A wrong turn with 400 meters to go left Kyle Walsh in a precarious position, but the Western senior overcame that miscue and managed to hold on and win the AA cross country race at the tough New Prairie Invitational.

Western finished second to Highland, 77-101, while Peru was fifth at 148 and Maconaquah took 13th with 332.

Walsh covered the sandy 5-kilometer semi-state course in 16 minutes, edging Mt. Vemon's Brad Untrauer, who finished with the same time, for first. Panther classmate Jim Jackson came in fourth at 16:29.

"Both ran smart races and were able to get out from the pack early. It was very congested and they were able to get in the woodsy section and not be hindered by dodging other athletes," Panther coach Dana Neer said. "Kyle made a surge out of the second woods at the two-mile mark and took the lead. He made a wrong turn, lost the lead momentarily, but was able to get it back. He made a great sprint at the end."

Michael Marley finished 14th for Western. Peru's Elliott Cohee came in 10th while Cody Siblisk was 19th.

New Prairie Invitational - Girls

The Panther girls were fourth, just seven points' behind the host Cougars, 130-137, Chatard was the AA team champion with 53 while Angola was second with 115, Maconaquah took seventh with 190.

Annina Gruber (15:58) and Brittany Stellhorn (16:09) topped Western's finish in eighth and 13th respectively in the 135-runner 4k race. Anna Hurlock was 27th.

"We thought, we were a top five team going in," Neer said. "We didn't run our best race. We ran a decent race. Brtttany's time was outstanding and Annina finished high. We have a few nagging injuries.

"With that many people funneling down into the woods, if you get behind, you can't pass people in the woods. It was great for us to learn that and to be in that big a competition."

The Braves' Michelle Denham was two seconds behind Stellhorn in 14th while Kristi Romine was 33rd and Ashley Lehman 36th.

"After a hard week of practice, the girls did extremely well," Braves coach Charlie Hubler said. "We're very happy with our seventh-place finish."