EBEN JUNCTION — Alisha Mabie cruised to her third straight victory while helping the Escanaba girls place second in the Superior Central Invitational cross country meet here Saturday.

Ewen-Trout Creek, which placed four in the top eight, won with 44 points. The Eskymos finished with 100 and third-place Powers North Central had 112.

“The girls are getting their best times,” Esky coach Scott Dykema said. “Overall, they’re running very strong. Ashley Spreitzer dropped her time a full minute. A couple kids were sick today, but we have good kids to work with.”

The Stephenson boys edged Engadine 89-95 for the title. Crystal Falls Forest Park placed third with 99 points.

Mabie covered the 3.2-mile course in 20:38.38 and Engadine eighth-grader Molly McNamara placed second at 21:14.53 on this sunny, breezy and warm morning.

“Molly pushed me the whole way,” Mabie said. “I just tried to stride up the hills and gave all the glory to God. I think I may have started a little too fast. The course was a little long.”

McNamara was followed by Stephenson junior Faith Cappaert (22:09.74).

North Central’s Hope Varoni took fourth (22:54.46) and E-TC freshman Bree Besonen was fifth (23:02.05).

“Our girls are pretty darn solid,” E-TC coach Brad Besonen said. “This is the first year we ever had a full team. We’re pretty excited. We have a shot (in the U.P. D-3 Finals), although Newberry is pretty good. We’re running as a pack and everybody is running good times.”

Stephenson junior Canon Kuntze earned his second straight victory in 18:03.15.

“I think my momentum carried over from the last meet (Kingsford Invitational) and used a similar strategy in this race,” Kuntze said. “They changed the course, but I think it’s better than in the past. I wanted to go out quick and build a gap. It was a nice day for running. I’d say the breeze helped a little, although you can’t really feel it in the woods.”

Engadine senior Dakota Taylor was runner-up in a personal-best 18:20.08, followed by North Central’s Ben Knauf (18:21.47).

Ben Knauf was followed by Esky senior William Weise (18:33.11) and North Central’s Wes Knauf (18:59.69).

“This was Ben’s first meet because he plays football and Alex (Pipkorn) ran a season-best time,” Jets’ coach Katie Depuydt said. “It’s good to have a full boys’ team and we’re pretty happy about the girls finishing third. There was good competition here. All the kids ran decent times.”

Forest Park’s Max Mainville took sixth (19:06.86) and brother Joey Mainville followed at 19:08.12.

“You never know who’s going to take it between those two,” Forest Park coach D.J. Rasner said. “It’s fun to watch. They have a brotherly relationship most brothers don’t have.”

Boys

Stephenson 89, Engadine 95, Crystal Falls Forest Park 99, Escanaba 131, Powers North Central and Superior Central 148, Gwinn 161, Rapid River 197, Manistique 198, Norway 248, Ewen-Trout Creek 249.

Top 10 — 1, Canon Kuntze, Stephenson, 18:03.15; 2, Dakota Taylor, Engadine, 18:20.08; 3, Ben Knauf, Powers North Central, 18:21.47; 4, William Weise, Escanaba, 18:33.11; 5, Wes Knauf, Powers North Central, 18:54.69; 6, Max Mainville, Crystal Falls Forest Park, 19:06.86; 7, Joey Mainville, Crystal Falls Forest Park, 19:08.12; 9, Duane Krenek, Engadine, 19:09.28; 10, Ben Gilroy, Manistique, 19:20.35.

Girls

Ewen-Trout Creek 44, Escanaba 100, Powers North Central 112; Stephenson 118, Rapid River 128, Engadine 139, Norway 157, Manistique 160, Escanaba Holy Name 161, Rock Mid Peninsula 172, Gwinn and Superior Central NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Alisha Mabie, Escanaba, 20:38.38; 2, Molly McNamara, Engadine, 21:14.53; 3, Faith Cappaert, Stephenson, 22:09.74; 4, Hope Varoni, Powers North Central, 22:54.46; 5, Bree Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 23:02.05; 6, Emma Besonen, Ewen-Trout Creek, 23:23.28; 7, Leona Schultz, Ewen-Trout Creek, 24:07.11; 8, Aly DeCremer, Ewen-Trout Creek, 24:08.67; 9, Gabi Putnam, Stephenson, 24:29.37; 10, Grace Hamlin, Escanaba, 24:39.32.