NATCHITOCHES—Northwestern State had a home track advantage and it competed like it.

NSU athletes took home victories in all four events that took place Friday on the first day of the Leon Johnson Invitational.

Sanaria Butler (women's long jump), Andrew Gilreath (men's long jump), Shakera Williams (women's shot put) and Djimon Gumbs (men's shot put) won the events that took place on day one.

"It was a great day," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "The female jumpers, as a group led the way. To have four girls jump over six meters is amazing. Djimon stole the show with a big PR and had four throws over his old PR.

"It was amazing to see Shakera Williams throw a PR in the shot on her last throw. Andrew nearly went over 25 feet and it was great to see him do well. It was a very good start to the NSU Leon Johnson invitational."

Gumbs and Williams each posted personal bests in dominating their events.

Gumbs, a senior playing in his final Leon Johnson Invitational, nearly broke the 42-year-old men's shot put record, tossing a 65-6. That toss was the second-best in program history, only trailing John Campbell's toss of 65-8.75, set in 1982.

In the event, the Demons posted four of the top five finishers.

Djimon's twin brother, Diamante Gumbs, placed right behind him in second place, throwing a 55-11. Tarajh Hudson did not take long to make an impact, as he joined Djimon Gumbs by recording a personal best, as he tossed a 53-1.75 in his first attempt to finish fourth.

Justin Craft's 49-8.5 placed him in fifth and Tim Pelkmans' throw of 39-6.5 placed him ninth. Hayden Barrios posted also recorded a personal best with a toss of 31-10.

Personal bests were the theme on day one and Williams was a major part of that as well in the women's shot put.

On her final attempt of the event, Williams posted a distance of 48-11.5, a foot better than her previous high, and is the top distance in the Southland Conference.

The top seven in the women's shot put was comprised of current or former NSU athletes, led by Williams.

Finishing in second was Ianna Roach, competing in the final home meet of her career. She tossed a 45-7.75.

Carnitra Mackey (43-11.75), former Lady Demon Deonmonique Granville (42-1) and Shakera Kirk (39-10.75) placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Raven-Symone Jarrett posted a personal-best toss of 34-9.75 to finish ninth.

In the men's long jump, Gilreath recorded a distance of 24-9.75, narrowly missing both a personal best and reaching his goal of 25-0.

The Demons had two of the top five in the event.

Randy Kelly (23-4) and Pelkmans (22-5.25) each jumped a personal-best to finish fourth and ninth, respectively.

NSU went 1-2-3 in the women's long jump, led by Butler's 20-3.75.

Jaslyn Smith (19-8.75) and Victoria Byrd (19-8.25) each posted personal bests to place second and third in the event, respectively.

The track and field teams are back at it again Saturday for the final day of the Leon Johnson Invitational. Competition begins at 11 a.m. with five field events. The track events start at 1 p.m. with the women's 3000-meter steeplechase.

NSU's nine seniors—Gumbs twins, Zachaeus Beard, Hayden Barrios, Roach, Annemarie Broussard, Madison Brown, Lynell Washington and Ashley Duffus—will be honored following the men's 200-meter dash.