NATCHITOCHES, La. (WNTZ) – Veteran runner John Klein once again led the way for Northwestern State, finishing second overall at the UT-Tyler Cross Country Opener on Saturday morning.

Klein, a fifth-year senior, clocked a time of 25 minutes, 58.75 seconds in the men’s 8K, placing second out of 125 competitors and first among the six Demon runners.

“Considering this is just a group with a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, and some runners have never run this distance before, it was really good for those guys,” head coach Payten Vidourek said. “The course was rolling hills, really muddy on the back side, so we really weren’t expecting any fast times whatsoever. They competed really well, and they executed the plan almost perfectly.”

Freshman Andrew Kent was the second Demon finisher, coming in 44th at 28:39.64. He was followed by sophomore Owen Rue in 58th (29:40.12), sophomore Kaden Elliott in 65th (29:56.61), Mason Bayne in 71st (30:20.02) and freshman Selton Sanders in 94th (31:58.10).

For the Lady Demons, Lalaina Wood returned after missing the previous meet and led the women’s squad with a 28th-place finish out of 88 in the 5K, crossing in 28:52.90.

“For the women, Lalaina had a good race in her first time running a 5K in two years,” Vidourek said. “Just like with the guys, the course was really rough. But at the same time with both the men and women, it was nice. It was a bigger race … so our ladies and the men had plenty of people to race with. Overall, I am very proud of the team and looking forward to next week at the home meet.”

Other finishers for the Lady Demons included Gracie Evers (73rd, 26:18.93), Thea Ring (75th, 26:56.74), Cherie Neal (81st, 28:46.82), Mikayla Mondello (87th, 31:32.52) and Teodora Samac (88th, 31:32.73).

Northwestern State will return to action Friday when it hosts the NSU Pre-Southland Conference meet in Natchitoches, the team’s only regular season home event. The Demons will also host the Southland Conference Championships on Oct. 31.