LAKE CHARLES—Personal bests were set by Lalaina Wood and John Klein, providing they are just about ready for the Southland Conference Championships, highlighting Northwestern State's cross country teams at the McNeese State Cowboy Stampede on Saturday morning on the campus of McNeese.

The pairing has led their respective teams throughout the season, and it continued, as Wood beat her previous best by more than a minute.

"Overall, today was a great day," head coach Payten Vidourek said. "The team scores maybe weren't there, but the I was really with some of the individual performances."

The junior from Oak Ridge ran a 19:24.1 in the 5K to finish in 28^th place out of 53 finishers, dominating her previous best of 20:52.9, set earlier this season at the UT-Tyler Cross Country Opener.

"Having a giant one-minute PR is phenomenal," Vidourek said. "I think that shows recently that she's been up in her mileage just a little bit and I think it's really paid off for her. I'm really proud and really looking forward to seeing what she can do at Mississippi College and conference."

She wasn't the only one who set a personal best, as Klein continued his strong season with a personal best in his 4-mile race on the men's side.

Klein, a fifth-year senior, clocked a 20:18.7, which is a 4-mile best, which he set previously at the McNeese Cowboy Stampede in 2023, where he ran a 21:27.4.

While he was not able to crack the top 10, he was not too far outside, placing 12^th out of 41.

Like he has throughout the season, freshman Andrew Kent has come in behind Klein among Demon runners, as he ran a 21:33.0 in the first 4-mile race of his career to place 28^th.

Owen Rue ran a 22:24.6 to finish 34^th, Mason Bayne (23:06.8) placed 38^th and Selton Sanders (23:51.3) came in 39^th.

"John finished well in placing 12^th," Vidourek said. "I think today was another one of those races where it could've been better for him, but he still ended up running a very respectable time and placing high.

"In the entire men's side as a whole, I think the comfortability showed, especially for the younger group. Just being familiar with a course can help out a bunch. It's a flat course and it's familiar competition. We really showed maturity in terms of racing and I'm really happy with that. The same thing can be said for the women. I think Lalaina having a lot of familiarity with the course really showed today."

On the women's side, Gracie Evers finished second for NSU, placing 49^th overall, running a 24:19.7.

The Lady Demons were rounded out by Thea Ring (25:44.3) in 50^th, Cherie Neal (28:02.9) in 51^st, Teodora Samac (31:27.1) in 52^nd and Mikayla Mondello (31:27.2) in 53^rd.

As a team, the men finished fourth with a team score of 117, while the women placed finished fifth with 144 points.

NSU takes a break once again prior to the Watson Cross Country Classic in Mississippi on Oct. 17, the final meet for NSU prior to the SLC Championships on Oct. 31.