LUBBOCK, Texas—Following a week off, the Northwestern State track and field teams head back to the campus of Texas Tech for the second time in three weeks, competing at the Stan Scott Invite and Multis.

The meet begins Thursday at the Sports Performance Center with the multi events where four Northwestern State athletes are competing, led by silver medalists from last year's conference indoor championships, Raven-Symone Jarrett and Tim Pelkmans.

The distance runners are also competing Saturday at the Robert Platt Invitational on the campus of the University of Houston.

ESPN+ is streaming the final two days of the meet in Lubbock.

The tentative schedule of multis begins Thursday at noon with the men's heptathlon 60-meter hurdles.

The other events start Friday at 3 p.m. in the weight throw with the men's 60-meter hurdles starting at 4 p.m.

"We're looking to go out there and compete again," head coach Mike Heimerman said. "We've had a couple of weeks of training with some crazy weather the last few weeks, just like they have had all over the United States.

We're using this meet as more training and we're going to just go out there and see what happens and hopefully compete well and come back as healthy as we were going out there. We are excited to go out there and compete against some top competition and big schools and we are looking forward to mixing it up with them."

The teams aim to improve from their first meet, which saw the sprinters and relay teams make their presence felt, highlighted by a Southland Conference record from the women's 4x400 relay team.

That quartet of Maygan Shaw, Tranasia Jones, Margaret Conteh and Samari Finney clocked a blistering 3:40.74 to be the only non-power conference school in the top 10 in a loaded field at the Corky Classic.

Shaw and Jones are returning from the 'A' 4x400 relay team, but even though Northwestern State lost half its 4x400 relay team, Shaw was confident the relay team would do damage based on the camaraderie.

"It takes some getting used to with two people to the relay team," Shaw said. "Our team is always so close. We got together and built a friendship early on, so even if we didn't know who was going to be on the 4x4, we already had that connection. So it isn't that different even though we have two different people. There is obviously a change since everybody runs at a different speed and pace, but for our first race, breaking a record was amazing."

Shaw, Jones and Conteh all starred in the individual 400 as well, all finishing in the top 23 in a loaded field in Lubbock and are the top three times in the SLC this season.

Shaw, the reigning SLC women's track athlete of the week, also recorded an indoor personal best in the 200-meter dash, clocking a 23.90, and ran a 54.26 in the 400-meter dash. All three times run by Shaw are leading the conference.

"It feels amazing, just to be back to my roots because I know that I am getting better, even though I am up there in age now," Shaw laughingly said. "It shows I am still fighting and I'm still doing great, so it was really nice to see that award."

She was not the only one who took home an SLC weekly award, as newcomer Vincente Graiani won the SLC track athlete of the week on the men's side.

Graiani, a transfer from Indiana, was a member of the 4x400 men's team that nearly broke the indoor school record, as the group of Graiani, Kason Jones, William Achee and Desmond Duncan recorded a time of 3:12.78. Graiani also posted personal bests in the 200 (21.70) and the 400 (47.90).

The 4x400 relay team and 400-meter dash times are tops in the conference and the time in the 200 is second in the SLC.

"I was pretty happy with my first meet," Graiani said. "I just arrived from Germany four days before the meet, so I could feel it a bit in my legs, but I was very happy with my first meet here and excited for the next one."

A native of Germany, Graiani received some words of recommendation from a former Demon that helped him sway his decision to come to Natchitoches.

(Former Demon) Simon (Wulff) ran really well here and is also from Germany," Graiani said. "I actually talked to him before I came here and he told me if I came here, I will run fast, so that is what I did."

Other Northwestern State athletes who are tops in their events so far are Randy Kelly (men's high jump), Madison Brown (women's pole vault) and Samari Finney (women's long jump).

Tavis Wilson had an impressive start to the season. After missing a chunk of the season last year, broke his personal best not once, but twice, in the 60-meter dash. Wilson also clocked a 21.87 in the 200-meter dash.

Heimerman is looking for everyone to just take a step every meet, as they move into meet No. 2 of the four indoor meets prior to the SLC Championships.

The freshman aim to make a move in meet two, including William Achee, who had a strong start to his collegiate career. Achee ran a 48.52 in the 400-meter dash, which is the fourth-best mark in the conference this season, and his 21.79 in the 200 is seventh.

Following the meet, the teams take a week off before traveling to another meet hosted by an SEC school, the Tyson Invitational, the third of four indoor meets prior to the SLC Championships in Birmingham, beginning on March 2.