NACOGDOCHES, Texas — Evangel alumnus Roy Morris won by a half-inch on a personal best on his last jump. Parkway product Will Achee ran the fastest 400 meters in school history, but got nipped by five one-thousands of a second for gold.

The locals’ performances at the Southland Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships were headline-worthy but overshadowed somewhat by their female counterparts.

The Lady Demons followed up a dominant 2025 Southland Conference Outdoor team title with another one in 2026, winning their third straight outdoor team title on Saturday. Adding past indoor championships, NSU has won five out of the last six overall.

On the men’s side, the Demons finished a strong second in the 12-team conference to meet host Stephen F. Austin, which defended its 2025 title.

Achee and Morris, both sophomores, were stalwarts for the NSU men.

While he did not win gold, Achee did break his two-week-old school record in the 400-meter dash with an impressive 45.188, but was upset by New Orleans’ Keldrick Turner, who also ran a 45.183, his best ever by more than a second. Achee’s prior top time of 45.61 two weeks ago broke a 50-year old NSU record.

Trailing a 25-3 ½ mark by Lamar’s Kenson Tate in the final round of attempts, Morris sailed a personal best 25-4 for the win. He showed a similar flair for the dramatic as a freshman on the way to earning NCAA All-America honors and will be aiming to repeat that in a few weeks.

Trailing Lamar by 3.5 going into Saturday’s final day, the NSU women used dominance on the track and in the discus (taking three of the top four spots) to capture the crown.

Northwestern finished with 147.5 points. UT-Rio Grande Valley came in second with 126 and Stephen F. Austin placed third with 122.

Northwestern’s Rushana Dwyer set a new women’s outdoor championship meet record in the 400m dash with a school-record time of 51.20. The previous record was set last year by her teammate Maygan Shaw (52.10).
Dwyer was also a member of the Lady Demons’ first place 4x400m relay team with Kahliyah Anderson, Margaret Conteh and Samari Finney that also set a new championship meet record and school record in the event (3:33.41). Another Lady Demon victory Sunday came in the 100 with a school record 11.31 from Juvonna Cornette.

NSU’s Mike Heimerman was named the Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year for the third straight year.

The SFA men scored 164 points, outpacing NSU’s 124 and 117 by Incarnate Word.

The Demons’ Eddy Vu, Keoante Gaines, Antione Evans and Kalen Beavers set a new men’s meet record in the 4x100m relay with a time of 39.22, third best in school history. Saturday, the Northwestern men also got an event victory from Tarajh Hudson in the discus (a personal best 184-2).

Along with Achee’s silver in the open 400, NSU’s Charlie Bartholomew (45.65) grabbed the bronze. Desmond Duncan (46.28) and Kason Jones (46.43) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Those four combined for a 3:05.70 to conclude the conference championships with gold in the final event, the 4×400 relay.

Also setting an NSU women’s school record was Dishaun Lamb, who claimed a silver in the 100-meter hurdles, running 13.80.

Friday, Northwestern’s Anisha Gibbons threw 166-9 in the javelin to win.

A large contingent of NSU competitors will head to the NCAA East Regionals in two weeks, hoping to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships next month.