Led by Taryn Thor's second-place finish, Northwestern's girls cross country team won the 16-team Logansport Invitational on Tuesday for the first time in a preview of the sectional course and a tune-up for its upcoming county and conference meets.

"We've taken second place here a couple times before, so it was quite exciting for the girls to hear their names as the champions," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. " We've been working hard as a team all year, and the girls, top to bottom, ran really well on the sectional course. Several of them were running this course for the first time, and all of the new girls did really well. That's something to look forward to in a couple weeks'

Twin Lakes' Madeline Lilly set the pace and won going away in 18 minutes, 47 seconds. Thor finished in 20:34 for second place. Kindra Gingerich added an 11th-place finish for the Tigers win 21:37 and Heidi Freeman followed in 15th at 22:02. Jensen Freeman (22nd, 22:27) and Karly Sprouse (24th, 22:33) aided the championship cause, as well.

"What's helping us right now is the way they practice each day," Stevens said of his team. "They push hard in practice. They love speed workouts and it's starting to show up in their performances. That's how you move up when you don't mind doing speed workouts. They want to hit the paces and times I give them, and that's helped them — and it's all of them that want to do it, not just one or two of them."

Northwestern finished with 70 points, while Cass finished as the runner-up with 98. Huntington North (104), Twin Lakes (128) and Rensselaer Central (133) rounded out the top five.

Gabi Carney placed third in 20:39 to lead the Kings. She was followed by Jenna Yeakley (6th, 21:01), Haley Johnson (12th, 21:47), Breanne Robertson (18th, 22:18) and Makenzie Hoch (65th, 23:57).

Western finished 12th with 294 points. Sam Luginbuhl finished 53rd in 23:43 to lead the Panthers, followed by Taylor Nunan in 54th (23:44), Nicole Hampshire in 55th (23:45), Emma Nixon in 56th (23:45) and Olivia Nixon in 76th (24:59).

Kokomo finished 15th, led by Elise Glover's 79th-place finished in 25:23. Erica Goodman (80th, 25:25), Molly O'Keefe (85th, 25:53), Mary Lucas (90th, 27:27) and Hannah Reecer (92nd, 27:50) rounded out the Kats' lineup.

Boys Race

Huntington North won the 17-team invitational with a score of 51. Northwestern (145) and Kokomo (151) finished fourth and fifth to lead the Kokomo-area squads. Tipton (179) was sixth, Western (322) was 12th and Peru (326), Maconaquah (331) and Cass (439) finished 14th through 16th.

Huntington North won the 17-team invitational with a score of 51. Northwestern (145) and Kokomo (151) finished fourth and fifth to lead the Kokomo-area squads. Tipton (179) was sixth, Western (322) was 12th and Peru (326), Maconaquah (331) and Cass (439) finished 14th through 16th.

Hamilton Heights sophomore Craig Schildmeier was the top individual. He covered the course in 16:14.

Northwestern's top five runners were: Zach Duranto (12th place, 17:25); Charlie Neher (18th, 17:49); Andrew Fackler (20th, 17:52); Taylor McLain (48th, 18:46) and Shad Jakes (54th, 19:02).

"This was one our best finishes ever as a team at this invitational," NW skipper Stevens said. "Our top three guys were all under 18 minutes, so that was a tremendous run for them [Tuesday]. It was a team effort, and the hard work is starting to pay off for them. I'm anxious to see how we do in the rest of our tournaments."

Kokomo's top five were: Jeremy Breedlove (fourth, 16:59); Waylon Coulter (26th, 18:04); Jordan Fivecoate (27th, 18:04); Ethan Sharp (45th, 18:36) and Logan Hawk (55th, 19:02).

"Kokomo cut 40 seconds off their season best team time and ran really well," Kats coach Ricke Stucker said. "We had Jeremy Breedlove under 17 minutes for the first time and that course is not a real fast one. We had a lot of season bests so we were pretty happy with how we did. We're improving and if we can keep doing that and stay healthy, we ought to do pretty well by tournament time."

"This was one our best finishes ever as a team at this invitational," NW skipper Stevens said. "Our top three guys were all under 18 minutes, so that was a tremendous run for them [Tuesday]. It was a team effort, and the hard work is starting to pay off for them. I'm anxious to see how we do in the rest of our tournaments."

Kokomo's top five were: Jeremy Breedlove (fourth, 16:59); Waylon Coulter (26th, 18:04); Jordan Fivecoate (27th, 18:04); Ethan Sharp (45th, 18:36) and Logan Hawk (55th, 19:02).

"Kokomo cut 40 seconds off their season best team time and ran really well," Kats coach Ricke Stucker said. "We had Jeremy Breedlove under 17 minutes for the first time and that course is not a real fast one. We had a lot of season bests so we were pretty happy with how we did. We're improving and if we can keep doing that and stay healthy, we ought to do pretty well by tournament time."

Tipton placed two runners in the top 20 — Nathan Gonzlaez (seventh, 17:05) and Jacob Benefiel (19th, 17:51).

Western ran its JV team. The Panthers' top five were: Grant Harbaugh (59th, 19:11), Josh Scott (69th, 19:32); Asa Sheffer (86th, 20:13) and Guy Sheffer (88th, 20:13).

"I felt like we had already ran enough big invitationals this year. I wanted to give my JV a chance to run in a varsity race and I think they responded quite well," Western coach Gary Jewell said. "Grant Harbaugh was our first guy. He is returning from a devastating ankle injury he sustained in July. He is just now rounding back into shape. This was a good race for him — not quite a PR, but he is zeroing in on that.

"Adam Lyons ran a PR, Josh Scott ran a PR. These are kids who worked hard all summer and it's paying off as we close in toward conference and sectional time."

Fifth-place finisher Quinn Reinhardt (16:59) led Maconaquah and 31st-place finisher Shane Garretson (18:15) led Peru.