Peoria, IL — Running on the famed Detweiller Park State Championship course, Carterville cross-country had another stellar day with multiple PR's en route to defeating multiple Southern Sectional rivals at the Peoria Invitational on Saturday. The girl's got out fast, positioning themselves extremely well in the opening mile, then proceeded to move up throughout the race. When the mud and dirt settled, the lady lions took home 7th place out of 31 teams, with personal bests by Lane Sambursky and Landry Crain, and season-best times from Lyla Seaman and Claire Samples. Despite missing scoring runner Alissa Ruiz, the team performance was stellar enough to defeat Southern Sectional rivals Rochester, Highland, Freeburg, Mt. Vernon, Springfield, Taylorville, Urbana, Bethalto, and Marion, as well as conference rival Murphysboro, and place themselves firmly in the top 5 among all sectional teams. The boy's race featured even more personal bests, with Alex DeRuntz, Ethan Swartz, Jack Robertson, Mason Webb, and Nicolas Hyson all setting lifetime marks for the three-mile distance. Additionally, Alex DeRuntz placed among the top 5 underclassmen, with Ethan Swartz top 5 among freshman, and Nicolas Hyson finishing as a top 15 freshman. In the team standings, the lions took 14th place out of 41 teams, defeating conference rival Murphysboro, as well as sectional competitors Taylorville, Highland, Bethalto, Rochester, Urbana, Freeburg, Chatham, Mattoon, and Centralia, while solidly entering the group of teams in contention for a state berth in November. Full results can be found at: https://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/272661/info Both boy's and girl's performances should result in a climb up the sectional rankings, with further opportunities to come next Saturday at the Benton Invitational. Congrats to all runners and Go Lions!