JACKSONVILLE—Maygan Shaw has had one of the best careers a Northwestern State sprinter has ever had—and she is not ready for it to be over.

Shaw earned her way to nationals in her signature event, the 400-meter dash, clocking a 51.68 to place third in her heat to grab an automatic berth to nationals Saturday evening at the Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium on the campus of North Florida.

The top three finishers in each of the three heats all earn berths to Oregon for nationals, as do the next three fastest times.

"Maygan ran great," associate head coach Adam Pennington said. "Today was a huge challenge for her and she handled it well. We can still run a much better race, so we are excited about that going into Eugene."

Joining Shaw in Oregon from the Southland Conference is Onyah Onyinye Favour, who finished right behind Shaw in heat No. 1 and 12^th overall, the final spot in the nationals from the region.

She joins Roy Morris as Northwestern State athletes making the trek to Eugene for nationals, as Morris earned his spot to nationals in the long jump Wednesday.

It is Shaw's second consecutive trip to nationals after making it as a member of the 4x400 relay team, which earned her a spot as a Second Team All-American.

Shaw nearly made it again as a part of the 4x400 relay team, but just missed out with a 13^th-place finish as the top 12 go to Oregon.

The group clocked its best time of the season with a time of 3:31.79, edging out its previous season best of 3:31.82, and best since the school record time of 3:29.22 set at last season's regionals.

"Being 13th is really tough," Pennington said. "They ran a season best and it still wasn't enough. In the West Region, our time would have been 8th overall and 3:34.4 made it in. So, I know we belong there and that's the hardest part to swallow for this group. They fought really hard out of a tough lane and gave everything they had. We are proud of them."

Harvard was the only non-power school ahead of NSU in the 4x400, as six of the schools that made it to nationals hail from the SEC, including Georgia, whose 3:25.80 set a new facility record.

To begin the day, Shakera Kirk finished 36^th with a throw of 154-5. She tried for the big throw because she knew she needed it to advance to Eugene, but two of her throws didn't count.

"She warmed up well and the two throws that fouls were pretty deep," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "We knew we had to throw something really far, so we went after it.  I'm very happy."

Shortly after Kirk competed, Jaslyn Smith made her debut in the triple jump in her senior season at the NCAA East First Round.

Like Kirk, Smith knew she had to have a far distance in order to advance. In Smith's case, it was a jump, as she placed 45^th with a 39-8.5. She took chances in order to jump as far as possible but ultimately fouled twice.

"Today was one of those days where the foul board just wasn't our friend, sadly," jumps coach Alex Wills said. "She put a great jump out there on her second attempt and unfortunately, we just didn't get a green light. Still, I am very proud of this young lady and will really miss her very much next year."

Morris and Shaw head to nationals on the campus of the University of Oregon, which begins June 11 and spans four days.