NATCHITOCHES—There's no place like home.

In its one home meet of the season at the Leon Johnson Invitational, the Northwestern State track and field athletes took full advantage, as several personal bests and season bests were set on the second day of the home meet Saturday.

On a day for the seniors, it made sense that two of the nine seniors honored during the meet began the day with a pair of wins: Diamante Gumbs in the men's hammer and Madison Brown in the women's pole vault.

Gumbs nearly broke his own school record in the men's hammer, tossing a 192-01, which is the second-best throw in NSU history to win the event.

"Coach Mike (Heimerman) and I have really been working on some stuff," Gumbs said. "To finally see it pay off is a really good feeling. It was still a really good throw despite some technical inconsistencies. Once I fix those things, more than likely you'll see another school record."

Tarajh Hudson posted a personal-best 164-08 to claim third.

Meanwhile, in the women's pole vault, Brown cleared 12-4 to finish on top in the event.

Fellow senior Annemarie Broussard finished close behind, clearing 11-10. Sophomore Peyten Ware recorded an outdoor best, clearing 10-10.25.

The men's hammer wasn't the only event Gumbs won, as he beat out his twin brother Djimon Gumbs to win the men's discus.

Down to one throw left, Diamante came through in the clutch launching a personal-best 188-04 to defeat Djimon's throw of 184-0.

Diamante's toss was one of four season or personal bests set in the men's discus.

Tarajh Hudson threw a season-best 181-06 to finish third, as NSU had the top three and four of the top five in the event.

Rounding out the top five was Seth Smith, who smashed his previous best, tossing a 157-05. Tim Pelkmans also recorded a personal best with a throw of 122-09.

"Just about everybody who competed this weekend had either a personal or season best," Heimerman said. "Any time something like that happens, it's a special day. Everybody loves competing at home and we only get to do it once a year, so the athletes relished it and took full advantage of it this weekend."

Senior sprinters Lynell Washington and Zachaeus Beard both had days to remember, competing in their final meet in front of the home crowd.

To start it off, Washington was a part of a group—along with Maygan Shaw, Sanaria Butler and Vanessa Balde—to break the school record again in the 4x100 relay. Washington ran anchor on a team that sprinted to a 44.43.

That time not only broke the school record, but Southland Conference mark, the complex record and Leon Johnson Invitational record.

The time comes mere weeks after tying the conference mark with a time of 44.59.

In addition to being a member of the record-breaking relay team, Washington won in the women's 100-meter dash, clocking an 11.64.

Victoria Byrd (11.83) placed third and Samari Finney (12.20) came in seventh.

Washington also came in second in the women's 200-meter dash, running a season-best 23.88.

"It feels good to have a performance like this," Washington said. "I just wanted to have a special day in front of my family, and of course the man above, my daddy. I just wanted to come here and end on a good note, especially with it being my first time running at the home meet healthy with no injuries."

She ran one of five personal or season bests in the event.

Finney (24.07), Byrd (24.29) and Tranasia Jones (24.33) all ran personal bests, finishing fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

Abria Paul clocked a season-best 27.05 as well.

Like Washington, Beard had an incredible senior day of his own.

To start his day off, he was a part of a 4x100 relay team that ran a season-best 39.83.

He finished his day by winning both the 100 and 200.

In the 100, Beard raced to the win by clocking a 10.24, following his 10.20 he put up two weeks ago.

"It feels so good to perform like that in front of the home fans," Beard said. "I always say every morning that I bring happiness to things, things don't bring me happiness. But when I came out to the track complex, I was overjoyed and filled with love from family and friends who came to watch me.

"It was amazing to have fun like that."

He also won the 200, sprinting to a personal-best time of 20.53.

Cyrus Jacobs placed second in both events, posting a personal-best 20.66 in the 200 and season-best 10.37 in the 100.

Mikkel Johansson finished third among the Demons in both events, running a 21.06 in the 200 and 10.66 in the 100.

Desmond Duncan (21.08) and Galen Loyd (21.32) both ran personal bests in the 200, placing fifth and sixth, respectively.

Another athlete playing in his final meet in front of the home crowd, senior pole vaulter Hayden Barrios cleared 15-7.25 to finish in second.

While he isn't a senior, Randy Kelly performs like one, as the sophomore won the high jump in his second consecutive Leon Johnson Invitational. He cleared 6-10.75 to finish in first in the event.

On the women's side in the high jump, Raven-Symone Jarrett and Abria Paul each posted a personal best. Jarrett cleared an outdoor-best 5-8, while Paul cleared 5-0.25.

In the throws, senior Ashley Duffus threw a season-best 131-06 in the women's javelin to place fifth. Canitra Mackey (132-10) came in fourth and Jarrett tossed a personal-best 106-01.

Tim Pelkmans (173-03) placed second and Joseph Young (168-05) came in third on the men's side in the javelin.

Competing in her final meet in front of the home crowd, Ianna Roach tossed a 161-09 to finish fourth in the women's hammer throw. Tahisha Thompson (153-09) and Kaitlyn Washington (148-01) each threw a personal best, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively.

Kaitlyn Washington had a strong performance in the women's discus, throwing a 166-01 to finish second.

Shakera Kirk (156-11) posted a personal best, while Thompson (139-02) and Knowles (127-11) each threw their season bests.

Back in the running events, Shaw continued her great performance with a personal best in the women's 400. She ran a 52.29 to win the event, beating her season best by more than a second and a half and previous personal best by nearly a half second.

In her first 400-meter dash, Balde performed well, running a 52.65 to finish second.

Tranasia Jones also ran a personal-best 54.83 to place fourth.

After Duncan earned one personal best, he earned a second with a 47.70 to place second in the 100-meter dash.

"It feels amazing to earn a pair of personal bests," Duncan said. "I've been waiting a long time for this. I knew I could do this, but I finally was able to put it all together."

Jaysaun Smith (48.36) placed fourth and Galen Loyd ran a season-best 49.31.

Taj Morris (14.08) came in second in the men's 110-meter hurdles. On the women's side, Jessica Pitcher ran a season-best 14.83 to finish fifth. Abria Paul (16.81) posted a personal best as well.

Three NSU distance runners won their events, starting with John Klein's 9:47.60 in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase.

In the men's 800-meter run, Brian Norton (1:56.84) won the event, while Evan Wilson (2:02.47) ran a personal best.

Ceyda Bayur clocked a 2:22.82 on the women's side.

Leah Thompson ran a personal-best 5:18.06 to place second in the women's 1500-meter run.

The teams head to Baton Rouge for the second time during the outdoor season next, going to the LSU Alumni Gold on Saturday.