Western led the local teams in the boys and girls races Saturday in the Maconaquah cross country invitational. Western finished second in the boys race and third in the girls race.

With Panther runner Corey Scott maintaining a speedy pace, Western scored 73 to take second in the boys race, edging Indianapolis Cathedral (77) and 12th-ranked Noblesville (78). No. 14 Warren Central won with a score of 52.

Kokomo was fifth (187), Maconaquah sixth (197), Peru seventh(204), Hamilton Heights eighth (217), Northwestern 12th (298) and Tipton 13th (329). Taylor and Tri-Central were incomplete.

Western was led by third place runner Scott (16:48), fol- owed by Austin Young (ninth, 17:07), Zac Martinez (10th, 17:10), Kody Harmon (16th, 17:28), Chris Love (36th, 18:24), John Capps (42nd, 18:37) and Kyle Starich (51st, 18:56).

"I'm quite surprised to beat Noblesville, which was ranked as a top 20 team," Western coach Joe Orr said. "I think they're without their No. 1 runner, but I was quite surprised to beat them. Warren Central's a power also. I think we showed pretty well and the top four guys did an excellent job."

Cathedral's Hale O'Herren was the individual winner, docking in at 16:24.

Aaron Garretson led Peru with an 11th-place finish (17:15). Shannon Garretson was 31st (18:16), Jordan Garretson was 32nd (18:16), Nick Lipari was 63rd (19:39), Tyler Kintner was 77th (20:52), Dalton Sparks was 78th (20:53), Sonny Ornelas was 83rd (21:32).

"I thought Jordan Garretson ran very well, competing with his brother [Shannon] and I'm sure his brother is not going to be happy about that" Peru coach Gary Downing said "As

"I thoughtordan Garretson ran very well, competing with his brother [Shannon] and I'm sure his brother is not going to be happy about that," Peru coach Gary Downing said. "As you can see, we're packed together but our packs are too far apart

"It was a nice preview of the conference and it looks like Western's going to be the dominant [team], but it's going to be a free-for-all after Western because all the conference teams were there'

Kory Kennedy was 12th to lead Northwestern (17:19). Sam Freeman was 33rd (18:18), Kyle Condon was 91st (22:26), Hayden Jarvis was 92nd (22:31) and Steve Vas was 96th (23:14)

"Kory Kennedy led us again as he has all season," NW coach Dave Stevens said. "Ibis was his best race ever at Maconaquah. The 12th-place finish was really good for him. Also, all the rest of the guys put in a pretty good effort for as muggy and windy as it was [Saturday] morning."

Ian Holtson led Kokomo, taking 23rd in 17:45. Maconaquah was led by Bryce Comp, finishing 20th in 17:32. Levi Bess led Tipton, taking 43rd in 18:40.

Girls race

In the girls race, No. 7 Noblesville (20) and No. 18 Cathedral (53) finished first and second. Western (87) and Northwestern (145) followed in third and fourth and Kokomo (178), Peru (179), Maconaquah (185) and Tipton (237) finished sixth through ninth in the 11-team field.

Western had a solid pack of runners led by Jenn Elliott, whose time of 21:37 was good for 14th place. Corianne Myer (21:46) followed in 15th, Krissy Durr (21:55) was 17th and sisters Ashley Gaskins (22:23) and Kayla Gaskins (22:25) were 21st and 23rd respectively. Bre Nicholas (24:23) and Lacey Myer (27:27) also ran for the Panthers.

The girls ran a really good race," Western coach Heather Yentes said. They were kind of on tired legs, and it was a soggy course, but they did a good job. They continue to run in their pack. That's what we want to see."

Hannah Ault was 19th in 22:01 to lead Northwestern. Gretchen Catron was 25th (22:35), Nicki Hendricks was 27th (22:55), Lauren Dewhurst was 36th (23:34), Ruby Sanchez was 53rd (24:58), Morgan Hollinger was 54th (25:08) and Laura Wiley was 69th (26:43).

"[It was] just a really solid race for all seven runners," Stevens said. "Several girls were within a few seconds of their personal bests. Lauren Dewhurst ran a personal best for us. That was really a great race for her. Also, Hannah Ault, Gretchen Catron and Nicki Hendricks did a good job running up front and bunched together there."

Kokomo was led by Annika Taber who took ninth in 21:08. Eroica Stackhouse led Tipton in 11th in 21:19. Meggan Addock led Maconaquah in 31st in 23:02.