Kyle Walsh and his Western cross country teammates packed the hardware and brought it back to Russiaville. The Panthers claimed the team title by nine points, 48-57, over Harrison and Walsh defended his title as the meet's individual champion.

Walsh covered the 5-kilometer, course in 16 minutes, 4 seconds with Panther classmate Jim Jackson following in third at 16:31. Michael Marley came through in ninth. Luke Minor and Eric Walsh wrapped up the Panthers' finish in 17th and 19th respectively.

"It's been two weeks since we ran a 5K. Our focus was on running hard, getting out and seeing where we're at as a team," Western coach Dana Neer said. "We had some great time drops. Luke and Eric each dropped a minute off of their first 5K times. Our pack is looking strong."

Chris Miller and Jared Beaver finished sixth and seventh for Carroll.

Rossville Invitational - Girls

Four Panther runners placed among the top 10 as Western easily won the team title. The Western girls combined for 28 points to 43 for the runners-up Raiders of Harrison. Carroll came in fourth, two points behind Pioneer in third.

The youthful duo of Annina Gruber, who ran the 5K course in 16:14, and Anna Hurlock finished 16 seconds apart in second and third while Brittany Stellhorn was fifth. Becky Elliott came in eighth and Cassie Myer wrapped up the team finish in 13th.

"We were hoping to get three or four girls solidly down in the 16s and we were able to accomplish that," Neer said. "One through seven for the girls are looking very, very good. We had a couple girls run personal bests."

The Cougars were led by the ninth-place finish of Courtney Rhinehart.