BANAT — Mid Peninsula’s Daisy Englund earned top honors for the third straight time here Thursday, winning the Stephenson Invitational cross country meet.

The junior harrier covered the 3.1 miles on the Dale Fountain Memorial Cross Country Course in 21 minutes, 30.5 seconds on this warm and humid day, less than 24 hours after western Menominee County received about five inches of rain.

“It was a very tough day to run,” she said.

“The course wasn’t bad, it was just way too hot. This was my first time running this course. I didn’t know what to expect. There were a few hills, which made it a little hard. It was a relief to see the finish line. I’m just glad we all finished and got through it.”

Marquette, placing five in the top 14, won with 34 points. Kingsford edged Menominee 74-76 for the runner-up spot and fourth-place Mid Pen had 93.

“Daisy had a tremendous run,” said Mid Pen coach Mark Branstrom. “She was real strong. Landry (Koski) wasn’t feeling good. It was a struggle from the beginning. It was hot and humid. There was no breeze at all in the woods. There were some real good runners here. We need our fifth and sixth runners to pick it up.”

The Marquette boys also won, taking top seven of the top 10 spots and scoring 24 points. They were followed by Menominee 57, Stephenson 107 and Rapid River 118.

“Great meet, great course and great competition,” said Marquette coach Kyle Detmers. “This is a tough, but important part of our season. The varsity guys are starting to forge their own identity. No PRs (personal records) today, but there was a lot of mud on the course.”

Kingsford junior Melanie Wenzel was girls’ runner-up at 21:43.3, followed by Marquette junior Josie Danielkiewicz (22:16), Menominee’s Hayden Buck (22:19) and Marquette’s Reegan Ketzenberger (22:26.3).

“I thought it went real well,” said Danielkiewicz. “I always try not to go out too fast and pick it up in the second mile. I felt strong in the last mile. The races are always a little tough. I don’t run very often against some of the people who were here. This is the first time I’ve been in the top three. This is really a confidence boost.”

Koski, who fell in the first half-mile, took seventh (22:35.2).

“I got into a puddle, then slipped and fell into the weeds,” she said. “I was in a groove, but the fall startled me. After that, I had a hard time breathing. Although, I knew I had to push through it.”

Norway sophomore Adam Cavagnetto took the boys’ race at 17:52.4.

“The race went real good,” he said. “The Marquette guys were pushing the pace. We do a lot of trail running in Norway, which I think helped me today. It was a great race. Everybody ran well. The heat was a factor, although it cooled off a little for our race. It wasn’t too bad.”

Marquette junior Moses Waite was runner-up (18:02.4), followed by teammates Hogan Nemetz (18:32.7), Peyton Osborne (18:41.1) and Menominee’s Hunter Shepeck (18:41.2).

“We’ve been doing 800 (meter) repeats this week,” said Waite. “Otherwise, we hadn’t done any speedwork this year. I thought the conditions were good and our team performed well today. This is a real nice course, although it was a little muddy in some spots. There’s still room for us to improve. I thought our girls ran real well today.”

Menominee coach Eric Burmeister was pleased with the effort by the Maroons.

“It was a pretty good day for us,” he said.

“I love this course. We need somebody to build us a hill. I thought our girls ran real well. Hunter and Landen (Clausen) really stepped up their training and Braeden (Park) and Evan (Casey) stepped up for us today. Braeden is always running with the top people in practice, but had been struggling a little in the races. We told him to run like he does in practice and he had a real good day.”

The Marquette jayvee boys, led by Brady Ketzenberger (19:30.6), grabbed the top eight places. Marquette’s Emmi Kruhak won the girls’ jayvee race (24:45.5).

Boys

Marquette 24, Menominee 57, Stephenson 107, Rapid River 118, Norway 129, Kingsford 143, Crivitz, Wis. 176, North Central 198. Escanaba, Florence, Wis., Carney-Nadeau, Mid Peninsula NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Adam Cavagnetto, Norway, 17:52.4; 2, Moses Waite, Marquette, 18:02.4; 3, Hogan Nemetz, Marquette, 18:32.7; 4, Peyton Osborne, Marquette, 18:41.1; 5, Hunter Shepeck, Menominee, 18:41.2; 6, Landen Clausen, Menominee, 18:55.5; 7, Luke Janofski, Marquette, 18:57.5; 8, Colin Vanderschaaf, Marquette, 19:01.2; 9, Lincoln Sager, Marquette, 19:08.2; 10, Carson Vanderschaaf, Marquette, 19:11.3.

Girls

Marquette 34, Kingsford 74, Menominee 76, Mid Peninsula 93, Stephenson 143, Escanaba 146, Crivitz 153, Florence 175. Rapid River, Norway, Carney-Nadeau NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Daisy Englund, Mid Peninsula, 21;30.5; 2, Melanie Wenzel, 21:43.3; 3, Josie Danielkiewicz, Marquette, 22:16; 4, Hayden Buck, Menominee, 22:19; 5, Reegan Ketzenberger, Marquette, 22:26.3; 6, Olivia Moffitt, Marquette, 22:26.3; 7, Landry Koski, Mid Peninsula, 22:35.2; 8, Sarah Kulas, Kingsford, 22:36.4; 9, Ericka Asmus, Marquette, 22:47.8; 10, Katie Anderla, Menominee, 22:56.6.