PHOTO BY GABE WOLF The varsity Badgers huddle up for pre-race chant prior to the team's home meet on Friday morning. Paced by three top-20 finishers, the Badger varsity boys' cross country team earned third place at the Lampasas Battlin' Badgers Invitational on Friday morning.

Junior Brandon Willie completed the 5K course in 16:31, placing fifth overall, while David Bloomfield (17:18) and Jonathan Lohmann (17:31) took 17th and 20th place, respectively.

Michael Fisher, Justin Rivas and Arturo Diaz all finished within 1:05 of each other to round out the scoring for the team.

Lampasas totaled 121 points, trailing only district foe Killeen (74 points) and Fredricksburg (84 points) at the meet. Other District 25-4A participants included Marble Falls (fourth), Lake Travis (sixth) and Hutto (10th).

The Lady Badgers' varsity team had similar success with two harriers placing in the top 14 and another finishing 24th.

Vanessa Perkins led the squad with a time of 13:06 (12th). Tiffany Fagg (13:08) followed closely behind, finishing 14th overall. Jontell Ritz earned a toptake 25 finish, as she completed the twomile run in 13:26, helping her team to a ninth-place finish with 197 points.

Patricia Roberts (14:46), Cricket Hamilton (15:26) and Jenna Ball (15:36) completed the scoring for Lampasas.

Liberty Hill won the girls' meet, paced by four top-11 finishers.

Led by Taylor Brooks' time of 14:07, the Lampasas junior varsity girls placed fourth as a team on the home course.

Ashley Lowery (14:15), Kayla Lowery (14:40) and Chelsea Smith (14:55) all broke the 15-minute barrier, while Makayla Donaldson- Valles and Kallen Vann rounded out the scoring to give the Lady Badgers a total time of 1:12:59.

The junior varsity boys finished ninth overall behind freshman Kevin Perkins' 24th-place finish. Perkins completed the course in 20:04, followed by brothers Ryan Delacruz (20:47) and Rico Delacruz (20:52).

Joseph O'Rourke and Nick Samaros also posted points for the Badgers, bringing the team's average time to 20:50.