BOSTON—Djimon Gumbs and Madison Brown each took home victories in the men's shot put and pole vault, respectively, which highlighted Northwestern State's final day in Massachusetts at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational.

Gumbs, a senior from Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, tossed a 58-8.5 to finish first in the event and lead three Demons in the top seven.

Twin brother Diamante Gumbs recorded a 53-2.75 to place fourth and Justin Craft's 5-4.75 helped him come in seventh.

Brown, a senior from Natchitoches, posted an indoor personal best in the pole vault, clearing 12-6.75 to finish first out of 24 competitors.

Annemarie Broussard is feeling more and more like her old self with each passing meet, as she cleared a season-best 12-0.75.

"It was another great day for us," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "We are heading in the right direction with all the athletes.

"We got to see a few sights around Boston, competed on and walked around the oldest university in the US and we competed at a high level at two competitive meets. Taking a group of young men and women to a part of the country they have never been and may never be again was awesome. This is a special group and I am very glad we made this trip."

On the women's side in the shot put, three landed in the top eight, led by Ianna Roach.

Roach, a transfer from Iowa, placed third with a throw of 45-11.75. Shakera Williams (43-8) and Carnitra Mackey (43-0.5) came in seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the men's weight throw, both Justin Craft (51-4) and Tarajh Hudson (50-2) each posted season bests to finish 13^th and 15^th to lead the way for the Demons.

Bernesha Knowles finished in 10^th in the women's weight throw with a throw of 22-3.

"The throwers threw a lot this weekend," Heimerman said. "But we needed it with the lack of work we have been able to do with the weather back home. We are not quite where we want to be but moving in the right direction."

In sprints, Sileena Farrell continued a strong indoor season with a pair of top-three finishes, including racing to second place in the 60-meter finals with a time of 7.62. In order to earn a spot in the finals, she clocked a 7.65 to place third out of 49 finishers.

Victoria Byrd raced to a sixth-place finish, running a 7.76 in the finals. She ran a 7.71 in the prelims to finish eighth and earn a spot in the finals.

Tavis Wilson tied for seventh out of 59 finishers in the men's 60-meter prelims, running a 6.89.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Taj Morris showed out. He advanced to the finals on the strength of an 8.30 to finish sixth. He stepped up big time in the finals, racing to second place with a personal best 8.08.

In the 200-meter dash, Keontae Gaines placed third with a 21.16, leading three in the top 20.

Continuing an impressive indoor season, Mikkel Johansson ran an indoor collegiate best 21.39 in the 200 to place ninth out of 104 finishers. Jaysaun Smith clocked a 21.74, finishing 20^th.

"Mikkel had a massive PB and we are figuring it out at the right time," associate head coach Adam Pennington said. "I am proud of how he's handled some adversity over the last two years. He's extremely mentally tough and that's huge. Keontae was flying. He tripped in the 60 yesterday so today was personal."

On the women's side, Vanessa Balde led the way in the 200-meter dash, running a 24.23 to come in 11^th place out of 133 finishers. Lynell Washington was not too far behind, running a 24.29 to place 14^th. Kahliyah Anderson ran a season-best 24.83, coming in 31^st.

Balde was also a part of the strong women's 4x400 relay team that came in fourth place out of 21 teams, clocking a 3:41.77, which is the top time in the Southland Conference this season and nearly the second-best time in program indoor history. Balde joined Maygan Shaw, Tranasia Jones and Sanaria Butler on the team.

"It was a great weekend," Pennington said. "It was the fastest opener by Vanessa who we weren't sure if she would run as she been sick. She gave her everything in the 4x4 but ran almost three seconds slower split than Birmingham.

"When she's feeling good we can run 3:37. But to see the women's 4x4 run a season-best and No. 3 all-time was a great way to end the day on the track. Khaliya had a season best and Tranasia had a 200 as well. Our women now own four of the top five 200m spots in conference."

Butler ran her specialty event, the 400-meter dash, for the first time this indoor season, running a 54.39 to place sixth out of 79 finishers. Shaw placed 13^th with a time of 55.47.

In the jumps, Raven-Symone Jarrett claimed second place in the women's high jump, clearing a season-best 5-5.

Andrew Gilreath recorded a 46-0.75 in the triple jump to place seventh and Randy Kelly posted a distance of 22-3 in the long jump to finish 10th.

NSU travels a bit closer to home for the next meet, going to Texas Tech for the Jarvis Scott Open for a two-day meet, beginning Friday.