Baldwin ? On a day made for running, the Free State High boys cross country team showed signs of a program on the rise at the Community America Invite on Saturday morning.

“We (had) really great runners out here,” senior M.J. Hassaballa said. “It was a quick course. Not too hilly, not too muddy; perfect, nice weather. It’s a perfect time to run.”

Hassaballa used the relatively flat surface to his advantage as he moved from the back half of a 52-man field after his first mile to finish ninth overall. Fellow runner Jeff Stebbins also followed Hassaballa up the standings in the final two miles, coming in 24th.

“We competed well, but I don’t think the results will show that as much,” said Free State coach Steve Heffernan, who has a few boys battling illness. “But yet we’re still a ways away from the meets that we are really working toward.”

Though the boys had a tough time finishing strong, Alysha Valencia and Kyra Kilwein never fell beyond third place in the girls race. Valencia, however, saw her lead at the mile marker turn into a 27-second deficit to Moran’s Stephanie King.

“It wasn’t my best race,” said Valencia, who finished in a time of 15 minutes, 27 seconds. “I never really felt like I actually got into the race. I started and I was working it, but I never fully got into my race pace … really pushing myself.”

Heffernan said he was pleased with the performance of the girls team.

“One of the things we’ve been asking (the girls) all season long is to take a few more risks early on in the race and get involved in it,” Heffernan said. “And overall, I think we saw a lot of that.”

Despite strong individual finishes by both the boys and girls teams, neither could do better than fifth overall in the team competition.

“Competition-wise – very, very stiff competition,” Heffernan said. “So you see that and the tradition that’s here and you always have to be pleased with how you do, even if it’s not as high up as you wanted to be.”

One of those stiff competitors was host Baldwin. The Bulldogs finished fourth in the boys race even though they didn’t have their top runner.

The Baldwin girls team finished third overall, led by junior Kelsey Verhaeghe, who finished fifth. The Bulldogs were tied at 71 points with Overland Park Aquinas, but Aquinas’ sixth runner finished better than Baldwin’s fifth runner, giving Aquinas second.