LAWTON, Okla. -- Midwestern State begins its season with a short jaunt to run in the Aggie Duels hosted by Cameron on Friday at Big Green Soccer Complex. The starting gun sounds at 8 a.m.

Midwestern State finished among the top-three schools in five of seven meets last season, including a first-place finish at home in the Mustang Derby. MSU finished 15th among 25 schools in the NCAA Division II South Central Regionals in Denver.

The Mustangs finished third in the Aggie Duels last year despite resting their top six runners. West Texas A&M finished atop the team standings with 35 points, Cameron was second with 37 points. Midwestern State finished ahead of Southeastern Oklahoma, Amarillo College, Northwestern Oklahoma, Ranger College and North Central Texas College with 79 points in the season-opening meet.

Nathalia Escontrias covered the flat 5K course in 18:49.73 to finish eighth, while Lula Nolen (19:14.00) and Perla Flores (19:14.99) placed 12th and 16th, respectively.

Maggie Neal (19:21.20/18th) and Isabel Hernandez (19:39.53/25th) also turned in team countable performances.

Hallie Kogler (20:29.15) and Jazira Perez (20:31.79) raced to finishes of 36th and 38th place, while Evelyn Daugherty (20:37.82/41st) and Bailee Bowers (23:19.71/70th) competed in their first collegiate meet.

Head coach Kelsey Bruce is in her fifth season as the head coach at Midwestern State, and she is happy to have an experienced group of runners that have been the bulk of her team over the last four years.

"We have a great group of girls that have been really fun to work with," Bruce said. "We're very senior heavy. I think half our squad and most of our contributors are seniors right now."

Ella Pando earned all-conference honors for the second consecutive year after a 13th-place finish in the 2024 Lone Star Conference Championship at Dick Kleberg Park in Kingsville, Texas. Pando completed the 6,000-meter course with a personal-best time of 21:58.87.

Dangerfield finished with a time of 22:22.45 in the 2024 LSC Championships and finished 17th. Midwestern State amassed 113 points for a third-place finish in Kingsville last year.

Next week Midwestern State is hosting Mustang Derby at Lake Wichita Park. The meet commences Thursday morning at 8 a.m.