Boys Meet

No. 24-ranked Western took part in Class AAA, which featured the largest schools, and finished in ninth place out of 30 teams. No. 2 Carroll of Allen County posted a score of 107 to edge No. 3 McCutcheon (113) for first place. Western came in with a score of 254.

Peru and Northwestern competed in Class AA, which featured medium-sized schools. The Bengal Tigers finished 18th in the 32-team field and the Purple Tigers came in 27th.

Corey Scott led Western with an eighth-place finish. He covered the course in 16:29. The Panthers' other top runners were: Zac Martinez (37th place, 17:06); Austin Young (52nd, 17:18); Chris Love (78th, 17:40) and Kody Harmon (79th, 17:42).

"Corey Scott had a personal-best and this was a tough course," Western coach Joe Orr said. "He was running with some elite runners. He was in fifth place at one time. ... He had an excellent race. Also, I thought Chris Love moved up and did a good job.

"Overall, I was pretty pleased to finish in the top 10.1 think at least eight of the teams that were ahead of us were top-20 ranked teams, so I think we're about where we need to be. We can improve."

Western runs Tuesday in a multi-team meet at Indiana Wesleyan.

In the Class AA race, Kory Kennedy led Northwestern with a 13th-place finish. He turned in a time of 17:10. The Purple Tigers' other top runners were: Bryce Bausum (169th, 21:22); Steve Vas (184th, 21:52); Hayden Jarvis (191st, 22:50) and Kyle Condon (201st, 23:52).

"We were led by Kory again [who had) easily one of his best starts of the season. There were 214 boys in his race, which is a huge crowd, and he ran right to the front like he belonged there," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. "He held onto 13th place — it was a warm day, but he still ran very fast. I am proud of him.

"Also, Bryce Bausum set a personal-best on one of the hardest courses we run on. We were short Sam Freeman, who has an injury, so Bryce stepped into that No. 2 spot for us and I was really proud of his effort" Peru's Aaron Garretson finished eighth in the Class AA race with a time of 16:50.

Girls race

Western and Northwestern took part in Class AA, which featured the middle-sized schools in the invitational. South Bend St. Joseph's won Class AA with a score of 107 and Western (218) and Northwestern (414) came in seventh and 16th, respectively, in the 29-team field. Also, Peru (695) finished 26th.

Jenn Elliott and Ashley Gaskins led Western. Elliott (21:20) finished 33rd and Gaskins (21:25) took 37th. The Panthers' contingent also included Corianne Myer (45th place, 21:35); Krissy Durr (46th, 21:36); Kayla Gaskins (57th, 21:44); Kelsey Durr (141st, 23:56) and Bre Nicholas (155th, 24:26).

Hannah Ault led Northwestern with a 23rd-place finish in 21:06. The Purple Tigers' other top runners were: Nicki Hendricks (49th, 21:38); Gretchen Catron (77th, 22:25); Morgan Hulliger (136th, 23:50) and Ruby Sanchez (142nd, 23:56).

"There were 210 girls in this race and I thought our girls competed really well," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. "We had three personal-bests — Nicki, Gretchen and Morgan all set personal-bests on easily the toughest high school course in Indiana. Overall, I am just thrilled with all the girls."

Western runs Tuesday in a multi-team meet at Indiana Wesleyan.