NEW ORLEANS—Like they have most of the season, seniors Leah Thompson and Korbin Shumate led the way in their final races at the Southland Conference Cross Country Championships.

Competing in her final cross country race, Thompson once again led the women in the 6k race, running a 26:04.77 to place 75^th out of 93 finishers and first among the Lady Demons.

Shumate, who was battling an injury leading up the championships, paced the Demons with a 77^th place finish in the men's 8k, clocking a 29:41.70.

"The men's and women's teams both preformed to the best of their best ability today," head coach Payten Vidourek said. "With wet and humid conditions, I am very proud of them and I can't wait to see what the future entails for them."

Finishing not too far behind Thompson was Faith Bryant, who placed 82^nd, clocking a 27:27:17. She was followed closely behind by freshman Chesney Mathews.

The Alexandria native placed 85th in the race, running a 27:52.97, third among the Lady Demon runners.

The Lady Demons were rounded out by Samantha Todaro (30:36.61), Kallie Evers (31:23.95) and Brea Baca-White (34:37.20), who finished 88^th, 90^th and 91^st, respectively.

Lalaina Wood, who paced the Lady Demons through the first few races during the cross country season, was unable to give it a go in the championships.

As a team, the women finished 12^th out of the 12 SLC teams, finishing with 363 points, with the lower score being better. Lamar once again won the event, scoring 43 points, followed by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in second with 59 with a sizeable gap between the Islanders and third place Houston Christian (110 points).

On the men's side, coming behind Shumate was Landon Loyd, who ran a 30:30.10 to finish in 81^st out of the 98 runners.

Kaden Elliott clocked a 30:35.12 to finish in 85^th place and finish third among the Demons.

To round out the Demons, Owen Rue (31:32.10) and Mason Bayne (32:28.96) finished in 86^th and 90^th place, respectively.

The men finished 12^th as a team, totaling 367 points. UIW took home the team title, finishing with a tremendous 29 points, defeating second place Stephen F. Austin by 30 points. Like on the women's side, HCU finished in a distant third place, totaling 116 points.

With the cross country season in the books, the runners now turn their sights to the track & field season, which begins in January with the indoor season.