Another day, another school record—or records—set by Northwestern State sprinters, specifically by freshman Sanaria Butler.
Last week, Butler ran a 52.22 in the 400-meter dash in front of the home crowd at the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational to break the school record in the event.
Saturday, she did one better, running the 400 in a blistering 52.19, a mark that lasted just one week, on the second and final day of the Michael Johnson Invitational on the campus of Baylor University.
If that wasn’t enough for Butler, she was a part of the women’s 4×400 relay team that ran a 3:36.28.
The group of Butler, Maygan Shaw, Vanessa Balde and Sian Weller broke a five-year old school record and is more than two seconds quicker than second-place Texas A&M-Commerce in the league. The time is 35th in the NCAA this season.
While Butler stole the show in the 400-meters, Shaw earned a personal best in the event with a 52.73, which is fourth in school history, behind Butler’s outings from the past two weeks and Natashia Jackson’s 52.55 in 2021.
Those were two of the eight personal or season bests set.
The men’s 4×400 team posted a season best as well. The quartet of Desmond Duncan, Cyrus Jacobs, Justin Walden and Galen Loyd ran a 3:11.72, which is the second-best mark in the conference this season, only behind Southeastern Louisiana.
Three personal bests were set in the men’s 800-meters. Stefan Klefasz led the way for the Demons with a 1:54.02 with Korbin Shumate (1:54.15) and Payten Vidourek (1:55.82) right behind Klefasz.
John Klein ran a personal best 10:04.97 in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
Ceyda Bayur placed first in her heat in the women’s 800-meters, running a 2:17.55.
In the men’s 4×100, the team of Cyrus Jacobs, Simon Wulff, Dylan Swain and Destine-Unique Scott finished fourth with a 39.87, placing only behind Kentucky, TCU and Nebraska.
Vanessa Balde ran a 13.81, placing 14th in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Jessica Pitcher ran a 14.93 and Orsciana Beard posted a 14.96.
Destine-Unique Scott led a group of men’s 400-meter athletes for the Demons, four finishing in the top 33 in a loaded field. Scott ran a 47.00 to finish 15th in a group of 52 finishers. Galen Loyd (48.56) came in 30th, while Cyrus Jacobs (48.70) placed 31st and Desmond Duncan (48.72) came in 33rd.
Mikkel Johansson finished with a season-best 10.90 in the men’s 100-meters. Austin Simoneaux ran a 10.77 in the event to finish 27th out of 54 finishers.
In the field, Djimon Gumbs tossed a 61-9.50 in the shot put to place fourth in the event, while Diamante Gumbs recorded a 52-3.75.
Following his strong performance at the Leon Johnson NSU Invitational, Randy Kelly finished sixth in the high jump, clearing 6-7.50.
Ashley Duffus posted a 133-10 in the women’s javelin, finishing ninth.
In the shot put, Carnitra Mackey posted a 46-1.50 to finish 11th, while Deonmonique Granville tossed 43-4.25.
Next up for the track & field teams is the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships, beginning May 5 in Commerce, Texas.
