LEXINGTON, Kent.—The 4x400 relay has always been Northwestern State's bread and butter.

The men's group showed just why, as not only did the Demons set a school record with a time of 3:02.73 but also punched their ticket to Oregon for nationals.

Running anchor, Will Achee was in sixth place in the heat with about 100 yards remaining and blew past Charlotte and nearly caught South Florida in fourth place.

The group of Desmond Duncan, Kason Jones, Charlie Bartholomew and Achee earned the trip to nationals and became the first NSU men's 4x400 relay to reach nationals since 2003.

"I'm just happy for the guys," associate head coach Adam Pennington said. "In this meet you have to be at your best and they were.

"As for the race itself it was stressful to watch and wait. The atmosphere in that heat was unreal. It was one of the fastest and most competitive races I've ever been a part of. Overall, I'm proud of the record, but I'm even more excited about the opportunity to compete against the best in the country and see what we can do at nationals. This is a great moment for the program."

The Demons also were in the 4x100 relay, which finished 17^th with a time of 39.38, just shy of the season's best of 39.22.

In the field, it was a valiant effort by Tarajh Hudson in the discus, as it took until the final flight to knock him out of the top 12, as Hudson tossed a season-best 185-7 to finish in 14^th, by far his highest finish in his four trips to regionals.

In his three previous trips to the NCAA First Round, Hudson's best finish was 24^th and best toss was 175-5, and he blew past those totals and almost made it to Oregon for nationals.

He was in the second flight and led after the first two flights and was fourth after the third flight. But the fourth flight had the throwers with the top 12 tosses this season, and 10 of the 12 finished with further throws than Hudson, whose career ends as one of the best discus throwers in NSU history.

It was also a valiant effort from Randy Kelly, who nearly matched a personal best with a clearance of 6-11 in the high jump, tying for 15^th and nearly making his first trip to Oregon and nationals.

He was actually tied for the top 12, but others had fewer misses on the 6-11 bar. His career ends as one of the better high jumpers in program history.

On Saturday, the women close out their time in Kentucky, starting with the discus with Eliska Zahradnickova, Shakera Kirk and Shantangelo Williams at noon. Rushana Dwyer goes for a spot at nationals in the 400-meter dash at 5:50 p.m. before her and her 4x400 relay group competes at 7:45 p.m.