Boys Meet

Western took third among the 10 complete teams at the invite. West Lafayette won with 32 points, followed by Perry Meridian (57), Western (80), McCutcheon in fourth (83) and North Vermillion in fifth (141).

Austin Young led Western in fifth (17:15), Chris Love was 14th (18:10), John Capps was 20th (18:50), Christopher Nunan was 21st (18:52) and Braxton Bagwell 24th (19:05).

"I thought the team actually exceeded my expectations," Western coach Gary Jewell said. "We knocked off McCutcheon, which was rated 22nd in the latest coaches poll. We were only 23 points behind Perry Meridian despite not having Kody Harmon [who is injured]. I thought the key to us finishing ahead of McCutcheon was that our No. 3 to No. 6 pack went out conservatively, and they passed a bunch of runners in the second half of the race."

Girls race

Western took fifth place in the 13-team contest at Fountain Central. West Lafayette won with 25 points, Perry Meridian was second with 41, North Ver-million was third (112), and Seeger was fourth (120), two points ahead of Western in fifth (122).

For Western, Corianne Myer was 16th (23:18), Kelsey Dun-was 23rd (24:16), Bre Nicholas was 27th (24:31), Erin Weber was 37th (26:08) and Gina Jakubowicz was 39th (26:25).

"I thought they did a really good job," Western coach Bo Britton said. "[Myer, Durr and Nicholas] all bettered their time from last year - same course. Our next four on varsity, it's the first 5K race they've run com­petitively. It's really a tough course, some big hills and tough terrain and I thought they did an outstanding job for the first time out there.

"Two points out of fourth place, and I think the meet gave them a lot of confidence that they can do it, they can compete."

Western hosts the Western Invitational on Saturday.