TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Northwestern State hurdler Mike Hill improved his national ranking while winning the 110 meter hurdles Saturday, among four winning performances for NSU at the Seminole Invitational track and field meet hosted by Florida State.
Hill shaved 0.04 off his previous best, running a 14.01 that could bump him up a couple of places above his national 20th ranking in his specialty. Teammate P.J. Bennett was third in 14.49, a season and personal best.
DeJon Griffin won the women’s hammer with a 165-9 throw, exactly 10 feet better than Florida State’s Caila Coleman. Griffin was third in the discus at 129-1, with teammate Leslie Jordan fourth (126-9).
The Demons’ 4x100 meter relay team won in 41.06, with Michael Batts, Jamie Emery, Jeremy Thomas and Mike Green combining for a season’s best time.
The Lady Demons finished first in the 4x400 relay as Samantha Flowers, Phyllis Iheanacho, Andrea Warren and Carmen Wallace ran a 3:46.63 time, a season’s best by almost two seconds and the second-fastest time in the SLC.
Christopher Oyeku was the top collegiate finisher in the men’s long jump and triple jump. His 22-9 1/4 long jump matched his season’s best. Four unattached competitors bettered his performance Saturday.
Oyeku made a successful 2009 triple jump debut, taking second overall with a 48-7 1/2 leap which moves him into fifth on the Southland Conference rankings. Teammate Derek Johnson was fourth at 44-10 3/4.
The NSU men went 2-3 in the men’s discus, with Corey Jones throwing 162-11 and Buck Thompson tossing it 158-6. Jones was also second in the shot put (52-6 3/4), with freshman Thompson third (49-3 3/4) and Morgan Redmond, another freshman, fifth (47-6 1/4).
Anna Forest had a season’s best 11.87 time in the 100 meter dash, taking third and missing NCAA Regional qualification by 0.12. Her time ranks third in the SLC this spring. Wallace ran a personal best 1:03.22 for third in the women’s 400 meter hurdles but did not move up above her No. 5 ranking in the conference.
The Lady Demons’ 4x100 relay team of Amanda Freeman, Jazmen Williams, Jessica Tuck and Forest ran a season-best 45.95 for second place. The clocking is the best in the SLC this spring and missed NCAA Regional qualifying by 0.25.
Green ran a 21.35 for fourth overall, second among collegians, in the men’s 200, just ahead of Thomas (21.57) in fifth. Green’s time ranks second in the SLC, just 0.01 off the fastest mark, while Thomas moved into third place in the league standings.
Tuck took fifth in the women’s 200 (24.81, fifth in the SLC) and Warren was fifth in the women’s 400 (56.94, nearly a second better than her previous best and the sixth-best in the conference so far).
Freshman Leslie Jordan took third in the women’s shot put (42-8 1/4) and fellow freshman Chantel Bratton (41-6 1/2) was sixth.
Freshman Kartemus Heary gave the Demons fourth in the men’s javelin (168-11) as three-time All-American Cody Fillinich, fifth nationally in the event, took the weekend off.
Batts ran a season-best 47.54 in the 400 meter dash, finishing sixth and enhancing his No. 3 ranking in the SLC.
Courtney Herschberger was fifth in the women’s 2000 meter steeplechase (8:14.14) and Nathanial McReynolds took fifth in the men’s race (6:34.16).