Fatima won the Purple division of the Camdenton Laker cross country invitational on Saturday with a score of 22 points as three Lady Comets finished in the top five.

Brie Massman won the race in 19:29, while Melissa Verslues was third (21:16), and Heidi Struemph claimed fourth (21:22), followed by Karley Bock (14, 23:56), and Rose Backes (25:52).

Fatima won the boys’ Purple Division with 23 points, led by  race winner Michael Gabelsberger in 16:50, as Brady Horton placed fourth (17:52), followed by Trenton Orscheln (8, 18:13), Zach Kloeppel (9, 18:16), Wyatt Dake (11, 18:27), Zack Eisterhold (14, 18:44), and Evan Klouzek  (23, 19:41).

“The girls’ team ran very well, with season bests from Brie, Melissa, and Rose, who had a huge race, improving her previous season best time by nearly two minutes,” said Coach Marc Bridges. “Having a strong fifth runner is going to be a big deal for us in the postseason, and Rose showed Saturday that she is up to the challenge.  The boys seemed to get out a little fast in their race, which caused some tired legs and some slower than expected times from a few. Brady came up big with a personal-best, finishing as our second runner. Our boys need to start racing with a little consistency as we approach districts and state. If they can we should be in a great position at the end of the year.”

Tucker Schroeder won the JV race in 20:37 and Karson Fudge placed seventh in 24:43.