HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Northwestern State coach Nathanial McReynolds detected improvement as the Demons and Lady Demons competed in their second meet of the season at Sam Houston State.
 
The men finished fourth of four teams and the women last of six teams at the Southland Conference Preview Meet on Saturday morning.
 
But McReynolds understands that his teams are still in their training phases.
 
"Our performance won't be up to where it needs to be right now," McReynolds said. "This is about tests of conditioning, and I did see improvement."
 
Sophomore Jacqueline Rushford had the best finish of any NSU runner, placing 17^th in the 42-runner field in the 5K (19:44.60). Other scorers for the women included sophomore Erin Wrozek (20^th, 19:55.40), sophomore Erin Sitarz (29^th, 20:28.90), sophomore Emily Sitarz (38^th, 21:25.60) and redshirt freshman Kaitlyn Tunks (42^nd, 25:47.50).
 
Stephen F. Austin ran away with the women's meet followed by host Sam Houston and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
 
On the men's side, NSU sophomore Joshua Wilkins led the Demons with a 19^th-place finish in the 4-mile event (21:38.70). Other scorers in the 39-runner field include sophomore Grant Butts (28^th, 22:31), junior Lucas Moncla (29^th, 22:36), sophomore Hunter Wamack (30^th, 22:41) and junior Mitchell Landry (35^th, 23:19).

Landry ran his first cross country meet since 2013 after battling through injuries to return to the course.

"Aerobically Mitchell is ready to go," McReynolds said. "We have to work on his speed and getting that back to where it needs to be."