LAKE CHARLES—All four cross country returners recorded personal bests in the opening meet at the McNeese Season Opener on Friday evening.

The four returning Demons—Andrew Kent, Kaden Elliott, Mason Bayne and Selton Sanders—proved how much they have been working in the offseason by shaving time off their previous bests.
The women, on the other hand, had a strong showing in all the runners' first collegiate cross country meet.

"I think this was a good evaluation to see where we're at," head coach Alex Wills said. "I was very pleased with the women's team. This was every single one of their first collegiate race and to have 1-5 within 45 seconds of each other means we have a good group of girls who can really push each other.

"The guys showed that we are at a good starting point. I think this has motivated them to buy into the process even more. I'm very excited for the future of both teams."

After a strong campaign as a freshman in 2025, Kent had a strong start to his season with a time of 16:25.00 to place 29^th, leading the group of Demons.

Following Kent was a freshman, Jack Pattillo, who placed 36^th overall and second on the Demons with a time of 17:15.57, starting a string of five straight from NSU.

He was followed by Elliott, who finished 37^th (17:26.15), Kurt Kampert (17:38.56) came in 38^th, Mason Bayne (17:44.65) placed 39^th and Selton Sanders (18:09.82) came in 40^th.

In his debut as a freshman at this meet last season, Sanders clocked a 20:15.1, so Sanders knocked off more than two minutes off last year's time.

On the women's side, all seven members on the team were making their collegiate debut and Abby Poche led the way for the Lady Demons in the 3,000-meter run to place 24^th.

She was followed by Shelby Burgin, who clocked a time of 11:57.90 to finish 26^th, leading a string of four in a row for the Lady Demons. She was followed closely by Andie Claire Woodhead (11:59.65) in 27^th, Nala Mitchel in 28^th (12:06.53) and Mac Tingle (12:09.17) in 29^th.

Peyton Pirie (12:39.17) placed 32^nd and Crystal Godfrey (13:28.88) came in 33^rd to round out the Lady Demons.

Next up for the runners is a race in front of the home crowd at the NSU Demon Invitational on Sept. 11 before a two-week break from competition and a trip back to McNeese for the Cowboy Stampede.