BIRMINGHAM, Alabama—While one is nice, two is even better.

For the second consecutive season, the Northwestern State women's track and field team won the Southland Conference indoor team title after not winning it up until last season.

Unlike last year when the Lady Demons had to win it in the 4x400 relay, there was no such drama this year, as NSU dominated with 170 points, winning it by 57 points over second place Lamar.

That was the largest margin in the SLC women's indoor conference since Texas State's 180.5 nearly doubled second place Stephen F. Austin's score of 95.5 in 2002.

"We have really good athletes," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "The girls bought into what the coaches were teaching them and performed well. They hit every phase and every single woman on the team showed up. This is the best team performance I've ever seen."

With 30.5 points scored in the meet, Sanaria Butler was named Most Outstanding Female Performer for the 2024 SLC Indoor Championships.

Butler competed in five events, earning two golds—in the women's 400 and as a member of the 4x400 relay team—a silver in the long jump and bronze in the triple jump.

All the finals except for the women's long jump took place on Sunday.

The sophomore from Port Arthur, Texas, ran the anchor leg in the 4x400, and what was a microcosm of the meet, Butler ran away with it. NSU won the relay by more than four seconds over second place Lamar to cap off an incredible weekend in Alabama for the Lady Demons.

Earlier in the day, Butler dominated in her signature event, the 400-meters, winning by nearly an entire second over Southeastern Louisiana's Esther Nwanze.

Even though she went straight from one event to the next, she added a bronze in the triple jump with a distance of 39-6.5.

"Sanaria is one of the best athletes we've ever had here," Heimerman said. "Capitalize it. Bold it. Italicize it. She is just incredible. There is really nothing I can say that already hasn't been said about her. Just an unbelievable performance to not only do those events so well but go from one straight to another and perform is incredible."

On any other day, breaking a conference record would be headline news.

Keontae Gaines had a sensational day, flying to a pair of golds, including a blistering 20.72 in the 200-meter dash that broke the conference meet record.

The previous conference championship meet record was 20.94 by Sam Houston's Chris Jefferson in 2019.

He was one of two Demons to find the podium in the 200-meter dash, as Mikkel Johansson grabbed the bronze with a time of 21.29.

If that wasn't enough, Gaines won a close 60-meter dash race with a 6.68 to capture the gold over Texas A&M-Commerce's Ibrahim Fuseini's 6.69.

Gaines nearly brought the men back to win the team title but finished a close third. NSU trailed by four points going into the men's 4x400 relay and had the lead for much of the relay before finishing fourth. UIW won its third consecutive men's team title with 109 points. McNeese finished with 106 and NSU had 104.

Butler and Gaines were just two of six gold won by NSU on the second day, joining Annemarie Broussard, who won the pole vault on day one.

The pairing was joined by Vanessa Balde (60-meter hurdles), Lynell Washington (60-meter dash), Carnitra Mackey (shot put) and Djimon Gumbs (shot put).

Balde started the day for NSU in the medal count, winning the gold, clocking an 8.55. She won a tight race over Lamar's Kayli Johnson, who came in second with a time of 8.56.

Balde also joined Butler on the 4x400 relay team that captured the gold.

She was one of two Lady Demons in the event, as he was joined by Raven-Symone Jarrett, who ran a 9.03 to place seventh.

While Gaines won the men's 60-meters as a newcomer, Washington did the same on the women's side as a season veteran at NSU. Washington won four consecutive 60-meter dashes at the indoor conference championships.

Running in her last indoor conference meet, Washington sprinted to a 7.41, to take the gold.

Victoria Byrd placed seventh in the 60, running a 7.67.

Mackey and Gumbs each won the shot put for the women and men, respectively.

Gumbs corralled his second gold medal in the indoor shot put, also doing so in 2023. He launched a best of 63-6 to not only win the gold, but also a trip to Boston at the NCAA Indoor Nationals, which begins Friday.

Four Demons participated in the men's shot put, and every single one of them earned points. Gumbs is joined by his twin brother Diamante Gumbs, who placed fifth with a 54-1.25, Tarajh Hudson, who placed sixth with a personal-best distance of 52-9.25, and Justin Craft, who finished eighth with a distance of 51-0.25.

Mackey posted a personal best 47-8 in the shot put, which led three Lady Demons in the top four of the event. Ianna Roach placed second, tossing a 46-10, and Shakera Williams finished fourth with a distance of 46-1.25.

"This type of throw has always been there," Heimerman said. "She just let it happen. I told her that if she did one thing, she was going to throw far. She listened and did that, and she had a tremendous throw."

In addition to Washington earning her fourth consecutive gold, the senior also earned a silver in the 200-meter finals. Four Lady Demons qualified for the finals, two of whom found the podium. Washington was joined on the medal stand by Balde, who ran a season-best 24.04 to win the bronze.

Butler finished fifth in the 200, while Maygan Shaw sprinted to a time of 24.57 to finish sixth.

In addition to Butler winning the gold in the 400, Shaw (54.69) grabbed sixth and Tranasia Jones (55.82) posted a season best en route to placing seventh.


On the men's side, Johansson ran a personal-best 48.29 in the 400-meter dash to place seventh. Finishing right behind him was Cyrus Jacobs, who clocked a 48.73.

Even before the 60-meter hurdles took place, Tim Pelkmans started his final three events in the men's heptathlon. Pelkmans began the day with a season-best 8.47 in the 60-meter hurdles before posting a personal best in the pole vault, clearing 14-1.25. The freshman brought home the silver with a total of 5,262 points.

In the triple jump, Andrew Gilreath earned the bronze medal with a season-best jump of 49-2.25.

The women's had three athletes finish in the top five on the women's side, led by Butler's bronze.

Jaslyn Smith posted a season-best 39-6 to come in fourth and Victoria Byrd had a 39-5.25 in her first triple jump to place fifth.

Jarrett tied a season best in the women's high jump, clearing 5-3.75, which tied for fifth.

The outdoor season begins Friday when the track teams stay in-state and head to the Cowboy Relays in Lake Charles.