CLINTON, Miss.—The cross country seasons are winding down as the Northwestern State men's and women's teams have one more tune-up before the Southland Conference Championships.

That meet comes Friday when they travel to the campus of Mississippi College for the Watson Invitational.

The men kick off the meet at 8 a.m. with the 8k before the women run the 6k at 8:45 a.m.

It is the second consecutive season going to Mississippi College for Northwestern State.

"We are kind of getting into a routine of being off for a week and then being on for a race," head coach Payten Vidourek said. "We are just staying smooth and now are just slowly tapering off now with conference coming up. We're getting a couple big workouts here and there, but we're trying to make sure everyone stays healthy, but everything looks pretty good so far."

The teams are now two weeks removed from a trip to Ruston and the Mook 4 Invitational, where the veterans led the charge, as Korbin Shumate led the men's team and Leah Thompson led the women's.

Vidourek is excited about seeing some top competition to challenge his teams to prepare them for the conference championships in two weeks.

"Last meet, the guys were able to run a full 8k and that course was really rough," Vidourek said. "On the guys side, I am looking forward to them just getting another 8k underneath their belt. This course is a lot better too, so this should boost their confidence. They are also competing against tough meets with a lot of really good teams.

At Louisiana Tech last meet, Shumate ran a 27:42.2 in the 8K race to place 22nd out of 53 finishers to lead the Demons.

His time is the best 8K time for Shumate since the 2022 SLC Championships.

Vidourek is excited about the growth of many of the young athletes on the team.

"Throughout the whole season, I've seen Owen (Rue) running really well," Vidourek said. "He also has lit a fire underneath the other guys. I am really looking forward to seeing Kaden Elliot and Landon Loyd get out there because I think they are doing a really nice job of staying close to Owen and Owen always has his eyes on Korbin."

Rue finished behind Shumate with a 30th place finish at Louisiana Tech, clocking a 29:52.04. Kaden Elliot finished third among the Demons, running a 30:19.93 to place 35th.

On the women's side, Thompson led the way, as she clocked a 21:28.86 at the Mook 4 Invitational to finish 26th for the Lady Demons out of 54 finishers.

Faith Bryant finished second among the Lady Demons, running a 23:23.48 to place 32nd. She finished right in front of Chesney Mathews (24:08.03), who placed 34th and Samantha Todaro (24:20.05), who finished 35th.

Following the trip to Mississippi, the teams take a week off to prepare for the SLC Championships on Nov. 1, which take place on the campus of the University of New Orleans.