HOUSTON—Following a week off from competition, the Northwestern State men's and women's cross country teams are back in action at the Rice Invitational on Friday.

The race begins at 6:20 for the women and 6:50 for the men at the Rice Intramural Fields.

The women are running a 4k, while the men are competing in a 4-mile race.

It is the second consecutive year Northwestern State has competed in the Rice Invitational.

"This Friday, I'm looking for the team to really put it all out there," head coach Payten Vidourek said. "With a few bigger schools and the longer distances, I expect both teams to perform better than we did at McNeese."

In addition to Northwestern State and homestanding Rice, among the other teams competing in the meet are Louisiana Tech, Prairie View A&M, Texas Southern and Southland Conference foes Houston Christian, Stephen F. Austin and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

"It's great to see what the conference looks like early on," Vidourek said. "So I am very excited to race some against conference teams. It will be great to use as a measuring stick before  conference."

In the last meet in Lake Charles, sophomore Lalaina Wood recorded a personal best, running an 11:52.16 in the 3K race to pace the Lady Demons with an NSU-best 23rd place finish out of 37 competitors.

"Lalaina's easy runs have been the biggest indicator to me that she was on track for a quick race," Vidourek said. "I've been impressed with the pace she has kept and it still being very controlled.

Finishing right behind Wood was senior Leah Thompson, who placed 25th in the race with a time of 12:32.39.

Thompson, a native of DeRidder, is the elder statesman of the women's cross country group, as she is just one of three returners.

The other returners—Wood and Samantha Todaro—are just sophomores, improving every time out.

On the men's side, it was a senior who led the way. Korbin Shumate clocked a 16:12.80 in the men's 5k to finish in 24th place out of 38 runners.

Owen Rue led the newcomers on the men's side, running a 17:30.58 to finish in 29^th place. He finished just ahead of fellow Demons newcomer Landon Loyd, who clocked a 17:38.08 to come in 30th place.

After the meet, the teams will take another week off from outside competition before heading back to Lake Charles for a race Sept. 28. They began their cross country season at the McNeese Season Opener on Aug. 30.