Demon Cross Country | 9/15/2018 2:48:00 PM

RUSTON--The Northwestern State cross country teams had a tremendous morning at the Louisiana Tech Mook Duals Saturday at the Tech Farm, with the women repeating as champions in the event while the men took second place and Brandon Lewis-Graham was the individual champion.
 
The Lady Demons claimed the title for a second straight year in a 4,000 meter race with 29 team points providing half of the top 10 finishers.
 
The women's team was able to repeat the same success as last season despite running with five freshmen.
 
"I am thrilled with how the girls did. We talked about trying to win the meet and I know some of them felt pressure to try and measure up to last year's team, and I welcome that," said head coach Chris Sauer. "This group understands that they have three to four years before we graduate more than one runner. They want to set the tone early and become a team to watch before they leave here."
 
Sophomore Isabella Hudson was NSU's top runner with a time of 15:53.8, improving on her 17:45.5 mark in Ruston from a year ago.
 
Kirstin Elrod (5^th- 16:09.7), Emily Blanchard (6^th- 16:11.3), Jasmine Dansby (7^th- 16:13.8), and Emily Heard (8^th- 16:22.1) also joined Hudson in the top 10.
 
"Izzy ran great, but this top five does so much to keep each other honest. They took turns leading, they kept working off each other when the race got hard. Our top four runners ran faster than the top girl from last year. That group is so much greater than the sum of its parts. For Izzy, my favorite thing to see is her transformation. She was our fifth to sixth girl last year but today she ran almost two minutes faster than last year and was our top runner," said Sauer.
 
Keanna Osby (15^th- 17:38.6) Jade Talazac (18^th- 17:54.4), and Atianna Parks (27^th- 19:00.3) closed out the Lady Demons' competitors in the 40-woman race.
 
Louisiana Tech (72) finished second after a tiebreaker with Grambling (72) followed by UL-Monroe (104), Alcorn State (111), and Arkansas Pine Bluff (129).
 
The Demons' 68 points trailed only by 29 by Louisiana Tech. Lewis-Graham covered the four mile course with a time of 20:28.5, outrunning all 45 other competitors. The Bulldogs 'Conner Killian finished second individually at 20:33.6.   
 
"That was such a good way to start the day. Brandon transferred here from Louisiana Tech last year and I know he's always had that chip on his shoulder. To see him put together the summer he's had and win this race has been incredible and sets a great example for his team," said Sauer.
 
Yannik Gerland (13^th-22:03.5), Thomas Daigle (16^th- 22:17.3), Clay Casner (21^st- 22:37.7), and Blake Cantrell (25^th- 23:08.9), completed the scoring for NSU. Andrew Robinson (30^th- 23:51.0) and Alex Melcer (34^th- 24:24.2) also ran for the Demons.
 
"Overall, I was pleased with the meet. They all got out well on a course that bottlenecks almost immediately. We do need to get better at staying competitive in the mid to late stages of the race. That will come with these young men getting used to longer races," said Sauer. "I was incredibly happy to see them get second as a team. Tech ran a great race to win it, but our four and five kept us alive against the other teams."
 
Finishing behind the Bulldogs and Demons were Grambling (79), Arkansas Pine Bluff (83), Jackson State (111), and Alcorn State (168).
 
The teams will have next week off before returning to Lake Charles for the second time in a month for the MSU Cowboy Stampede on September 29.