COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Trips to the Gilliam Indoor Track and Field Stadium at Texas A&M have been bountiful in recent years for the Northwestern State track and field program.
 
As the Demons and Lady Demons begin their 2022 indoor season Saturday at Texas A&M's Ted Nelson Invitational, they would welcome another group of podium finishes, but that is not their collective focus.
 
"Every meet we compete in right now is a buildup to indoor conference in February," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "It's a learning process. We might not run or jump or throw what we want to right now, but we will at the end of February. It's all a big leadup to conference and regionals at the end of May and hopefully nationals in June. We want everyone to go out and compete and give us 100 percent effort and we'll be very, very happy no matter the marks."
 
Competition for NSU's first of two straight competitions at Texas A&M begins at 12 p.m. with the women's high jump and long jump and the men's pole vault and long jump. Running events begin at 12:30 p.m. with the women's 60 meters. Beginning at 2 p.m., fans can watch the competition on SEC Network+, the streaming arm of the SEC Network.
 
Recent visits to the Ted Nelson Invitational have ended with plenty of podium finishes for Northwestern State.
 
Kie'Ave Harry enters his season opener as the defending meet champion in the 60 meters, running a 6.74 to claim the 2021 event title. Harry's effort a year led a plethora of personal bests and season-opening bests, especially by the Demon and Lady Demon sprint groups.
 
Still, as a senior, Harry has fully bought into Heimerman and associate head coach Adam Pennington's process-driven, early-season mentality.
 
"I totally believe in trusting the process," said Harry, a LaPlace native. "When I came in, I had the ability to do it, but I had to put in the work every day. I listened to coach Adam. I failed. I got better. Now things look better for me."
 
While Harry will start to build on a 2021 season that saw him reach the finals of the NCAA East Preliminaries in the 100 meters, the Lady Demon sprinters will welcome back a couple of runners who hope for better health in 2022.
 
"Aarika Lister was really banged up last year," Heimerman said. "She ran indoor but didn't run outdoor. Lynell Washington was hurt all outdoor. We're looking forward to getting them back. They were first and third in the conference in the 60 last year. Having them healthy will be fun."
 
Heimerman reiterated the fun and excitement of the season opener, regardless of location.
 
"Right now, we're just excited to start the season," he said. "We've been practicing since the start of school in the fall, so it will be nice to go somewhere other than the Walter P. Ledet Track Complex to compete. We're very fortunate to compete at Texas A&M on their Day 2, which is predominantly bigger schools like Texas A&M and Arizona State – schools with high-caliber competition. We're going to go out there and have some fun."
 
Joining Northwestern State, Arizona State and the host Aggies in the field are recently departed Southland Conference members Abilene Christian, Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, UL Lafayette, North Texas, Texas State, UTA and UTSA.