LAFAYETTE—The Northwestern State track and field teams set four conference, facility or national records, highlighting its showing at the Louisiana Classics on Saturday on the campus of UL Lafayette.

The women's 4x100 relay team broke a school record and tied the Southland Conference record, while Diamante Gumbs and the women's 4x400 relay team each broke the stadium mark, while Gumbs also broke the national record in the hammer throw of his home country, the British Virgin Islands.

NSU's relay team of Lynell Washington, Sanaria Butler, Vanessa Balde and Maygan Shaw sprinted to a time of 44.59, which broke the school record of 44.68, set in 2000. It also tied the conference record, which was set in 2000 by former SLC member UT Arlington.

If that weren't enough, the 4x100 team of Butler, Washington, Balde and Ceyda Bayur broke the stadium record, running a 3:39.17, finishing better than six seconds over second-place UL Lafayette.

Gumbs' toss of 184-08 in the discus set a stadium record, as well as a personal best, which was the top throw in the event out of 32 competitors.

He was the first of four Demons in the top 15 in the discus, including the top two. Joining him at the top was Tarajh Hudson, whose 179-03 is a season best to finish second. Newcomer Seth Smith (136-04) set a personal best to place 12^th and Justin Craft (132-11) finished 15^th.

Gumbs also set the BVI record in the hammer throw, posting a distance of 185-04, breaking his own record, set in the 2023 SLC Outdoor Championships.

"Overall, it was a great day," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "Everyone is in a heavy training cycle, so we really came into the meet to get more work. Runners, throwers and jumpers all had a great day. Diamante had two PRs so that's always great. He has been working hard and trying to get healthy. Tarajh has been hurt since indoors and really used today as a practice and did great. Kaitlyn did great but is just scratching the surface. I am very happy with the performance."

The sprinters picked up right where they left off from the SLC Indoor Championships, as Maygan Shaw and Sanaria Butler finished 1-2 in the women's 200-meter dash. Shaw came out on top with a time of 23.81. Butler finished second out of 37 finishers, clocking a 23.93.

On the men's side in the 200, Mikkel Johansson (21.33) came in eighth, while Desmond Duncan finished 27^th with a personal-best time of 22.21.

In the women's 100-meter dash, Vanessa Balde ran a 11.89 to finish fifth out of 41.

On the men's side, Tavis Wilson and Cyrus Jacobs each finished in the top five out of 50 finishers. Wilson ran a personal-best 10.45 to place second and Jacobs clocked a personal-best 10.55 to finish fifth.
The Demons placed two in the top four in the men's 800-meter run, as Brian Norton (1:56.29) placed third and Korbin Shumate (1:56.31) finished right behind him in fourth.

Samari Finney finished fifth on the women's side in the 800-meter run, clocking a 2:24.60. Makaya Damon came in 13^th with a time of 2:38.17.

Brian's brother, Robert Norton, came in fifth in the men's 400-meter hurdles, clocking a 56.77.

The men's 4x800 relay and both men's 4x400 relay teams finished in the top four.

The 4x400 teams each finished in the top three, as the 'A' team with Desmond Duncan, Mikkel Johansson, Keontae Gaines and Cyrus Jacobs, finishing second, clocking a 3:11.40, while the 'B' team of Zachaeus Beard, Tim Pelkmans, Robert Norton and Galen Loyd came in third with a time of 3:15.83.

In the 4x800, the quartet of Korbin Skumate, John Klein, Brian Norton and Evan Wilson came in fourth with a time of 8:12.01.

Taj Morris earned a fifth-place finish in the men's 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.60.

In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Raven-Symone Jarrett (14.44) placed eighth, Jessica Pitcher (15.08) finished 17^th and Madison Brown (15.11) came in 18^th.

In the throws, Gumbs also had a fifth-place finish in the shot put, recording a 51-1.5.

Justin Craft (48-3.5) and Tarajh Hudson (47-10.75) finished just behind Gumbs, placing seventh and ninth, respectively.

While Gumbs had a strong day, he wasn't the only thrower who did.

Ianna Roach won the women's shot put, recording a distance of 46-7.25, leading four NSU athletes in the top nine.

Behind Roach, Carnitra Mackey (43-9.75) placed third, Shakera Williams (43-4.25) came in fifth and Shakera Kirk (41-1.75) finished ninth.

Kirk (151-03) also had a fourth-place finish in the women's discus. Kaitlyn Washington (159-07) came in second to lead the way among NSU athletes. Tahisha Thompson (129-08) placed 10^th and Bernesha Knowles (118-09) finished 17^th.

In the women's hammer, Knowles (164-02) came in sixth and Washington (133-02) placed 16^th.

Joseph Young posted a personal-best 169-08 in the men's javelin to finish ninth, while Ashley Duffus tossed a 126-09 to finish 10^th on the women's side.

In the jumps, Andrew Gilreath posted a top finish in the men's triple jump, recording a distance of 49-2.25. Randy Kelly placed seventh with a 44-0.75.

NSU had a trio of second-place finishes in the jumps. Madison Brown cleared 12-3.5 in the pole vault, while Randy Kelly cleared 6-8.75 in the high jump. Jaslyn Smith (39-11.25) came in second in the women's triple jump.

Annemarie Broussard cleared 11-5.75 in the women's pole vault. Tim Pelkmans cleared 6-0.75 in his first outdoor performance in the event at NSU.

Smith's showing was the first of three NSU athletes in the top seven in the women's triple jump. Victoria Byrd (39-5.25) placed fifth and Abria Paul (35-8) came in seventh.

Next up for the track teams is the Lurline Stuppeck Invitational in Baton Rouge on March 23.