Top of the Hill

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Carrier Mills cross country team opened their season with a solid performance at the Murphysboro Invitational on Wednesday.

Finishing with a team total of 207 points, the Wildcats were led by a trio of tightly packed runners who came in under the 20-minute mark.

Garrett Hill led the way, finishing 25th in 19:37. Shortly behind him, and just a second apart from each other were Erik Wolf in 29th (19:53) and Anthony McReynolds in 30th (19:54).

Rounding out team scoring for Carrier Mills were two more runners, Brian Doty (61st, 24:00) and Steven Binkley (62nd, 24:03).

"I thought Garrett, Eric and Anthony all ran really well for a first meet," said Carrier Mills coach Mike Eisenhauer. "Brian and Steven did as well, but we just need to close that gap up a bit between our third and fourth guys."

Eisenhauer said a couple of runners were unable to compete, and as the team rounds in to shape and regains some depth, they should improve their performance.

"Overall, though," he said, "I was pleased with how we ran today."

Carrier Mills also had a competitor in the girls' side of the freshman/sophomore race, as Strawberry Hood finished 13th overall in that contest with a time of 27:13.