BATON ROUGE – Northwestern State freshman Quenton Helaire cleared a personal best 6-7 ½ and took second in the men's high jump Friday night at the LSU Twilight indoor track and field meet.
Helaire topped his former best of 6-4 ¾ with a clearance on his third and final attempt. It is the fourth-best mark in the Southland Conference this season. Seth Pearce of Hinds Community College won at the same height, but with two fewer misses earlier in the competition.
Lady Demon freshman Mawi Berkhadley was also a runner-up with a personal best, clearing 5-6 ½ in the women's high jump field, the second-best mark in the Southland Conference this season. Teammate Nicole Hajka was seventh at 5-0 ½.
Shelly Bessard claimed third in the weight throw at 58-8, a personal best by four feet and the third-ranked throw in the Southland, in an event won by LSU's Denise Hinton with a 64-6 ½ mark. Shakemia Johnson of NSU was seventh at 47-8 and teammate Kwanzaa Andrus took eighth with a 44-0 ¾ best.
The Demons got a third-place 49-8 ¼ from Aaron Williams in the triple jump. His twin brother Emmanuel was fifth at 47-2 ¼. Emmanuel Williams took fifth in the long jump with a 23-9 best on two attempts.
Bessard was fourth in the shot put at 44-4 ¼, a season-best mark. Andrus was fifth, also with a season-best (42-10 ¾).
The Lady Demons went 4-5 in the long jump with Jaynisha Berry at 18-2 ½ and Por'sha Thomas fifth at 18-1. Both were season bests.
NSU's Brent Giddins took fourth with a season-best 8.21 in the 60 meter hurdles.
Lucas Moncla ran 10:02.25 for sixth in the men's 3000 meter run for the Demons.
Lady Demon senior Consuela Lindsay ran 9.05 and was eighth in the women's 60 meter hurdles. She posted an 8.77 time for sixth-best in the qualifying heats.
All-American Justin Walker ran a 6.79 to be the third-fastest qualifier in the 60 meter dash, but didn't compete in the finals. Christian Willis of NSU clocked a 7.07 and qualified for the Section A finals, but didn't run in the finals.
The meet was the last indoor regular-season competition for NSU, which competes next Wednesday and Thursday in the Southland Conference Indoor Championships.