Western swept the hardware Thursday in the Northwestern Cross Country Combination, taking both the boys and girls races.

"Both teams did an outstanding job," Western coach Dana Neer said. "They were both happy for each other, and very supportive of each other."

In the girls race, Western won with a combined total time of 62:17. Northwestern (65:50) and Carroll (66:50) finished 2-3 and Peru (69:14), Taylor (70:38) and Eastern (80:47) finished 5-6-7. Tipton fielded an incomplete team.

Western's Annina Gruber was the overall girls winner, covering the course in 11 minutes, 46 seconds, and ]enn Elliott was second at 12:08.

"We wanted to mn hard at this race, and we were able to break the meet record," Neer said. "Annina Gruber won the race again this year, and Jenn Elliott ran a great time as well as a freshman."

The Panthers' Lacey Myer won the 3-4 race in 12:30 and Kiley Camp was second at 12:53. Cassie Myer won the 5-6-7 race at 13:00, Katie Hollingsworth was second at 13:05 and Vannessa Lorenz was third at 13:06.

"We ran very well together," Neer said. "In the 5-6-7 race, we were able to go first, second, third and fourth in that race, and in the 3 and 4 race, we were able to sweep that race again"

Northwestern's top runner was Jennifer Claudio with a third place finish at 12:14, and Megan Harper was ~lipton's top runner at 12'25 for fourth place. Courtney Rinehart led Carroll's contingent with a sixth place finish at 12:28. Taylor's top runner was Courtney Dunlap at 12:38 for an eight-place finish. Jessica Parkman led Peru with a ninth place finish, and Eastern was led by Emily Rethlake with a 10th place finish at 12:58.

In the boys race, Western (51'36) won the race by defeating Peru (51:59) by 23 seconds. Tipton (53:26), Northwestern (53:44), Carroll (55:19) and Eastern (55:43) finished third through sixth. Taylor had an incomplete team.

"It was a much doser race," Neet said. "We knew going into that race that we were going to be challenged by Peru, and it was a good race for us."

The Panthers didn't win a race until the 5,6-7 race when David Moser took top honors at 10:37. Jared Hall placed second at 10:49, and Alex Sigler came in third at 10:53.

"The big key was Mosier," Neer said. "He ran an excellent time, and it gave us a 30-second cushion. Hall was second, and Sigler came in third. They ran a great inside race."

In the 1-2 race, Luke Minor finished in fourth place at 10:01, and Trevor Mann was sixth at 10:12 for the Panthers., and in the 5-4 race, Eric Walsh was second at 10:07, and Shawn Parkins came in fifth at 10:39.

"Minor and Mann found themselves in the back of the pack, and by the mile marker they were passing runners," Neer explained. "Walsh ran a great last half of the race, and he actually ended up in second place. Parkins ran one of his best races?

Northwestem's Matt Ullmer was the overall Winner at 9:39. Peru's Cody Siblisk placed second at 9:48, and Tipton's Pete Compton-Craig came in third at 9:53 to round out the top three. Drew Parton was the top runner for Eastern with an eighth place finish at 10'26. Carroll's top runner was Sean Smith at 10:58 for an llth place and Taylor's top runner was Phillip Sinnett at 12:59 for a 17th place finish.

Peru's J.R. Robinson won the 3-4 race in 10:02.

"We had a great race from our junior class of Cody Siblisk, Tony Zimmerman, JR. Robinson and Andrew Bewell [who] ran one of his better races. He did a very good job in a strong performance in the 3-4 race," Peru coach Gary Downing said.

"It's going to be a regular dogfight between Western and Peru all year. We go to the Western Invite Saturday morairg so we'll have another chance to nm against them. Western has a very nice team and hopefully we can compete all year with them like we did [Thursday]."

Western hosts Western Invitational at Oakbrook Valley Saturday.