HOUSTON—Once again, Lalaina Wood and Korbin Shumate led the Northwestern State cross country teams as they competed at the Rice Invitational on Friday evening at the Rice Intramural Field.

In the Texas heat, Shumate finished 31^st in the 4-mile race and Wood placed 32^nd in the 4K race.

"It was very hot," head coach Payten Vidourek said. "It was a battle everybody had to take on. The girls fared really well in the 4k. They pushed through the race with grit and determination.

The heat hit the guys a little bit harder in the 4-mile but were able to push through."

Shumate paced the guys with a time of 17:41.40 to come in 31^st out of 60 finishers.

Owen Rue, a freshman from Crowley, performed well and clocked a 17:05.40 to finish 46^th.

"Owen put it all out there," Vidourek said. "He gave it his all and it showed in both his place and time."

Newcomers Landon Loyd (19:34.30), Kaden Elliot (19:39.30), Benjamin Brasseaux (19:52.00) and Mason Bayne (21:31.10) finished not too far behind, placing 53^rd. 54^th, 56^th and 60^th in the race, respectively.

On the women's side, Wood finished 32^nd out of 76 participants, clocking a 16:26.70, to pace the pack for the Lady Demons.

"Lalaina performed the best as she could," Vidourek said. "She went and ran a better mile than she did two weeks ago when she ran at McNeese."

Like in Lake Charles, senior Leah Thompson once again finished second among the Lady Demons, running a 17:05.40 to finish 40^th.

Faith Bryant placed 50^th in the race, clocking a 18:02.30.

Vidourek is impressed with Bryant's race.

"I am so impressed with Faith," Vidourek said. "She is slowly getting closer to the top two and I am excited to see what she does in the coming months."

Samantha Todaro (19:43.70), Kallie Evers (20:03.00) and Brea Baca-White (22:30.90) finished closely behind, as they finished 57^th, 58^th and 63^rd, respectively.

The women are back in action in a meet in Lake Charles on Sept. 28 for the Cowboy Stampede, while the men will compete in Ruston at the Mook 4 Invitational.

"The men are going to hit it pretty hard for the next three weeks to preparing for the longer race at Louisiana Tech."