The cross-country season is off and running.

Literally.

The boys’ and girls’ cross country teams for NRHEG were in action at the Early Bird Invite in Fairmont Friday afternoon.

The Panthers got two top five performances on the boys’ side — Josh Fleming (second) and Ben Lewer (fifth) — but it wasn’t enough to propel them to a win.

The Panthers finished in eighth place with 54 points, while Fairmont won its invite with 13 points.

Fleming came in with a time of 15:27 and Lewer finished in with a time of 15:47.

Other finishers for the Panthers were: Jagger Beck (13th; 17:44), Braden Routh (16th; 18:03), Kollin Reese (18th; 18:22), and Orin Mely (21st; 21:31).

“(Josh) ran a really good race and finished with the runner-up medal,” Panthers coach Mike Weber said. “(Ben) also came out of the gates strong. I was impressed with (Jagger) in his initial race as a cross-country runner. He definitely showed some potential to lower his times as he gets more comfortable.”

On the girls’ side, freshman Jade Mely led the charge for the Panthers. She finished in sixth place with a time of 20:23. Fellow freshmen Mia Williams and Destiny Medrano took ninth and 18th with times of 21:19 and 25:20, respectively.

Stewartville won the meet with a total of nine points.

The Panthers only had three runners, so they didn’t qualify for a team score. However, Weber was extremely impressed with the results of his three young runners.

“Last year at this time, these three were running for the junior high team,” said Weber. “They have definitely come a long way since that time. I am very happy with the results. I’m sure they are, too.”