LEXINGTON, Kent.—Fifteen Northwestern State men's athletes, including a pair of conference champions from this past meet and two more individual record breakers, travel to regionals at the University of Kentucky, as they aim for a trip to nationals.

"A traveling party of 33 people going to regionals is amazing," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "The athletes are super talented, and the coaches are really talented and put the athletes in position to be successful and helped them qualify.

"It's a fun time and a stressful time with 33 people going to Lexington with flights and rental cars and all that other stuff; it's really fun."

Five athletes—Elijah Rowe, Keontae Gaines, Randy Kelly, Roy Morris and Tarajh Hudson—have all made the regionals while in an NSU uniform before, the latter three earned a spot previously in open events.

Will Achee, Charlie Bartholomew, Eddy Vu, Antoine Evans Jr., Desmond Duncan, Kalen Beavers, Koen Beavers, Kason Jones, LaDarion Dudley and Dishaun Lamb are all making their debuts at regionals while with NSU.

Both the field and running events for the Demons begin at 5 p.m. on Wednesday with Lamb in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump with Morris and Rowe.

Hudson competes in the discus at noon Friday, which begins the events on day two for the men. The running events that day start at 4 p.m. with the 4x100 relay.

All four days are being streamed on ESPN+.

Morris starts the field events for NSU in the long jump Wednesday, as the sophomore aims for his second All-American spot in as many seasons.

He is coming off a tremendous Southland Conference Championship performance, recording a jump of personal-best 25-4 on his final jump of the meet to win the gold medal by 0.01 meters.

"When you're an All-American as a freshman, of course you want to make it every year, which is a very tough task," Heimerman said. "To make it to nationals is super tough, so Roy puts a lot of pressure on himself to be an All-American again.

"He is super talented and can jump much further. He just has to allow himself to do it and stay relaxed enough to do it. There's a fine line with every athlete—having the capability to do it and allowing yourself to do it. That is where he's at right now. He just has to relax, and he just has to do the things that he needs to do to allow himself to be an eight-meter jumper because he is an eight-meter jumper."

Rowe earned his spot at regionals with a personal best jump of 24-9.75 at the conference championships to finish with the bronze. It is the first of two events for Rowe, who is also a part of the 4x100 relay team.

Lamb also starts at 5 p.m. on day one in the 110-meter hurdles. He is coming off a program record run of 13.80, set at the conference meet. Lamb broke the record of Tremayne Flagler, who ran a 13.87 at the conference meet in 2019.

"When I hear my name being a school record holder here, it means that I was able to do something since I've been here," Lamb said. "I am so glad to be a part of this team and to get a record, I don't know how to describe the feeling, but I am really happy.

"I am glad to get the opportunity to go to Kentucky. This is my first time going to regionals, so I am going to go there and enjoy it and make the most of it."

Next up on Wednesday is La'Darion Dudley in the men's shot put at 5:30 p.m. He threw a 58-4.5 in the outdoor opener in the Louisiana Classic to punch his ticket to Lexington.

Kalen Beavers is running in the 100-meter dash, as he heads to Kentucky on the strength of a 10.20 set at the first outdoor meet this season, the Louisiana Classic.

The 400-meter dash starts at 6:25, as two Demons take part in it: Achee and Bartholomew.

Achee is coming off a 45.19 in the 400 at the conference meet, which is a school record. He is joined by Bartholomew, who ran a season-best 45.65, also at the conference meet. The pair earned the silver and bronze, respectively.

Every other event starts on the final day, as both relays, the high jump and discus, as well as the finals in the sprints events, take place on Friday.

First up is Hudson and the discus at noon. Hudson is four-year regional qualifier at regionals in the event and while it wasn't a personal best for him, he tossed a season best with a throw of 184-2 at the Southland on his final attempt of the meet.

Next up is Kelly, another four-year regional qualifier, and the men's high jump at 1 p.m.

The senior from Blythewood, S.C. made his way to Kentucky on the strength of a 7-0.5 set at the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational.

The track events begin at 4 p.m. Friday with the 4x100 relay.

Kalen Beavers, Vu, Evans Jr., Gaines, Rowe and Koen Beavers are all going to regionals as a part of that relay.

That 4x100 relay clocked a season-best 39.22 at the conference meet to grab the gold medal.

After the 4x100, next up is the quarterfinals of the sprints events, as the Demons in the open events aim to go to nationals, which take place at the University of Oregon starting June 10.

The final event of competition for the men is the 4x400 relay.

Along with the Demons runners participating in the open 400 event—Achee and Bartholomew—they both are also competing in the 4x400 relay as well.

They are joined on the team by Duncan and Jones. Their season best run came at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays, clocking a 3:04.45, which is in the top 20 on the NCAA East list.

That group is coming off a gold medal at the conference championships.