Michelly Foley of Crook County won the girls Invitational race and Kris Thomasberg of Redmond placed second in the girls Elite race to highlight several strong local performances at Saturday’s Puma Classic high school cross country meet.

The annual event at Bend’s Drake Park attracted some of the top prep runners from the Northwest for the 25-team, 5,000-meter event.

The meet was broken up into two divisions, with the stronger competitors racing in the Elite Division.

Summit made a strong showing in the Elite races, as the Storm girls finished second overall and the boys third.

”Most of my kids did really well,” said Summit coach Dave Clark. ”I think there is a little lingering illness still with us.”

No. 2-ranked South Eugene won the girls Elite Division with a score of 49, while Borah of Idaho won the boys Elite Division with a score of 62.

Thomasberg was the day’s fastest local female. The Redmond sophomore clocked a time of 18 minutes, 14 seconds, just three seconds behind winner Karleigh Gempler of Borah.

”The pace felt really good,” said Thomasberg. ”I thought I’d have the kick at the end, but she was fast.

”I was really excited. It was fun with so many people watching.”

Summit freshman Alyssa O’Connor took fifth (18:41) in the Elite race.

”I just wanted to have fun and I always want to save some for the finish, that’s my favorite part,” said O’Connor, who passed Sheldon’s Casey Masterson on the final hill to slide into the fifth position.

Crook County’s Foley was the only individual winner from Central Oregon, scoring her first ever cross country title. Foley’s time of 19:39 was good enough to win the girls Invitational race and lead the Cowgirls to sixth place out of 12 teams.

”I was hoping to get a top 10,” said Foley, a sophomore. ”I’m really excited about districts now.”

Bend’s Vanessa Fiedler was fifth (19:52) in the Invitational race, cutting nearly 20 seconds from her previous best time.

”I wanted to cut a little bit off each mile,” said Fiedler.

Mountain View was paced by sophomore Hayley Langmas, who took 19th in a time of 20:48.

”I felt pretty good, there was just a lot of good girls out there,” said Langmas.

Borah of Idaho won the girls Invitational with a score of 64. Crook County scored 161 and was followed by Mountain View in seventh (169) and Bend in ninth (231).

La Pine fielded an incomplete team, which was led by Meghanne Denecochea’s 15th-place finish (20:34).

In the boys Elite Division, Borah juniors Sawyer Bosch and Sean Huey ran away from the field and led the entire race. Bosch, who finished second at last year’s Idaho state meet, ran to a winning time of 15:33.

Borah, which scored 62 points, was followed by Grant of Portland (64) and Summit (81).

The Storm’s Dylan Coleman was disappointed with his fourth-place finish, even though his 16:09 was the fastest Central Oregon time by 14 seconds over teammate Mark Leckband (16:23).

”I felt fine, I think it was just a mental thing today,” said Coleman.

Summit freshman Tosch Roy took 13th with a time of 16:28 in the Elite boys race.

The Redmond boys took second in the Invitational Division with a score of 101. Lake City of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, tallied a winning score of 50.

The Panthers were paced by Zach Lane, who ran 16:37 to take fourth. Lane, a senior, led early in the race and stayed with the lead pack throughout.

”I was hoping I could stay with them (the lead runners) and that it could push me to a PR (personal record), which it did,” said Lane.

Lane finished just ahead of Bend sophomore Wes Cheney, who also ran to a PR (16:40).

”I try to start slower and then move up, and that worked pretty good today,” said Cheney, who was fifth in the Invitational Division.

Mountain View’s boys took fifth (170) in the Invitational race, just ahead of Bend, which was sixth (187). Crook County was 11th (261) and La Pine was 16th in the Invitational division.