LAKE CHARLES – The NSU men and women competed in their third meet of the season this morning at the McNeese Cowboy Invitational, with both teams finishing tenth in their respective races.

The Lady Demons' field consisted of fourteen teams, including several conference opponents. Houston took first place with 44 team points, followed by Rice (55), McNeese State (68), Texas A&M – Corpus Christi (81), Houston Baptist (162), New Orleans (178), Louisiana Tech (224) Grambling (234), Louisiana – Lafayette (255), NSU (274), Texas Southern (330), Louisiana College (354), Xavier – Louisiana (359), and Alcorn State (369).

Once again, junior Isabella Hudson was the top finisher for the women, placing 38^th out of a field of 100 runners with a time of 20:05.8 in the 5000 meter race. She was followed by freshmen Olivia Slayter (60, 21:37.8), Nijha Composto (65, 22:05.4), and Bronwyn Buchanan (76, 23:13.4), junior Jasmine Dansby (82, 24:02.7), and freshman Olivia Sipes (84, 24:13.4).

Houston, with 46 team points, took top team honors in the men's 4 mile race as well. They were followed by McNeese (50), Texas A&M – CC (72), New Orleans (117), Texas Southern (143), Houston Baptist (145), Grambling (180), Prairie View (221) ULL (264), NSU (281), Alcorn State (343), and LA College (376).

Junior Yannik Gerland finished first for the Demons and 56^th of 100 overall with a time of 22:24.9. He was joined by junior Mike Alukunyang (60, 22:33.5), sophomore Alex Melcer (72, 23:41.5), junior Darius Groves (77, 24:25.9), and sophomores Clayton Casner (79, 24:53.5) and Andrew Robinson (92, 27:21.9).

Head coach De'Shalyn Jones was a little disappointed with how her teams finished, but felt like the meet was a good learning experience. "It didn't go how we wanted it to go, but it was definitely a teaching moment. It showed what we need to work on going into Mississippi College and leading up to conference," Jones said.

Jones felt that the heat adversely affected her runners, but plans to adjust her team's training going forward. "The heat really got to us. We'll plan accordingly and expect better next time," Jones said.

The Demons and Lady Demons head to Clinton, Mississippi on October 12 to run in the Mississippi College Invitational.