NACOGOCHES, Texas — Three-time All-American javelin thrower Cody Fillinich rifled a 235-7 throw Saturday in his first competition in two seasons, while Mike Green won the men’s 400 meter dash and Mike Hill took the 110 meter hurdles in NCAA Regional qualifying and personal record times Saturday as Northwestern State won four events and had 15 more top three finishes at the Dogwood Invitational track and field meet.
Lady Demon thrower DeJon Griffin improved her own school hammer record with a 176-4 heave, nearly two feet better than her opening mark this year at the Northwestern Relays two weeks ago. Her latest record toss was second to SFA’s Frednisha Marshall (178-1).
Fillinich, joining Green and Hill punching their tickets to the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in May, neared his personal best of 237-2 from two years ago. He was fourth in the 2007 NCAA Championships with a 230-5 throw. He threw 237-1 at SFA in 2007 to win the Southland Conference title.
Green won the 400 in 47.02, nipping Sam Houston’s Darryl Haynes (47.04) and leading four Demons in the top eight, trailed by Michael Batts (fourth, 47.84), Jamie Emery (sixth, 48.32) and Jeremy Thomas (eighth, 48.96).
Hill clocked 14.23 in the hurdles, with teammate P.J. Bennett second (14.70).
Corey Jones gave Northwestern its other event win, taking the men’s shot with a 54-6 3/4 that was nearly a foot better than the second-best mark. Teammate Buck Thompson took fourth (50-7 1/4). Jones was second in the discus (165-4).
Griffin and Lady Demon sprinter Anna Forest were among 10 runner-up finishers for NSU, clocking 25.39 in the women’s 200. Teammates Jessica Tuck (fourth, 26.08), Shamaigun VanBuren (fifth, 26.13) and Whitney Smith (sixth, 26.33) also scored for NSU in that race.
They teamed on the runner-up 4x100 meter relay (46.96), just 0.02 behind SFA’s winning time.
VanBuren took second (12.82), Tuck third (12.84) and Smith fifth (12.86) in the 100 dash, while Forest ran in a heat spoiled by a timing malfunction and was not credited with a finish along with the other runners in that heat.
Nathanial McReynolds ran second (10:10.05) in the men’s 3000 meter steeplechase. The Demons’ 4x400 relay team was second in a 3:13.59 time. Greg Hall (6-4 3/4) was the men’s high jump runner-up.
Daniel Yarbrough threw 179-10 for second in the men’s hammer and was third (164-5) in the discus.
Other third places for Northwestern came from Chris Pearson in the men’s 800 (1:54.66), the Lady Demon 4x400 relay team (3:50.69), and Kimberly Hudnall in the women’s javelin (113-5).
In team scoring, the Demons were third with 136 1/2 points, trailing SFA (226 1/2) and Sam Houston (140), and topping Louisiana-Monroe (79), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (50) and Texas-Tyler (41).
The Lady Demons took fourth, posting 93 points. SFA ruled with 275, Sam Houston had 126, ULM 99, while UAPB (54) and UT-Tyler (21) trailed the Lady Demons.
Northwestern competes next weekend at LSU, then has the Texas Relays to begin April.