LAFAYETTE -- Improvement is all Northwestern State cross country coach Nathanial McReynolds can ask for, and he said that's what he saw from his men's and women's teams Friday at the Ragin' Cajun Invitational at UL Lafayette. Senior Jeremy Elliott led the Demons to a third-place finish in the four-team event, posting a 27:53 in the 5-mile race. The Shreveport native (Byrd High School) finished 14th in the 31-runner field. The other four NSU scorers were crowded between 17th and 22nd-place. Junior Lucas Moncla (17th, 29:03), sophomore Hunter Wamack (20th, 29:32), sophomore Grant Butts (21st, 30:04) and sophomore Josh Wilkins (22nd, 30:23) scored for NSU. Moncla is a Haughton native and Parkway High alum. "Jeremy ran a really solid race, and it's one of the best he's run since I got here," McReynolds said. "We did heavy (weightlifting) yesterday, so everybody was drained. "I wanted to see what these guys are made because a 5-mile race is run on pure guts, and we got to see what this team was made of. We're sharpening our minds and bodies for the Southland Conference championships on (Oct. 30 in Huntsville, Texas)." ULL won their home event with New Orleans placing second on the men's side. On the women's side, sophomore Jacqueline Rushford was the only Lady Demon to finish the race after sophomore Erin Sitarz suffered a minor injury. Rushford placed seventh in the 5K race, finishing in 19:13. "She ran a 19:36 last year at this meet, so she shaved 23 seconds off that time," McReynolds said. "You can't ask for anything better than that. "She went out there and executed her race, and that was fun to see. She's consistently improved in every meet this season, and she's been faster by more than 20 seconds in each race compared to the same meet a year ago. Erin is a little banged up, but she'll OK."