RUSTON - Northwestern State heads into its first conventional cross country competition of 2010 Saturday morning joining Grambling, Louisiana College, Le Tourneau and host Louisiana Tech at the Mook 4 race at the Lincoln Parish Park.
The Demons and Lady Demons raced in a tandem competition two weeks ago at Stephen F. Austin, with no team scoring. Saturday's meet, with team scoring and contested over a challenging and hilly course, will be a good indication of how the NSU runners' training is going, according to head men's coach Leon Johnson and head women's coach Heather McDaniel. The men's 6k race begins at 8:30 a.m. with the women's 4k race following at around 9:15. "It's a good opener for us, to go against some other teams in the area on a good course," said Johnson. Top entries for the Demons should include Dusty Dischler, Chris Lanier and Mark Dotson. The men's team will be probably without injury-nagged veterans Cameron Mehl and Nathanial McReynolds. Karensa Ellis, Sarah Emory, Ali Fontenot, Andrea Warren and Lawana Perkins should be some of the top performers for the Lady Demons. Ellis was an All-Louisiana runner last year as a freshman.