The United South Central cross country teams ran well against strong competition at the Mountain Lake Invite with the girls finishing fourth overall and the boys taking fifth in a field that included 20 teams.

Jamie Klein led the girls, finishing sixth in the field of nearly 100 runners. Klein, who has been the Rebels top runner for the last four years is coming back after a stress fracture suffered last spring, but is rapidly rounding into shape.

“Jamie’s not where she wants to be yet,” said Rebels coach Kent Viesselman, “But she’s dropped a minute this past week and is starting to look like herself again.”

Katie Schultz, one of the Rebels top runners for the past two years, was attending a college class and will return to the lineup next week.

Amber Erickson and Joelle Elmer finished 23rd and 27th, respectively, for the Rebels with marks of 17:29 and 17:41.

Becca Bryson was 28th in 17:45.

Nicole Klein completed the Rebels’ top five finishing 63rd in 19:53.

Eric Youngblom (12), Jacob Elmer (13) and Brad Tomschin (14) all finished in the medals to lead the boys’ team.

“They all looked very strong,” commented Viesselman. “Bryan Hauge had some allergy issues, so we didn’t run him Wednesday, but he’ll be right with those three, which should make us tough up front.”

Erik Melby ran No. 4 for the Rebels, finishing in 43rd, along with much-improved No. 5 Jacob Escherich who ran a personal record in finishing 48th in the field of approximately 100 runners.

The boys’ junior varsity team looked strong, with four of their top five runners running personal records. In fact, 12 of the 15 Rebels who competed in the junior varsity race had their best performances ever.

Shelby Little led the girls’ JV squad finishing in the 35th position.

The Rebels travel to Montgomery for the Red Bird Invitational today at 4:15.