LAKELAND — Sandpoint Middle Schoo’s varsity girls finished first and the varsity boys placed third at the annual Lakeland Middle School Invite last Thursday.

Coach Jacob Peterson also recognized the girls JV team, which won in their division as well. Peterson praised Bailey Majors for winning the JV race by 20 seconds after running to the front and steadily building her lead on the 1.5-mile course.

Majors’ time would have placed ninth in the varsity race, and earned the SMS runner the fifth spot on the girls varsity team. In cross country, only the first five runners score points for their team. The team with the lowest points, which are scored by the fastest finishers, wins.

The Bullpups’ Izzy Waters battled it out against Post Falls’ Riley Braze, eventually coming in second. Ruthie Laughridge came in fifth, Elizabeth Storms in sixth, Willow Betz was eighth and Delaney Barron was fourteenth.

For boys varsity, Knox Williams came in fourth and Miro Para-Coffin in fifth. Jeru Gidley came in tenth, Benson Brown was eighteenth, and Wyatt Mitchell in 24th to round out the Bullpups’ scorers for the boys.

Peterson said the teams all improved, with many runners continuing to move up the ranks each race. This meet was no exception, with several runners further down the roster running their fastest race yet.

The Bullpups’ next meet will be in Post Falls at the Quemlin Middle School Invite. The first race will start at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5.