MADELIA &045; The Gopher/Valley Conference for cross country is new this fall, but one thing is already abundantly clear.

It belongs to United South Central and United South Central/Alden-Conger.

The USC boys and the USC/AC girls both won championships in Tuesday’s conference meet at Madelia.

The boys dominated, winning with 28 points while placing five runners in the top 10. Madelia/Truman was second with 78.

Justin Youngblom led the Rebels and the field, winning the race in 17:01. Following for USC were Bob Schmitz, fifth, 17:32; Jake Stenzel, sixth, 17:47; Eric Youngblom, seventh, 17:50; Chris Vondracek, ninth, 18:01; Spencer Niebuhr, 15th, 18:29; Mike Soma, 22nd, 19:19. All earned all-conference honors except Soma, who received honorable mention.

&uot;I thought the boys all ran very well,&uot; said USC coach Kent Viesselman. &uot;Bob (Schmitz) is coming off a minor knee injury, and hasn’t really been able to do much for over a week. When he gets going again, he’ll be much stronger.&uot;

The USC/AC girls won with 33 points, with Martin County West second at 46.

The Rebels’ places and times: Sara Bias, third, 15:41; Jamie Klein, fourth, 15:56; Becca Bryson, fifth, 16:09; Kallie Rollenhagen, eighth, 16:19; Lindsey Rauenhorst, 13th, 16:52; Amelia Treptow, 18th, 17:13; Michelle Sonnek, 24th, 17:27. The Rebels’ top four finishers were all-conference.

&uot;The girls competed very well today,&uot; said Viesselman. &uot;Sara’s been tough all season, and the other six are running and competing at their highest level of the season. That was evident in the team scores. A month ago, we edged Madelia/Truman by two points in a comparable meet. Today, without Megan (Jensen), we got them by 37. Lindsey, Amelia and Michelle really took up the slack. That’s what a team is all about.&uot;

Jensen, who had been running No. 3 for the Rebels, was held out of the race with a slight hip injury and is expected back within a week.

The Rebels’ next action is the Section 2A meet Thursday, Oct. 24 at Montgomery Golf Club. The girls’ race is set for 4 p.m., with the boys to follow. The top two teams in each division advance to state. The USC boys are seeking their 10th consecutive trip to state and ninth straight section title, while the girls look to return for the fifth time in seven years.