LEXINGTON, Kent.—In her one season in Natchitoches, Rushana Dwyer has put her fingerprints all over the Northwestern State record books in the 400-meter dash.

She continued that by achieving one mark she hadn't yet achieved—breaking the school record in the outdoor season.

Dwyer, a senior from St. Eliizabeth, Jamaica, accomplished that feat in resounding fashion with a time of 51.03, beating Maygan Shaw's year-old record of 51.19, to breeze into Saturday's quarterfinals with a chance to make it to Oregon and nationals.

That performance was the highlight of the day for NSU on the women's first day of competition Thursday at the NCAA East First Round at the University of Kentucky.

"Honestly, it feels great, especially because the race felt smooth and controlled," Dwyer said. "Running 51.03 and breaking the school record means a lot to me but I still feel like I have more in me. It gives me a lot of confidence knowing I can run that time and still feel comfortable. I'm excited for what's next and I'm ready to keep proving myself on the national level."

After nearly breaking the mark at the Southland Conference Championships two weekends ago, she placed second in her heat to earn an automatic spot in the quarterfinals, as the top three from all six heats advance, as well as the next top six times.

"It was a great strategic race," associate head coach Adam Pennington said. "She could have ran faster, but the plan was to just be top 2, save as much energy as possible for the finals, and get a good lane. And she did all of that.

"That might be the easiest run I've seen from her this year. It should be a fast and exciting final."

In the same heat, Margaret Conteh placed 31^st with a time of 52.56.

Coming off her gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the SLC Championships, Juvonna Cornette ran an 11.57 in the event to finish 40^th.
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Fresh off winning the gold at the conference meet, Anisha Gibbons started the day for NSU with a toss of 150-11 in the javelin, placing 31^st in the event. Placing closely behind was teammate Teodora Samac, who came in 37^th with a throw of 146-1.

Ryah Dates placed 43^rd in her first appearance at regionals in the shot put with a throw of 46-10.

Despite being 45^th in the long jump in the NCAA East going in, Samari Finney placed 39^th with a jump of 19-2.

Tarajh Hudson begins the final day of competition for the men Friday with the discus at noon, followed by Randy Kelly in the high jump at 2 p.m. The relays round out the men's trip to regionals with the 4x100 at 4 p.m. and 4x400 at 7:45 p.m.