NACOGDOCHES, Texas—The reigning All-American showed he has plenty of magic up his sleeve.

Down to his final attempt in the men's long jump, sophomore Roy Morris recorded a personal-best 25-4 to claim the gold medal on the second day of competition at the Southland Conference Championships on Friday on the campus of Stephen F. Austin.

"Overall, it was another tremendous day," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "We were good in the field and on the track. Just tremendous performance by Roy Morris in the long jump to come back and win it by a centimeter on his last jump he had two teammates who had really good days over there today with Elijah Rowe and Randy Kelly. And then for Anisha Gibbons to come and win it on her fifth throw after fouling on her first two throws was massive."

He was one of two gold medalists Friday, as he was joined by women's javelin thrower Anisha Gibbons.

"At first, I wasn't doing so well," Morris said. "I just couldn't find my weight to get on the board. Like my coach said, just stay patient and relax and I just prayed and on my last jump, it was right on the board, and it felt great."

Morris' jump of 25-4 on his sixth attempt edged out Lamar's Kenson Tate, whose 25-3.5 on his first attempt led the event until Morris' personal best jump.

"Going into the final jump, I told myself, 'I worked too hard for this,'" Morris said. '"I've gone through warm weather to cold weather, and I said I have to come away with this.' I am really proud of myself for doing what I did."

In addition to Morris' gold, Elijah Rowe joined Morris on the podium with a bronze medal with a season-best 24-9.75.

Randy Kelly also made finals to finish in the fifth place with a season-best 23-7.5, one of two people to earn points from the first flight.

While it didn't take until her final throw, Anisha Gibbons also had to make a late comeback to earn herself a gold as well in the women's javelin.

In her fifth throw, Gibbons tossed a season-best 166-9 to overtake Lamar's Neelie Schiel, last season's javelin champion.

The throw is the second-best in school history, only trailing Kelsey Frank's 168-5, set in 2019.

Gibbons fouled on two straight throws to begin her evening but bounced back in style.

"My first two throws were over 50 meters but unfortunately were fouls," Gibbons said. "I knew I had to get one on the board in order to qualify for finals. After that, I just started over from there with three more throws."

Just like in the men's long jump, her teammate joined her on the podium—Teodora Samac.

Samac tossed a 150-10 to claim bronze, her second consecutive season grabbing the bronze.

Those two were not surprises to finish in the top five of the competition. People may not have thought the same about Mikayla Mondello, who showed out on a big stage with a personal-best 139-10 to finish fifth and earn the Lady Demons four big points.

Also making the podium for Northwestern State during day two is Ryah Dates in the women's shot put, earning the bronze medal with a personal-best 50-11.

"It's a great feeling," Dates said. "It was a rough season. I was struggling with injuries and my mental, but it's a great feeling to come out here and get a PR and also get a medal too."

Eliska Zahadnickova's season-best 47-11.25 and Shakera Williams' 47-10.75 also earned points, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

La'Darion Dudley was the final NSU athlete to reach the podium on the second day, doing so in the men's shot put with a toss of 57-3.

Donroy Brown also earned points for the Demons with a throw of 55-8 to place sixth.

In her first outdoor conference meet, Leah Brown posted a personal-best 39-5.25 to place fourth in the women's triple jump.

Cherie Neal recorded a personal best in the women's heptathlon with 4844 points to place sixth and earn points for the Lady Demons. She posted a personal-best 118-4 in the javelin to finish third and 18-7.5 to finish fourth in the long jump.

On the track, four athletes from both men and women advanced to the finals in the 400-meter dash.

The leader going into the meet, Rushana Dwyer, took second in the prelims with an easy time of 53.36 to win her heat. Margaret Conteh took fifth and qualified with a time of 54.81 and Kahliyah Anderson recorded took sixth with a time of 55.27.

Samari Finney also earned her way in by winning her heat with a time of 55.81.

On the men's side, the Demons went 1-2-3 in the prelims, led by Will Achee's 46.49.

He was followed closely behind by Kason Jones (46.78) and Charlie Bartholomew (46.83), who placed second and third respectively.

The trio was joined in the finals by Desmond Duncan, who won his heat to earn a qualifying spot with a time of 47.25 to finish seventh in the event.

Four more Demons and three more Lady Demons earned spots in Saturday's 100-meter dash finals.

On the men's side, Eddy Vu led the way for NSU with a 10.41 to finish fifth in the prelims.

He was followed close behind by Antoine Evans (10.41) and Koen Beavers (10.42), who occupied the next two spots.

Kalen Beavers (10.43) also earned a spot into the finals by winning his heat.

Rowe (10.43) narrowly missed the finals.

On the women's side, Juvonna Cornette (11.43) and Sileena Farrell (11.54) went 1-2, just like during the season.

Maria Umoibang (11.70) also made the finals, finishing seventh in the prelims.

Nia Richards ran a personal best in the women's 100-meter hurdles with a 13.69 to finish fifth and advancing to Saturday's finals. Silet Gray (14.15) nearly made it, placing 11^th.

Dishaun Lamb ran a season-best 13.94 to place second and advanced to the finals in the men's 110-meter hurdles.

To round out the day, Alaysia Reed ran a personal-best 2:20.42 in the women's 800-meter run.

"On the track, I know the announcer was starting to get tired of saying 'Northwestern State' because we put so many people in the finals," Heimerman said. "It's going be a big day for us tomorrow we have to go out and execute, but I really love our positions and our chances and should be a fun day at the track"

The conference meet concludes Saturday with the final day of competition, beginning at 11 a.m. with the women's discus and men's pole vault. The running events start at 5 p.m. with the women's 4x100 relay.

Heading into the final day, the women are in second with 59.5 points, only trailing Lamar's 63, and is just ahead of Stephen F. Austin's 56.5. On the men's side, the Demons are fourth with 29. SFA is first with 64 and UIW is second with 63.