LUBBOCK, Texas—New year. New teams. Same goal.

While many faces are new, the Northwestern State track and field teams are once again filled with talent.

Fans get their first look at the teams, as the Demons and Lady Demons open their seasons at the Corky Classic, a two-day event beginning Friday at the Sports Performance Center on the campus of Texas Tech.

Both days are being streamed live on ESPN+.

It is the first of two trips to Lubbock in a row for the teams, also finishing the month with a trip to Texas Tech.

It will be a big meet, as head coach Mike Heimerman is aiming to see where the teams are at to start the season.

"We're going to go out there and work hard and kind of use it as practice," he said. "We haven't been at an indoor facility since last year at conference, so that is one of the reasons we like going to these two-day meets.

"We can get on these 200-meter tracks and get out there and get a practice in, we'll get some work in on Thursday. We'll go out there and see where we're at and we're excited to just go to a meet and have some marks count."

The events begin at 3 p.m. with the women's weight throw, followed by the men. The men's and women's pole vault and long jump are the other field events taking place on day one.

The running events start at 4 p.m. with the women's 60-meter hurdles.

Saturday, both the running and field events start at 11 a.m. with the women's shot put, triple jump and 200-meter dash.

With many record-breaking athletes at Northwestern State graduating, there is a huge opportunity for newcomers and athletes who have been developing at Northwestern State.

"I am really looking forward to seeing all the newcomers go out there and compete," William Achee, Elijah Rowe and Kason Jones, just to name a few sprinters on the men's side. On the women's side, a few throwers I am looking forward to see compete are Shanice Hutson and freshman Ryah Dates, who is a countrymate of Shanice's.

"It will be fun to take all these kids and go out there and get ready and get a feeling of where we are at. We still have a long ways before indoor conference, so this will just be a measuring stick to see how we'll we've been preparing ourselves up to this point."

One of the newcomers, Nicholls transfer Cherie Neal, is the daughter of former Northwestern State three-time All-American thrower Tracey Rew-Hoover, who was the 2011 NCAA discus champion.

"We're excited to have Cheri back home since she grew up in Natchitoches," Heimerman said. "She grew up around this program, spending five years traveling with us all the time. Cheri is her own young lady. She is not trying to fill her mom's shadow or anything. They are two different athletes, but Cheri is a quality athlete and quality young lady and we're excited to have her on the team."

The women's team is coming off back-to-back indoor championships, including a dominant victory last season.

A major part of the women's team has been the 4x400 relay team, and the quartet returns Tranasia Jones and Maygan Shaw.

Shaw, a senior from Pineville, found the podium four times in the Southland Conference Championships, including a silver individually in both the 200 and 400-meter dashes.

Fresh off a trip to the NCAA East Regionals, Madison Brown returns for one more indoor season. Last season, she earned a pair of bronzes in the pole vault and she won gold in the 2023 outdoor season.

On the men's side, the Demons return all-conference high jumper Randy Kelly and sprinter Mikkel Johansson.

Kelly has made the NCAA East prelims in each of his first two seasons. Last season, he claimed an indoor silver and outdoor bronze after earning the outdoor silver as a freshman in 2023.

Johansson captured the gold medal as a member of the 4x100 relay team in last year's outdoor championships. In last season's indoor, he earned the bronze in the 200-meter dash, running a 21.29.

After a week off, Northwestern State comes right back to Lubbock for the Stan Scott Invite and Multis, starting Jan. 31. During the indoor season, the teams also scheduled to travel to Arkansas and LSU prior to the Southland Conference Championships.