Nothing could slow Brandon Willie and the Badgers down. Not even a "killer" hill.

Willie scorched the course surrounding Lion's Park, including the steep incline awaiting runners just prior to the finish line, winning the individual gold medal and leading the Lampasas varsity boys' cross country team to first place overall at the Temple Invitational on Saturday.

Jonathan Lohmann also medaled at the meet with an eighth-place finish while Michael Fisher (14th), Justin Rivas (23rd) and Kevin Perkins (28th) all earned points for the Badgers whose final total was 74.

"The win was unexpected," coach Trent Lancaster said. "[Lone senior] David Bloomfield was in a band competition and we had a brutal workout yesterday.

"They really competed well." Nick Samaros finished 46th in the field consisting of runners from Hays, Midway, Temple, Waco, Shoemaker and Lake Travis.

Led by Tiffany Fagg (12th), the Lady Badgers put together an impressive performance as well, finishing fourth as a team behind Hays, Temple and Lake Travis.

Vanessa Perkins finished 14th, and Jontell Ritz immediately followed at 15. Jenna Ball (34th), Cricket Hamilton (38th) and Susie Goodpaster (42nd) rounded out the girls' squad.

Junior varsity teams did not compete at the meet, but middle schools did; lots of them.

"The middle school divisions were massive," Lancaster said.

Seventh-grader Kassidy Mason won a medal with a seventh-place finish despite competing against a large contingency of eighth-grade runners.

Jeweliane Bienbenu (18th) and Danesha Toro (24th) outran a majority of the 148 junior high girls, while Riley Tedford finished 49th on the boys' side.