Evan McKnight | Daily Press From left, Layni Corpi of Ishpeming, Hope Varoni of North Central, and Taylor Adams of Norway, sprint towards the finish line during the Norway Cross Country Invitational on Monday.

NORWAY — Lola Korpi was jumping for joy right after winning a cross country race at the Norway Invitational here Monday.

The Ishpeming junior covered the 3.1-mile course in season-best 19 minutes, 56.6 seconds on this sunny and mild day at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds.

Munising senior Monique Brisson earned runner-up honors despite running an extra lap in 21:34.5, followed by classmate Hattie Cota at 21:51.1.

“I haven’t run in the 19s since my freshman year,” said Korpi. “I just wanted it so bad. This is a huge confidence builder. With only three meets left there was a sense of urgency. My sister Laynie also ran well. I’m very happy for her. It’s very unfortunate Monique had to run an extra lap. There was nobody there to direct her.”

Munising retained its title with 26 points, followed by Stephenson 47, Rapid River 60 and North Central 80.

The Stephenson boys were also repeat winners with 40 points, followed by Kingsford and Republic-Michigamme 56 and Munising 64.

Norway freshman Lauren Adams placed fourth among the girls at 22:07.4 and North Central’s Hope Varoni took fifth (22:42.6).

“I wasn’t feeling good today, but tried to attack the hills,” said Varoni. “I’m happy with my time considering I wasn’t feeling the best. I had a stressful day at school, but running is a good stress release. This was a nice confidence builder.”

Munising sophomore Dan Goss took the boys’ race in 18:17.9 and Stephenson senior Griffin Brown (18:41) placed second.

“The Stephenson kid is a good racer,” said Goss. “I kind of paced off him, then passed him about halfway through. My shoulders tend to tighten up during the races, but our coach (Mark Kinnunen) told me to relax my shoulders. I was shooting for first or second and got it. There were spots where there were some holes. I just took longer strides and tried to dodge those.”

Brown was followed by Kingsford senior Ethan Congdon (19:01.7) and sophomore Joey Lundholm (19:05.9) and R-M junior Ethan Lawrence (19:08.8).

“I ran a 5:27 in the first mile,” said Brown. “I think the North Central course is easier than this one and was 20 seconds faster up here. I think this is a good sign for the North Central Invitational and U.P. (Division 3) Finals, and our team winning is icing on the cake. Jacob (Ross) ran a PR (personal record) today and we’re happy about that. Running as a pack is helping. We’re able to pace off each other.”

Ross placed eighth at 19:29.2.

“Another thing that helps is sportsmanship,” Ross added. “We’re making friends with other teams. It makes you want to push yourself and each other.”

Sophomore Wes Knauf was North Central’s pacesetter in 10th (19:55.7) and senior Jesse Sampson was 13th in a personal-best 20:11.

“We had a good day,” said Jets’ coach Mike Jenkins. “If we had a full team, we’d definitely would be contending. The girls are dealing with some injuries. Unfortunately, we lost a couple for the season.”

Most area teams resume in Monday’s North Central Invite.

Boys

Stephenson 40, Kingsford and Republic-Michigamme 56, Munising 64. Ishpeming, Norway, North Central, Mid Peninsula, Rapid River and Florence-Niagara, Wis. NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Dan Goss, Munising, 18:17.9; 2, Griffin Brown, Stephenson, 18:41; 3, Ethan Congdon, Kingsford, 19:01.7; 4, Joey Lundholm, Kingsford, 19:05.8; 6, Levi Nicholls, Ishpeming, 19:12.8; 7, Ken Ambuehl, Republic-Michigamme, 19:20.5; 8, Jacob Ross, Stephenson, 19:29.2; 9, John Wheeler, Republic-Michigamme, 19:34.7; 10, Wes Knuaf, North Central, 19:55.7.

Girls

Munising 26, Stephenson 47, North Central 60, North Central 80. Ishpeming, Norway, Florence-Niagara, Forest Park and Kingsford NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Lola Korpi, Ishpeming, 19:56.6; 2, Monique Brisson, Munising, 21:34.5; 3, Hattie Cota, Munising, 21:51.1; 4, Lauren Adams, Norway, 22:07.8; 5, Hope Varoni, North Central, 22:42.9; 6, Abbey Tripp, Florence-Niagara, 22:46.4; 7, Laynie Korpi, Ishpeming, 22:58.6; 8, Faith Cappaert, Stephenson, 23:05.6; 9, Kayela Putnam, Stephenson, 23:07.2; 10, Taylor Adams, Norway, 23:11.8.