JACKSONVILLE—Fresh off a dominant victory at the Southland Conference Championships, the Northwestern State women send athletes in seven events to the NCAA East First Round.

The first round for the women begins Thursday and the meet concludes Saturday on the campus of North Florida.

Coming off four gold medals at the conference meet, Maygan Shaw headlines the group of Lady Demons traveling to Florida, doing so in both the 400-meter dash and as a member of the 4x400 relay.

Shaw is joined by Samari Finney (long jump), Jaslyn Smith (triple jump), Shakera Kirk (discus), Shakera Williams (shot put) and Teodora Samac (javelin) at the East First Round.

"It is always a good thing to see kids make it to regionals," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "They all have aspirations of making it to nationals and becoming an all-american. To have 16 total kids going is really awesome and is a testament to their hard work and coach's hard work to put them in the right positions to succeed."

Samac kicks off the regionals on the women's side for NSU, as she competes at 1:30 p.m. in the javelin, the first of four Lady Demons to compete Thursday.

Finney takes part in the long jump at 3:30, while Williams competes in the shot put at 5 p.m. and Shaw rounds out their first day with the 400 at 6:25 p.m.

Saturday, Kirk begins the NSU women's second and final day of competition with the discus at noon before Smith competes in the triple jump at 1:30.

If Shaw makes the finals in the 400, she'd compete at 5:50. The 4x400 rounds out the first round at 7:45 p.m.

The running events can be viewed on ESPN+ on both days.

Shaw's gold medals in the 200, 400 and both relays earned her the SLC Women's Track Athlete of the Year. She joins Randy Kelly as the only NSU athletes making their third consecutive appearance in the first round.

While Shaw won the women's track athlete of the year, Finney took home the overall athlete of the year after collecting 27.5 points at the SLC Championships, winning three golds and two bronze medals.

"It is truly a blessing to make it back to regionals," Finney said. "I feel that the hardships I had throughout the indoor and outdoor seasons, it feels great that I was able to prosper through it all and earn that recognition."

Finney started her conference meet off with a gold in the long jump, recording a jump of a season-best 20-9.25 on her final jump, which earned her a trip to the NCAA East First Rounds. She joins Shaw as a member of the 4x400 relay.

"This year, I have a completely different mindset," Finney said. "I am not going to go in there scared, no matter what flight I am in or the place I am in in that flight. I am not going to psych myself out and I just know that I have to go in and do better than I did last year to not put me in the position I was last year to regret how I did before."

Shaw and Finney are joined by fellow 4x400 relay participants Tranasia Jones, Margaret Conteh and Kahliyah Anderson. The quartet of Shaw, Finney, Jones and Conteh ran a 3:35.91 to claim the gold medal at the conference meet.

Their top time of 3:31.82 is the best mark in the league by nearly nine seconds over second place.

In addition to Finney in the jumps, Jaslyn Smith is making a trip to the first round in the triple jump.

Smith clinched a spot in Jacksonville with a 42-0.5 at the conference meet, which also earned her the gold medal in the triple jump. She did so in the clutch on her final jump of the championships.

That jump was the second-best mark of the entire outdoor season in the Southland and earned her the 34^th seed in the event at the first round.

Like Roy Morris on the men's side, Samac made the NCAA First Round as a freshman, doing so in the javelin throw after earning a bronze medal at the conference meet.

Samac, a native of Serbia, is coming off a toss of 149-9 to capture that bronze, her second-best throw this season, only trailing her 150-0 she tossed to begin her NSU career at the Lurline Hamilton Invitational. That throw is the third-best in the Southland in the javelin during the outdoor season.

Kirk and Williams proved to have more in common than just their first names, as both made the podium at the conference meet, which earned each thrower a spot at the NCAA East First Round.

After making it to regionals last season, Kirk makes it once again after earning a silver medal at the conference meet. Her toss of 168-5 not only was a personal best for her in the discus, but it pushed her to Jacksonville, much like her throw last year at the conference meet.

Kirk proved she performs at her best in the biggest moments, as her two throws at the conference meets the last two years are the only times she posted throws of at least 160-0 at NSU. She finished in the top three on three occasions in the event this season, also doing so at the Lurline Hamilton Invitational and Leon Johnson NSU Invitational in addition to the conference meet.

Williams is coming off her personal-best toss of 51-2.75 in the shot put to win the gold. Her throw was more than four feet better than her previous best this season. That throw was the second-best toss during the outdoor season.

The group aims to continue the dominant tradition for the Lady Demons after earning an all-american spot last season.