Record-setting outdoor start earns Northwestern State’s Gumbs SLC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week

NATCHITOCHES — When an athlete shatters a conference record and his home country’s record, they get rewarded.

That is just what happened, as Djimon Gumbs was named Southland Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week, the conference announced Wednesday.

Djimon Gumbs tossed a 205-11 in the discus at the Cowboy Relays, which broke his own school record by nearly 12 feet. He also shattered the Southland Conference record of 198-09, set by Abilene Christian’s Kai Schmidt in 2019.

If that wasn’t enough, that also broke the British Virgin Islands mark, which was set in 2014.

In the shot put, his distance of 63-1.5 was a personal best and was second in school history.

He followed that up with a second-place finish in the discus (178-10) and third-place finish in the shot put (55-5.5) at the TCU Alumni Invite.

The honor is Gumbs’ first in 2023 but won the award three times in 2022.

The Northwestern State track teams head back to Baton Rouge for the Battle on the Bayou. The teams were originally headed to Prairie View A&M but rescheduled and are headed to LSU.