Kokomo and West Lafayette claimed the team titles in the 35th annual Western Cross Country Invitational Saturday at Oakbrook Valley.

Kokomo used a balanced attack to win the boys race. The Wildkats placed five runners in the top 15 to finish with a team score of 51 tphoints. Western finished second in the ll-team field with 73 points.

Ryan Perry topped the Kats with a seventh place finish. He covered the course in 18:04. Brandon Sheline (18:06) followed in eighth place, Mason McGovern,(18:17) and Cameron Cunningham (18:20) finished 10th, and llth respectively, and Ian Holtson (18:34) took 15th place to round out the Kats' team score.

Luke Minor and Treyor Mann finished 5-6 to lead Western. Minor posted a time of 17:44 and Mann crossed the finish line at 18:04. Fellow Panther runner Eric Walsh also cracked the top 10, as his time of 18:09 was good for ninth ptace.

"Luke Minor just mastered this course. He averaged 5:44 per mile, and this is a rugged course," Western coach Dana Neer said. "Trevor Mann and Eric Walsh both had great finales, giving everything they had at the close of the race and edging out several athletes at the line to finish in the top 10."

"Seniors Shawn Parkins and David Mosier, who run fourth and fifth for us, both had very solid races and finished in the top 30. They work hard and are getting better every week" Neer added. "Freshman Jared Hall ran his first varsity race, and he is contributing to the success of the team. He's going to get better and better in the next four to six weeks."

Following Western in the boys team standings were: West Lafayette (78), Northwestern (126), Peru (148), Rochester (184), Frontier (201), Eastbrook (202), Tipton (203), Cass (232) and Maconaquah (257).

Northwestern junior Matt Ullmer topped the individual standings as he covered the course in 17:19. Peru junior Cody Siblisk {17:27) took third place.

"This wasn't one of our better races, but it's early in the season and we're going to get beget," Peru coach Gary Downing said. "We just didn't compete like we should have today.., the times were a little slower than what I expected although the course was tough.

"We did have a good finish from Cody Siblisk, he finished third overall, so that was a bright spot foi us."

Ian Gay (19:02) led Maconaquah with a 21st-place finish; Brady Butler (19:20) came in 20th to lead Tipton and Daen Sizby (9:57) finished 39th to lead Cass.

On the girls side, No. 19, ranked West Lafayette totaled 45 points to edge a short-handed Western squad (49) for the title. Western ran without one of its top runners and saw another runner leave race with an injury,

"All race long, it was back and forth between West Lafayette and Western," Neer said. Every time we had a spot, West Lafayette was right there, either one place higher or one place lower. It was just a great battle all meet."

West Lafayette's Linsey Daluga blitzed the Course in 15:43, to win the race. Western's Annina Gruber covered the course in 16:32 to take second. Fellow Wesern runners Lacey Myer (17:03) and Jenn Elliott (17:18) also cracked the top 10 in the individual standings, finishing sixth and ninth respectively.

"Jenn Elllott wasn't feeling well halfway through the race and had to back off, falling from third to finishing ninth. Lacey, just took matters into her own hands. She finished her last mile in 6:20, finishing sixth overall," Neer said.

Also for the Panthers, Cassie Myer (17:54) finished 16th and Katie Hollingsworth (18:06) and Vanessa Lorenz (18:06) finished 20th and 21st.

"Cassie Myer continues to show great leadership. She raced very well," Neer said. "Katie Holllngsworth and Vanessa Lorenz knew our plan was to pass every West Lafayette athlete we could in the last 800 and they pulled out a masterful finish. Both of them edged out West Lafayette's 5th runner at the line. It's that kind of heart and determination that our Western girls have that I think will give us an advantage when tournament comes around."

Kokomo (108 points), Maconaquah (109) and Northwestern (111) rounded out the top five in the girls team standings. Cass (191) and Peru (200) took eighth and ninth in the nine-team field. Tipton fielded an incomplete team.

Northwestern sophomore Jennifer Claudio led the Tigers with a third-place finish. Claudio covered the course in 16:41. Megan Harper represented Tipton, and finished fifth with a time of 16:58. Adrienne Shepherd (17:21, 10th place) led Kokomo; Kolena Bowman (17:40, llth place) led Maconaquah; lessica Parkman (17:49, 15th place) paced Peru; and Brittaina Gillem (18:05, 18th place) led Cass.

"This was our 35th annual invitational, but the first time we've had it out at Oakbrook Valley," Neer said. "It's just a great venue. I want to thank Oakbrook Valley for allowing us to host this out here."