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THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University cross country teams are set to compete in the 2018 Southland Conference Cross Country Championships hosted by McNeese on Friday at the Enos Derbonne Sports Complex.
 
The Women's Race 6k is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m., with the Men's Race 8k following at 9:30 a.m.
 
Set to compete for the women's squad are sophomores Eleana Callejas and Joyce Kiplagat along with freshmen Julia Garcia Verges, Faith Keter and Lara Reifers. Junior Teril Cooper and freshmen Cameron Carter, Daniel Figueroa, Tyler Granger, Jonathan Hernandez and Dustin Worley will compete on the men's side.
 
"Both our men's and women's teams have made tremendous progress this season so I am very excited to see how well our young teams can compete at their first Southland Conference Championship," Nicholls head cross country coach Stefanie Slekis said. "Only two of our 11 competitors have raced at a Southland Conference Championship before. Eleana Callejas ran very well as a freshman last year so I am looking forward to our freshmen following in that tradition and having breakout performances on Friday. All of our training has been geared toward running our very best this weekend and again in two weeks at the NCAA South Central Regional. I am expecting substantial improvement for our 1-5 runners from the pre-conference meet we raced at McNeese a month ago."
 
The women's team is going into the SLC Championships led by Garcia Verges, who was the top finisher for the Colonels at all four of their regular-season meets. She posted her best placement of the season at the Nicholls Cross Country Invitational on Sept. 1, finishing fourth overall in the 4k on a 17-minute, 11.1-second run.
 
Hernandez leads the men's squad with top placements in the 4-mile at the LSU Invitational on Sept. 15 and the McNeese State Cowboy Stampede on Sept. 29. His best finish (22^nd) came on a 22:36.7 4-mile at this course.
 
The women's squad placed 12^th at last season's SLC Championships, fronted by Callejas (24:16.5) who finished 64^th overall. Abilene Christian took home the women's team title for the second time in three years, totaling 44 points and posting the race's top three finishers. Alexandria Hackett claimed the individual title.
 
The men's team, which finished 13^th overall, will run five newcomers at the meet. Lamar's men's squad claimed its fifth-straight title with 42 points, and Cardinals top runner Jamie Crowe won the individual title.

Rise & Shine it's Conference Championship week! @Nicholls_XCTF looked smooth & controlled with some tempo & pace change work this morning. @SouthlandSports Cross Country Championship in 3 Days! Friday 10/26: Women's 7k 8:15AM, Mens 8k 9:15AM #GeauxColonels #SouthlandStrong pic.twitter.com/TD2zgRD2HM

— Stefanie Slekis (@StefanieSlekis) October 22, 2018 

The Colonels will also race the NCAA South Central Regionals hosted by Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, on Nov. 9. The 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships are set to take place on Nov. 17 at the Zimmer Championship Course in Madison, Wisconsin.
 
To stay up to date with the Nicholls cross country squads, follow the teams on twitter @Nicholls_XCTF.