MUNISING — The Gladstone cross country teams opened on a positive note here Tuesday, sweeping both sides in the Munising Invitational.

Gladstone’s boys scored 52 points, followed by Stephenson 78 and Menominee 125.

The Gladstone girls led with 59, followed by Munising 73 and Superior Central 135.

“That was a nice little victory,” said Braves coach Gary Whitmer. “We have some good senior leadership among our girls. I think this is a confidence builder for both teams. I’m real happy with today’s results.”

Gladstone junior Drew Hughes won the boys’ race, covering the hilly 3.1-mile course at the Valley Spur Cross Country Trails in 17 minutes, 11.66 seconds. He was followed by Munising senior Nick Singer (18:37.41) and freshman Trevor Nolan (18:45.94) on this warm and humid day.

“I’m happy with my time for the first race,” said Hughes. “I didn’t really know what to expect and approached it as a harder workout. The hills were hard, and I came close to walking up those. My legs were tired, but I got them back in the end. In the last half-mile, I was cruising. I liked the weather conditions. It was a little humid, and I was hot while we were running. Training during the summer pays off.”

Kingsford’s Luke Ruble placed fourth (19:06.5), and Gladstone’s Tanner Hughes was fifth (19:21.69).

Grant Mason was Manistique’s pacesetter in 11th (20:57.81).

Ishpeming sophomore Lola Korpi was crowned girls’ champion at 21:21.94, followed by Munising’s Jenna Matson (22:19.34) and Monique Brisson (22:20.96).

“I wasn’t happy with my time, although I’m not too worried about it,” said Korpi. “This is the first race. This gives me something to work for. I took a week off because my calves were sore. I didn’t want to, but I felt it was the right thing to do. At least they didn’t give me any trouble today.”

Kingsford senior Gabby Carey took sixth (23:52.84), followed by Gladstone’s Jamisyn Bergeron (23:58.94), Lilly Karl (24:04.09), and Sam Strasler (24:13.58) and Norway’s Taylor Adams (25:08.84).

“I focused on the second-mile hills, worked hard on those and finished hard,” said Carey. “I think this is a good start. It was a little humid but nice in the shade.”

Bree Swajanen led Superior Central in 12th (25:31.34), and Emma Sundling was Rapid River’s leader in 15th (25:42.72).

Munising ran without its top runner Hattie Cota, who underwent ACL surgery this spring.

“Her recovery is going well,” said Mustangs’ coach Mark Kinnunen. “The girls are coming off the (Division 3) U.P. Championship, and they’ve trained hard. We have a bunch of hungry girls and boys. They want to do better than last year. Trevor is a crazy good athlete and has been running strong since sixth grade. Nick is starting to see some of his potential and taking off. I couldn’t be happier with our kids for their first race.”

Boys

Gladstone 52, Stephenson 78, Menominee 125, Munising 128, Rapid River 153, Kingsford 168, Ishpeming 174, Norway 175, Manistique 192, North Central 217, Cheboygan 222, Superior Central 275, Gwinn 299.

Top 10 — 1, Drew Hughes, Gladstone, 17:11.66; 2, Nick Singer, Munising, 18:37.41; 3, Trevor Nolan, Munising, 17:45.94; 4, Luke Ruble, Kingsford, 19:06.5; 5, Trevor Hughes, Gladstone, 19:21.69; 6, Parker Gauthier, Ishpeming, 20:25.75; 7, Aaron Hughes, Gladstone, 20:26.65; 8, Ethan Lusardi, Stephenson, 20:27.84; 9, Luke Patrick, Cheboygan, 20:29.93; 10, Buckley Corey, Stephenson, 20:32.87.

Girls

Gladstone 59, Munising 73, Superior Central 135, Menominee 139, Cheboygan 142, Kingsford 148, Manistique 161, Ishpeming 162, Stephenson 171, Norway 210, North Central 215.

Top 10 — 1, Lola Korpi, Ishpeming, 21:21.94; 2, Jenna Matson, Munising, 22:19.34; 3, Monique Brisson, Munising, 22:20.96; 4, Hayden Buck, Menominee, 22:38.88; 5, Attica Brandt, Menominee, 22:48.84; 6, Gabby Carey, Kingsford, 23:52.84; 7, Jamisyn Bergeron, Gladstone, 23:58.84; 8, Lilly Karl, Gladstone, 24:04.09; 9, Sam Strasler, Gladstone, 24:13.58; 10, Taylor Adams, Norway, 25:08.84.