JACKSONVILLE—While Northwestern State backers and fans in the Southland Conference know all about the greatness of Maygan Shaw, the queen of NSU sprints made sure everyone around the country did too.

Shaw made a comeback in her heat in the 400-meter dash to win the heat and earn an automatic berth in the quarterfinals Saturday with the opportunity to make the finals in her signature event.

The senior from Pineville highlighted the second day at the NCAA East First Rounds on Thursday evening at the Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium on the campus of North Florida.

In fourth place about midway through the race, Shaw made a move to race into second place, fighting with Virginia Tech's Caitlyn Bobb down the stretch before leaning in and taking the top spot at 51.52 while Bobb finished at 51.53.

As the winner of her heat, the final of six Thursday, she automatically earned a spot to Saturday's race to see who heads to Oregon. The top three in all six heats advance to Saturday, as well as the next six best times.

Joining her from the Southland Conference is Southeastern Louisiana's Onyah Onyinye Favour, whom Shaw edged out to win the 400 at the conference meet.

"Any time you win a heat at a D1 championship, you had a great day," associate head coach Adam Pennington said. "It's one of the most quality meets in the world. Maygan didn't just edge out Caitlyn Bobb, she edged out the Bermuda national record holder and the ACC champion.

"These rounds will continue to get tougher, but for now we will get some rest and get ready for Saturday. I was very pleased with our effort and determination today. She has yet to lose a 400 race this outdoor. We want to keep that thing. That's our goal."

In the jumps, Samari Finney placed 24^th in the long jump with a jump of 19-7. She improved from her 2024 performance at the NCAA East First Rounds, which she jumped 19-0.5 and finished 35^th.

"It was a better performance than last year," jumps coach Alex Wills said. "But obviously, this hurts when you're coming off such good performance like she had at conference."

In her first career trip to regionals, Teodora Samac placed 35^th in the javelin.

The freshman from Serbia tossed a 143-6 on her final attempt of the meet.

"It was good experience for her," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "She didn't handle the pressure of the meet too well, but she learned a lot, hopefully, for future years. She will have a better handle of how everything works and not let the size of the meet get to her."

The shot put was supposed to compete Thursday as well, but Mother Nature had other ideas, and it was postponed until Friday at 9 a.m., when Shakera Williams makes her regionals debut.

In addition to Williams in the shot put, Randy Kelly competes in the men's high jump at 1:30 p.m., while the men's 4x100 relay kicks off the running events at 4 p.m.