ESCANABA — It was a dominating performance by the Marquette cross country to say the least here Saturday as they swept both ends of the Escanaba John Prokos Memorial Invitational.

Gladstone junior Drew Hughes prevented the Marquette boys from getting a perfect score by winning the 3.1-mile race in Ludington Park in 16 minutes, 47 seconds on this sunny and seasonably cool morning.

“I was going for mile times,” he said. “My first mile was on time. Then, I slowed down a little. This was a good, hard workout. I like having the competition from Marquette. It’s a lot of fun. We had good weather for this meet. It was nice and cool, maybe a little chilly, but it was all right.”

Marquette, which grabbed the next eight places, scored 20 points. Esky edged Gladstone 72-75 for runner-up honors.

He was followed by Carson and Colin Vanderschaaf at 16:59 and 17:17, respectively.

Esky junior Matthew Dykema placed 10th in 18:34, followed by Gladstone freshman Aaron Hughes (18:40), Esky junior Dan Smith (18:41) and Sawyer LaMarche (18:46), all personal-bests.

“Until now, we didn’t have anybody under 19 minutes,” said Esky coach Scott Dykema. “This was a real good meet for these guys. We had a lot of improvement.”

The Marquette girls posted a perfect score of 15, followed by Gladstone 83 and Esky 94.

“The girls ran real well,” said Marquette coach Kyle Detmers. “So did the guys. We had a lot of PRs (personal records). We had good pack running and we’re going to get faster.”

Marquette freshman Monet Argeropoulos took first at 21:41, followed by Tessa Bruns (21:43) and Abby Harma (21:47).

“This is a real good confidence boost right now,” said Argeropoulos. “I felt real good. We had real nice conditions today. The course was a little confusing, but nice and flat. This is a bit of a learning experience. This is a lot different from junior high cross country.”

Kingsford’s Gabby Carey took eighth (22:37), followed by Gladstone senior Lilly Karl in a season-best 22:44 and classmate Samantha Strasler (22:57).

“I know the course and didn’t have to worry about hills,” said Karl. “I just had to power up the one hill. There was hardly any wind, and the temperature (near 50) was comfortable. I definitely feel good about how I ran today.”

Esky senior Ciara Ostrenga took 12th (23:10), and classmate Ava Gardner was 13th (23:15).

“Ciara was fighting a cold, and Ava had the biggest drop in time,” said coach Dykema. “Veronica Spreitzer also dropped a lot of time. This was a very successful meet.”

Gladstone assistant coach Jim Murtha was also pleased with the Braves’ performances.

“We ran well,” he said. “We had a lot of PRs. With this being homecoming week, some of the kids were dragging a little, but this is a good course. It was a little windy on the (Aronson) island. Otherwise, the temperature was nice. Drew is strong and steady, and Aaron took off a lot of time.”

Most area teams are entered in today’s Munising Invitational, which starts at 4 p.m. at the Pictured Rocks Golf & Country Club.

Boys

Marquette 20, Escanaba 72, Gladstone 75. Kingsford, Gwinn and Newberry NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Drew Hughes, Gladstone, 16:47; 2, Carson Vanderschaaf, Marquette, 16:59; 2, Colin Vanderschaaf, Marquette, 17:17; 4, Luke Janofski, Marquette, 17:24; 5, Brady Ketzenberger, Marquette, 17:25; 6, Cullen Papin, Marquette, 17:33; 7, Adam White, Marquette, 17:48; 8, Chase Thomsen, Marquette, 18:10; 9, Seppi Camilli, Marquette, 18:23; 10, Matthew Dykema, Escanaba, 18:34.

Girls

Marquette 15, Gladstone 83, Escanaba 94. Newberry and Kingsford NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Monet Argeropoulos, Marquette, 21:41; 2, Tessa Bruns, Marquette, 21:43; 3, Abby Harma, Marquette, 21:47; 4, Courtney Larson, 22:26; 5, Zared Smith, Marquette, 22:31; 6, Jorja Suriano, Newberry, 22:33; 7, Elodie Malherbe, Marquette, 22:35; 8, Gabby Carey, Kingsford, 22:37; 9, Lilly Karl, Gladstone, 23:10; 10, Samantha Strasler, Gladstone, 23:15.