NAMPA, Idaho -  The NNU Invitational took place Friday night and most of Saturday. Fans who braved the spring weather at Bohner Track were rewarded with some electrifying performances. Here's a recap of all the action.

Throwers bring the power
The throws group set the tone on Friday night with Carter Alberts placing third (49.78) and freshman Thor Kessinger taking sixth with his personal best throw (45.82). Bryor Adams also threw for a personal best (40.26) en route to a fifteenth place finish out of nearly thirty competitors. The women's throwers also represented well with freshman Emily Lewis finishing second (47.62) and Emma Kwok ending in the sixth position (43.05).
On Saturday Kessinger continued to shine with a first place finish in the discus (47.24). Fellow freshman Amos Lewis finished third in the event (46.68). In the women's discus Emma Kwok collected more hardware with a second place finish (40.54) and freshman Madilyn McCarty landed just nine feet behind to finish sixth (37.90).

The throws team also scored points in the shot put with freshman Amos Lewis ending fourth (14.97) and Kessinger taking eighth with his season best effort (14.16). McCarty finished in seventh for the women's shot put (11.65).

In the javelin Maddie Gebers outdistanced the field to finish first (44.20) with freshman Nessa Neveau ending fifth with her best throw of the season (36.77).

Men's javelin featured another strong showing from Laurenz Waldbauer who finished first (62.23). Waldbauer was followed by teammate Ty Swapp in second (56.88). Nolan Meek finished fifth in the event with a personal best throw (52.32m).

Jumpers raise the bar
The jumps team had an excellent showing throughout the meet. In the men's high jump Nighthawks took three of the top five positions lead by Gerohm Rihari in second (2.00m), Alex Shields in third (1.97m), and Jonah Groce in fifth (1.92). Sophomore Georgia Collins claimed third in the women's high jump (1.57m).

In the men's long jump Rihari outleapt the field to finish first (7.00m). For the women's long jump sophomore Julie Chrisman finished first (5.45m). Chrisman was joined in the top eight by freshman teammates Madison Spriggs in fifth (5.05m) and Regan Van Der Hoek in eighth (4.88).

In the women's triple jump Collins finished fifth (10.04m). In the men's triple jump Alex Shields finished first (13.70m).

Rounding out the jumps freshman Macie Kern continued her strong season with a second-place finish (3.25m). Teammate Kayley Morrissey placed fifth (2.65m).

Sprinters drive results
The sprints group had several strong finishes led by sophomore hurdler Maddie Weatherford. Weatherford finished first at 100mH (15.52) and fourth at 400mH (1:06.64). For the men hurdler Jaden Booker took first at 400m hurdles with a personal best (57.12) followed by fellow freshman hurdler Luke Hanson in third (1:00.48). In the men's 110mH Anderson Kron ended fifth (15.42) followed closely by Hanson in sixth (15.63).

At 400m freshman Celia James ended with a sixth-place finish (58.44) while fellow freshman Meg Woodbury placed ninth with a personal best time (1:00.44). The men's 400 featured freshman Evan Bennett taking fourth with his personal best (49.90) and Christian Kindler finishing sixth with his season best (50.77). Freshmen Liam Myers ran his personal best (50.81) and finished seventh with freshman teammate Parker Schulz also running a personal best (50.71) to place tenth.

At 100m Madison Spriggs ended in fifth (12.77) with teammates Julie Chrisman in seventh (12.97) and Amaya Huggins in eighth (13.24). The Nighthawk men were led by Giovanni Carlino with a fifth place finish at 100m (11.05).

In the 200m Celia James finished fourth with her personal best (26.17) and teammate Madison Spriggs ended seventh (26.55).

Distance crew steadily improves
Many of the Nighthawk distance team did not compete today. In the 800m freshman Zoey Stauffer placed eighth with a season best time (2:19.39). Mckenna Lechner finished thirteenth with a personal best time (2:25.17). In the men's 800m Luke Stockett finished third (1:52.35).

In the 1500m freshman Hazel Kunkel raced to second place with a personal best time (4:34.48) and Cameron Moore finished third with her personal best (4:43.67). Mckenna Lechner (4:59.40), Becca Darwood (4:59.47), and Keelin Stewart (5:06.62) also recorded personal best performances at 1500m.

It was a solid showing for both men's and women's track and field. There were plenty of personal best performances and podium finishes in each position group. The jumpers and throwers had a very impressive showing and the sprinters and hurdlers also stepped-up against challenging competition.

Next up the Nighthawks will divide with most of the team traveling to Portland, Oregon and a small contingent of distance runners headed to southern California for the Brian Clay invitational races.