indoor season with a 57.37 to finish fifth.

"Tranasia has made our conference finals for the last two years and opened up today three seconds faster than last year," Pennington said. "Being the former conference champ, she knows how's to compete. I see big things coming for her."

"I very proud of the entire team's work and performances over the last couple days," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "They showed the growth mentality to get the job done with adverse training conditions this past week."

In the 200-meter dash, Butler ran an indoor best 24.10. NSU had the top two finishers in the event and four of the top 12. Finishing right after Butler was Maygan Shaw, who also had an indoor best with a 24.38.

Kahliyah Anderson (25.03) and Victoria Byrd (25.34) rounded out the Lady Demon performers, placing seventh and 12^th, respectively.

In addition to Kelly, Butler and Finney having strong days, Sileena Farrell arguably had her best day as a Lady Demon.

She posted a season best on three occasions in the women's 60-meters. She began in the trials, where she set her first record at 7.65, finishing first. She followed that up with a 7.62 in the semifinals to finish fifth to advance to the finals. In the finals, she did even better, running a 7.54 to place second.

Farrell was the first of three Lady Demons in the top five in the 60-meters, as she was joined by Lynell Washington (7.62) and Vanessa Balde (7.63), who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

"Sileena ran well," Pennington said. "We are still working to get back to her personal best, but the swing today tells me we are on the right path. She needed today mentally. And as hard as she's been trying, she deserved it."

Balde also had to earn a spot in the finals the hard way, starting in the trials, where she posted a 7.75. She followed that up with a personal best 7.61 in the semifinals and 7.63 in the finals.
In the trials, Anderson ran a personal best 7.98 to finish 14^th.

Also on the track, Mikkel Johansson collected a second-place finish in the men's 200-meter dash, running a personal best 21.72. Cyrus Jacobs placed 14^th in the event, running a 22.14.

"Mikkel had a massive PB out of lane No. 3. Lanes 1-2-3-4 are almost impossible to run fast times, so for a guy who's 6'5, I'm extremely impressed.

In the pole vault, Madison Brown continued a strong beginning to the season, finishing in second, clearing a personal-best 12-6.25. Annemarie Broussard placed fourth in the pole vault, clearing a season-best 12-0.5.

Annemarie might be the most impressive, barely missing the same bar after being released from 11 month ACL just weeks ago," Pennington said. "She's the school record holder for a reason. She will only get better."

Back on the track, while the women's 4x400 relay team garnered more headlines, the men's team of Desmond Duncan, Cyrus Jacobs, Johansson and Galen Loyd didn't do too shabby either, placing fourth with a time of 3:19.46.

Beginning the day, freshman Tim Pelkmans placed fourth in the men's heptathlon with 5,002 total points. He used a second-place finish in the 1000-meter run to climb to fourth.

Finney posted a fourth-place finish in the women's long jump, recording a jump of 18-1.5. Jaslyn Smith (17-9.75) finished sixth.

Keonte Gaines also placed fourth in the 60-meters, running a 6.70 after finishing third in the semifinals. Tavis Wilson finished eighth with a time of 6.85.

Keonte had his fastest opener ever and that puts him No. 6 in school history and leading the conference, so that was a big start for him," Pennington said.

Ianna Roach, a transfer from Iowa, posted a season-best and nearly a personal best in the shot put with a distance of 48-2.75. Carnitra Mackey (44-9.75) and Shakera Williams (43-5.75) finished ninth and 11^th, respectively.

In the weight throw, Bernesha Knowles (53-0.75) and Tahisha Thompson (44-0.75) each posted season bests, placing 16^th and 18^th, respectively. Kaitlyn Washington (51-0.75) recorded a personal best.
On the men's side in the shot put, Justin Craft (49-5.5) and Tarajh Hudson (48-8.25) placed seventh and eighth.

"I was very pleased overall at how my throwers performed," Heimerman said. "Even though those athletes did well they were missing just a little bit of timing in the technique. We only got a day outside to work this week, so overall I'm very pleased. We just need the weather to cooperate a little more before the next competition."

Smith recorded a 36-9.75 in the women's triple jump to finish fifth and Abria Paul (35-6.50) posted a season best.

Each athlete who ran the mile posted a season best. Leah Thompson (5:47.94) and Lalaina Wood (5:57.30) finished 33^rd and 34^th in the women's mile, respectively, while John Klein (4:28.90) placed ninth on the men's side.

The teams have a weekend off to re-group and rest before traveling to the northeast, competing in the Crimson Elite and Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invite on Feb. 2 and 3, respectively. The latter is in Boston, which is where the NCAA Indoor Championships are being held in March.