LAKE CHARLES—John Klein ran like he hasn't missed a beat.

The fifth-year senior led Northwestern State with a third-place finish out of 23 runners at the McNeese Season Opener to begin the cross country season.

Klein ran a 15:31.56 in the 5K in his first cross country race for NSU in two years to lead the six Demons.

"Today was a good day for the men," head coach Payten Vidourek said. "It was definitely a rust-buster. John performed really well. We talked before the meet and we knew top five was going to be there and he ended up getting second place for the team position, which is awesome."

Running in his first collegiate cross country race, Andrew Kent had an impressive showing, clocking a 16:30.80 to finish eighth out of the 23 runners.

A trio of Demon returners made their presence felt in their first meet as sophomores, as Owen Rue, Kaden Elliott and Mason Bayne all ran personal bests by a wide margin.

Rue finished 13^th overall and third among Demon runners, clocking a 16:58.73, beating his previous best time of 17:30.6, which came at last year's McNeese State Opener.

A few spots below Rue came Elliott, who ran a 17:28.69 to place 16^th. He dominated his previous best by 40 seconds, as he clocked a 18:08.7 in last season's opener at McNeese.

Finishing in 19^th place was Bayne, who ran an 18:02.81, well over a minute better than his previous best time of 19:24.8 in the 5K at McNeese a season ago.

Selton Sanders ran a 20:15.09 in his first collegiate cross country race, placing 22^nd.

"That was a great race was and executed really well on the men's side and it happened just how I was kind of hoping for," Vidourek said. "Overall, it was a solid meet. The men are in a lot better shape than they were last year, and I think it's going to show come October for conference.

On the women's side, transfer Thea Ring led the Lady Demons with a time of 14:53.47 in the 3K to finish 18^th.

Gracie Evers finished just behind Ring in 19^th, clocking a 15:00.54.

Teodora Samac (15:58.16) and Cherie Neal (16:37.77) finished 20^th and 21^st to round out the Lady Demon finishers.

Next up for the cross country teams is a trip to the state of Texas for the UT-Tyler Cross Country Opener on Sept. 6 before hosting the NSU Pre-SLC Meet on Sept. 12.