AZUSA, Calif.--Five Northwestern State sprinters advanced to the finals on the first day of competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational, highlighting three meets that NSU participated in Friday. 

On the women's side, Sileena Farrell (11.61) and Juvonna Cornette (11.88) each advanced to Saturday's finals, while the same can be said for Keontae Gaines (10.45), Eddy Vu (10.46) and Antoine Evans Jr. (10.64) on the men's side. 

The women kicked it off with Farrell and Cornette making their way to the final, as Farrell's 11.61 finished fifth and Cornette's 11.88 came in seventh. 

The finals take place Saturday at 2:18 p.m. 

On the men's side, three finished in the top eight, led by Gaines' 10.45 in fourth. Right behind him in fifth was Vu's 10.46 and Evans's 10.64 came in eighth. 

Tavis Wilson (10.54) finished 14th and Keon Beavers (10.66) placed 24th. 

Continuing at the Bryan Clay Invitational, Margaret Mannering tossed a personal best in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 182-9 to place second, only to fellow Southland Conference thrower Breyunna Dowell, who tossed a 190-4 for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 

At the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, Randy Kelly cleared 6-8.75 to finish fifth in the men's high jump. 

Earlier, Anisha Gibbons tossed a season-best and Southland-leading 163-2 in the women's javelin, overtaking the top spot from her teammate Teodora Samac, who threw a 150-1 at the meet. 

In the state of Louisiana at the Jim Mize Invitational on the campus of Louisiana Tech, NSU had solid performances up and down the roster and it started with women's javelin thrower Mikayla Mondello tossing a personal-best 134-11 to win the event. 

Perhaps the star of the trip to Ruston was Thea Ring, who posted three personal bests on the day. 

Ring began her impressive day in the shot put with a toss of 38-7, defeating her previous outdoor best by more than two feet. 

She then followed that up with a run of 14.36 in the 100-meter hurdles before ending it with a 1:01.62 in the 400-meter hurdles to win that event. 

Cherie Neal also posted a few bests, also starting with the women's shot put, where she tossed a 35-9.25. 

Neal also wrapped up her day with a season best, recording a time of 25.38 in the women's 200-meter dash, narrowly missing out on a personal best. 

While it wasn't a personal or season best, she had a nice performance in the women's long jump, recording a jump of 17-8.75. 

While he didn't record a personal best at the meet, Abner Johnson had a strong day with a trio of top three finishes. Johnson started with a toss of 54-6 in the men's shot put to win the event. He then came in second in the men's hammer, throwing a 157-10, and third in the men's discus with a toss of 146-06. 

Aly Jo Warren posted two personal bests, recording a jump of 17-9.5 to finish fifth in the women's long jump and a 15.89 in the women's 100-meter hurdles. 

Bruce Boon posted a pair of season bests, starting with a 42-9 in the men's shot put. He also recorded a personal best with a run of 11.59 in the men's 100-meter dash. 

Ana Manousaridis led NSU in the women's hammer, tossing a 161-11. Tahisha Thompson (155-2) finished third. 

Also posting personal bests were Nia Richards in the women's 100-meter hurdles (14.40) and Alaysia Reed in the women's 800-meter run (2:23.50). 

Jayla Mason ran a season best in the women's 400, clocking s 55.61. 

In the men's discus, former NSU great Diamante Gumbs posted a stadium record with a throw of 185-03. 

"We started off really good with Mikayla throwing a PR in the javelin, and the group just seemed to build more good performances after that," assistant coach Alex Wills said. "Thea had a great day with three new PRs. I'm extremely proud of her performance in the 400 hurdles. This was only her second time ever running it and to do what she did, especially with the wind we had. Today was impressive. 

"We had a number of kids who either got a PR or season best. Any time you can leave meet with performances like that it builds more confidence in themselves and that's exactly what I was hoping to gain out of this meet." 

Starting the day Saturday is the men's discus throw at noon in the Bryan Clay Invitational, while the first NSU event is the women's 4x100 relay at 2:45 at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays.