BIRMINGHAM – Northwestern State standouts Justin Walker and Emmanuel Williams completed sweeps of their specialties Thursday while Lady Demons Por'sha Thomas andTaylor Walker posted a surprising 1-2 finish in the women's triple jump on the final day of the Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Walker, a senior outdoor All-American, again ran away from the field as he won the 200 meter dash by nearly half a second, breaking his own day-old meet record with a 21.17 time that ranks 36th nationally. It was .39 faster than the second-best mark Thursday. Walker took the 60 meter dash title Wednesday in 6.71, claiming his first Southland Indoor championship by 0.11 over the next-best runner. Thursday, he pulled off NSU's first sweep of the 60 and 200 at the meet since All-American Ronnie Powell in 1998.
A day after posting the seventh-best long jump (25-6) in the country and the best mark at the Southland Indoors since 1991, W
Williams recorded another personal best and won the triple jump by leaping 50-4 ¾ on his first attempt of the day. The junior from Acadiana High School became the first Demon since USA Olympian Kenta Bell in 1998 and 2000 to pull off the long and triple jump double at the Southland Indoors.
Their four victories provided the bulk of the scoring for the Demons as Northwestern was fifth overall and the second-highest Louisiana finisher with 60 points. Southeastern Louisiana was a surprise winner with 119, followed by Sam Houston State (106 ½), Stephen F. Austin (91) and Lamar (75) among the 13 men's teams.
Thomas, a sophomore, was the third seed in the women's triple jump while Walker, a freshman, came in ranked fifth in the league. Thomas flew almost a foot past her personal record on her first attempt of the day, with her 39-9 ¼ outlasting all competitors for the win. With her last of six attempts, Walker zoomed from sixth place to second by leaping a personal-best 39-4 ½.
NSU's Brent Giddins was one spot away from a medal with a fourth-place 8.30 in the 60 meter hurdles. Another fourth place came in the final event, the 4x400 meter relay, asJarrod Charles, Gabe White, Dez Williams and Keenan Jackson ran 3:15.85, just .04 shy of third.
The Demons picked up a fifth place by Jackson in the 200 as he ran a personal best 21.86.
The Lady Demons had two fifths. Quiana Griffin ran 55.70 in the 400 meters and was the lead runner on the 4x400 meter relay unit that posted a 3.51.71 time with Shannon Moore, Nijah Lain and Consuela Lindsay.
Rechelle Bessard finished seventh in the women's shot put, posting a 43-4 ½ mark.
The Northwestern women took seventh in the team standings, scoring 36 points. Sam Houston rallied by SFA 132-124, with McNeese as the top Louisiana finisher (52 points, fourth).
Head coach Mike Heimerman was pleased overall with the teams' performances.
"We got nearly everything we could on the men's side. When you start with doubles from Justin and Emmanuel, that's a great foundation. We had several PRs even from athletes who didn't score," he said.
"Our goal was to finish in the top half on the women's side and we did (seventh of 14 teams), but we left 15 or 20 points out there. Still overall we had some really good marks and getting the 1-2 finish in the triple jump was a great highlight," said Heimerman. "Coach Wesley Miller has done a really good job bringing along those girls and each of them had a PR by about a foot today in the biggest meet of the year. I am very, very proud of them."
Walker's spectacular meet didn't catch Heimerman by surprise.
"Justin came in focused on getting the double and did what he put his mind to do, and left no doubt about it," said his coach. "Although his 200 time was better today, his race wasn't. He ran tight and that's exciting to consider, because there's room for him to run faster in a last-chance meet to give him a shot at qualifying for nationals. But today it's all about the team, and for a senior to pull off a double that hadn't been done in our program since Ronnie Powell did it 16 years ago, that's impressive.
"Emmanuel gave us everything we could ask. He was really determined to get over 25 in the long jump and now we have to see if his mark will hold up through the remaining conference championships so he can go to nationals. He had another PR today in the triple and was the best jumper today again. When you're a flat jumper here, you aspire to be compared to Olympians (Bell and LaMark Carter), and now he shares an accomplishment with Kenta, and he has a year left. It's a great accomplishment," said Heimerman.
Walker and Williams may compete in a last-chance meet next week. The outdoor season begins for Northwestern on March 15 at Louisiana Tech's Jim Mize Invitational.