The Northwestern State University of Louisiana men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams continue to break the university’s records during relays and aim for Southland Conference indoor titles this year.

Half of the team traveled to Texas Tech University to compete in the Stan Scott Invite and Multis on, while several other members traveled to the University of Houston competed in the the Robert Platt Invitational in Houston in late January.

Many NSU athletes successfully completed their events, placing in the top three. Freshman Ryah Dates finished first with a throw of 14.45 ft in the women’s shot put. Junior Justin Craft finished third with a throw of 16.20 ft in the men’s shot put.

Raven Simone Jarrett, graduate student majoring in homeland security, is a multiple event athlete who competes in hurdles, sprints and jumps. She advanced to the semifinals but came up short in the 60-meter hurdles in Lubbock. Jarrett holds her head up high looking onto the next competition.

“This season I came in wanting to basically lift heavy and train well, because last year I didn’t get the opportunity because I was out for a couple of weeks due to an injury,” Jarrett said. “So I knew that since this year is especially my last year on the track that I gotta leave with a bang. I gotta do what I need to do to be the best person so I can leave an impact after I’m done on the track.”

Jarrett believes there is room for improvement within her abilities, specifically in high jump. “I feel like one year I was at my peak and then the next following year I just had to rebuild myself and I’m kind of in that process of rebuilding myself for high jump. Even the hurdles. But every event that I do, I’m just trying to do better this year than last year,” Jarrett said.

Both relay teams had a standout meet in Lubbock, breaking records on both sides.

Senior Maygan Shaw, senior Tranasia Jones, junior Margaret Conteh and senior Kahliyah Anderson finished second in the women’s 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:36.76 minutes, breaking their record for the second time this season.

Junior Kason Jones, sophomore Vincente Graiani, freshman William Achee and senior Galen Loyd finished third in the men’s 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:10.87 minutes, setting their team’s record since 2020.

Achee, an accounting major, explained that although this is his first season as a Demon, he is still trying to adjust to college life before the season started.

“During the off-season, I just stayed active and got ready for college,” he said. Even though Achee did not know what to expect, he prepared as much as he could. “But I just stayed active, got here and was ready to run,” he said.

He plans to improve with time and go farther than his set expectations. “I’m just trying to sprint for as long as I can, trying to hold on, because it’s more of a mental race than physical. I just think of the finish line, and I know it’s not that far away. Just pray, pray about it,” Achee said.

Randy Kelly, junior general studies major, finished fifth with a height of 2.07 ft in the men’s high jump in Lubbock. After putting in work during the off-season, Kelly looks forward to meeting his short-term goal of winning the indoor conference title. “I’m looking to improve my consistency, going to every meet, looking to get better and do better every meet,” he said.

In Houston, senior Leah Thompson placed 31st with a time of 5:44.22 minutes and freshman Chesney Mathews placed 33rd with a time of 6:28.22 minutes in the women’s mile.

Freshman Mason Bayne finished 33rd with a time of 2:05.84 minutes in the men’s 800-meter run. Senior Korbin Shumate finished 24th with a time of 4:22.76 minutes, freshman Owen Rue placed 35th with a time of 4:48.98 minutes, freshman Kaden Elliot finished 37th with a time of 4:53.24 minutes in the men’s mile.

With two meets in the same weekend, several NSU athletes traveled to the University of Arkansas to compete in the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville and others competed in Pittsburg State University’s Russ Jewett Indoor Gorilla Classic in Kansas.

In Fayetteville, Shaw broke NSU’s 400-meter indoor record by finishing 15th out of 37 runners with a time of primarily athletes from outside the conference and out of the country. Sanaria Butler originally held the university’s title a year ago with a time of 52.92 seconds.

The men’s 4×400 relay team broke another school record at the Tyson Invitational. Jones, Graiani, Achee and Loyd finished third in the men’s 4×400 meter relay with a time of 3:09.05 minutes.

Junior Elijah Rowe finished 28th out of 54 runners in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.54 seconds.

Shaw placed 18th with a time of 23.83 seconds, junior Margaret Conteh placed 38th with a time of 25.31 seconds and senior Kahliyah Anderson placed 41st with a time of 24.0 seconds in the women’s 200-meter dash.

In Pittsburg, junior Dynia Lewis placed first with the time of 8.42 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles and placed third in the 7.55 seconds in the 60-meter dash. Jarrett finished fifth with a time of 8.70 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.

Shumate finished 21st in the men’s mile with a time of 4:17.85 minutes.

In the field events, senior Madison Brown cleared the pole vault with a height of 12-10.75 ft. In the women’s shot put, senior Shakera Williams finished fourth with a throw of 45-11.35 ft, junior Shanice Hutson finished fifth with a throw of 45-4 ft, freshman Ryah Dates finished sixth with a throw of 45-4 ft and senior Carnitra Mackey finished ninth with a throw of 43-10 ft.

Junior Justin Craft finished eighth with a throw of 51-10.75 ft, junior Abner Johnson placed ninth with a throw of 50-5.50 ft and senior Tarajh Hudson finished 12th with a throw of 47-6.5 ft in the men’s shot put.

Jarrett finished ninth in the women’s high jump with a height of 5-4.25 ft. Senior Jaslyn Smith finished eighth with a height of 37-10 ft and junior Victoria Bryd finished 15th with a height of 35-9.25 ft in the women’s triple jump.

At their last meet, the team competed in the Louisiana State University Twilight in Baton Rouge.

Senior Bernesha Knowles won the weight throw with a toss of 56-7.25 ft, while senior Tahisha Thompson placed fifth with a toss of 46-7.25 ft.

In the women’s shot put, Dates placed third with a throw of 46-11.5 ft, Williams placed fourth with a throw of 46-9.5 ft, Hutson placed fifth with a throw of 46-6.75 and Mackey placed eight with a throw of 44-9.5 ft.

Making it to the finals, Shaw finished sixth with a time of 7.67 seconds and Finney finished eighth with a time of 7.80 seconds in the women’s 60-meter dash.

Junior Silet Gray finished second with a time of 26.51 seconds and sophomore Cherie Neal finished third with a time of 26.66 seconds in the women’s 200-meter dash.

On the men’s side, Johnson finished sixth with a throw of 55-7 ft, junior Donovahn Watkins finished seventh with a throw of 54-11.25 ft and Hudson finished eight with a throw of 54-6.65 ft in the weight throw.

Craft placed second with a throw of 54-9.25 ft in the men’s shot put.

In the men’s 60-meter dash finals, junior Tajae Francis placed seventh with a time of 6.88 seconds and senior Tavis Wilson placed eighth with a time of 6.91 seconds.

Tim Pelkmans finished 10th with a time of 8.48 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.

In the 3000-meter run, senior John Klein finished fifth with a time of 8:42.50 minutes and Shumate finished ninth with a time of 8:51.81 minutes. Bayne finished 17th with a time of 2:04.59 minutes in the 800-meter run.

The SLC Indoor Championships will be held on March 2 in Birmingham, Alabama.