AUSTIN, Texas -- With senior Michael Green running a blazing final leg, Northwestern State repeated as the university division 4x400 meter champions Saturday at the 83rd Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, while Lady Demon shot putter Trecey Rew shattered her own school record in a noteworthy runner-up finish.
Green brought the Demons from behind with a blazing 45.55 split in the race's final lap. Northwestern won convincingly, with Michael Batts, Kendal Taylor, Jamie Emery and Green clocking a 3:07.06 to the second-place 3:08.49 by Louisiana Tech. North Texas (3:08.63), Kansas (3:09.02) and Houston (3:09.55) rounded out the top five.
"Michael Green ran an awesome last leg to win it for us," said veteran Demons' coach Leon Johnson. "We were not that close when he got the baton, and he just tore it up and took the lead on the backstretch. He told me he figured they'd have to run him down to beat us and nobody could do that."
A late twist didn't go NSU's way in the women's shot, where Oklahoma's Karen Shump needed some last-throw magic to put a damper on a huge day for Rew, who settled for second despite a remarkable improvement of more than two feet on her own school record.
The junior from Garland, Texas unleashed a 54-9 1/4 toss on her third of six throws, a mark that briefly moved her to not only the No. 1 spot at the meet, but possibly, pending other results around the country over the weekend, into the national lead. The mark was eight inches better than the national best entering the weekend.
Rew took control of the competition after her third throw erased her school record of 52-2 1/2 set while winning the Southland Conference Indoors this year. Shump was less than an inch behind after a 54-8 mark on her second attempt, and on her final throw uncorked a 55-7 1/2 monster to regain first. Rew fouled on her last try.
The Demons' 4x100 relay team took eighth in the championship final, with Quincy Davison, Justin Walker, Kendal Taylor and Green Michael clocking a season-best 40.60. Baylor won in 39.18 and LSU was third at 39.43.
The NSU men's 4x200 relay unit also finished eighth, with Davison, Walker, Adam Smith and Breshon Williams crossing in 1:26.49.
"I don't believe Northwestern has ever had three relay teams reach the finals at the Texas Relays before," said Johnson, in his 28th season. "Add in the other performances, starting with Trecey Rew, and this was a great day for Northwestern track and field."
Running as an at-large entry in the invitational women's 4x100, the Lady Demons took fourth with a 46.66 time by Amanda Freeman, Shamaigun VanBuren, Jessica Tuck and Anna Forest. They ran a 46.60 Friday while finishing 11th in the university division qualifying, and were given an at-large entry to fill an open lane in the invitational race won Saturday by the Big 12 All-Stars in 42.82.
NSU's Joshua Commiato cleared 6-7 in the high jump and claimed ninth place.
The NSU women's sprint medley team was eighth Friday night with a 4:00.67 clocking by Tuck, Forest, Constance Seibles and Andrea Warren. in an event won by LSU in 3:43.98, a meet record.
The men's 4x400 relay team had to wait a while before picking up their trophy at the awards stand after the race. A malfunction in results reporting initially produced a sheet showing NSU had finished fourth, when there was no question they had won by several meters. It took about a half-hour to resolve the problem and correct the official results.
There were three different 4x400 relay finals contested Saturday, and the Demons' 3:07.06 time was the fifth-fastest overall, including unattached teams.
In the Cleburne Price 4x400, Texas A&M won in 3:01.55, followed by Baylor (3:02.70), LSU (3:07.36), Oklahoma (3:07.56) and Texas (3:08.31). In the Invitational 4x400 race, USA Next Level won in 3:03.45, Mississippi State was second at 3:04.00 and Southeastern Louisiana was third in 3:11.12.
NSU also threatened a seven-year-old school record mark of 3:06.89 in the event.