Wins Caston Invitational Carroll boys varsity cross country team has repeated as champion of the 23-team Caston Invitational. This is the third time in four years that the Cougars have won the title. Team members are (l-r): Kneeling - Tallis Bowers, Weston Rinehart, Brian Bordner, Jordan Tooley. Back - Assistant Coaches Larry Henning and Amy Cottrell, Blake Mills, Mitch Whitham, Cory Ritter, Jarrod Collins, Coach Mike Miller, and Assistant Coach Kyle, Wallace. Photo provided Good weather and tough competition greeted the Carroll boys and girls cross country teams Saturday at Caston. The boys' team captured the championship title of the 23- team invitational, while the girls finished in seventh place.

Coach Mike Miller was pleased with the performances of his runners.

"We were very surprised; we were very happy," he said. "We just came off a disappointing run on Thursday, and we came in with hopes of running well and maybe finishing in the top five. The guys really ran well and competed very well. I was very happy with our times."

The girls' race was won by Laville's Elaine Schmeltz in 19:52. The Cougar girls were paced by Kaira Ragan's 17th place finish in 22:25. Abby Reinke was 23rd in 24:31, Jillian Kennedy 52nd in 24:39, and Jackie Tussinger 85th in 32:30. The girls finished with a score of 177, while the winning team of Bremen had a score of 50 and runner-up Tri- County, 61.

Carroll boys won with a score of 86, followed by Triton in 2nd with 104 and South Bend Adams in 3rd with 157.

The boys' race was won by Logansport's Kyle Overway in a time of 16:06, a new course record. Carroll was led by Blake Mills, who finished 3rd in 17:06. Tallis Bowers was 12th in 18:03, Jordan Tooley 14th in 18:07, Brian Bordner 23rd in 18:40, and Weston Rinehart 34th in 19:12, rounding out Carroll's top five scoring. Cory Ritter and Mitch Whitham were also in the varsity race, finishing 72nd in 20:28 and 74th in 20:31, respectively.

Carroll boys won with a score of 86. Second place team was Triton with 104 and South Bend Adams third with 157.

"The Cougar boys also look good for the future," Miller added. "Our top four consists of two juniors and two freshmen. Our seniors are right there pushing the younger ones, so we're happy. The girls are also a very young squad as Reinke is the only senior on the team."

Carroll's teams host the Cougar Invitational on Thursday. Other area cross country teams, including Delphi, Central Catholic and Lewis Cass, will compete in the meet.