Jamie Glenn/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton’s Branden Peterson crosses the finish line at the WestPAC meet Tuesday at Chassell Trails. Peterson and the Gremlins boys took second in the meet.

CHASSELL — The WestPAC Conference cross country meet took place at the Chassell Trails with Ishpeming earning the top spot for the boys with 26 points and Houghton taking first place for the girls with 29 points on Tuesday.

Sophomore Branden Peterson took home fourth place for the Houghton Gremlins boys team with a time of 18:28.8 helping put the Gremlins in second place with 33 points. Cold conditions played a factor in Peterson’s race.

“It was a little bit of a slow start, (so) it took me a little bit to warm up because it was really cold,” he said. “The trails were a little wet, (making it) a little bit hard to keep (my) footing, but I eventually made it up throughout the race and came in fourth.”

With almost a full season under his belt, Peterson has been able to set new personal records throughout the season.

“It’s gone really good for me,” Peterson said. “I shaved two and a half minutes off of my times from last year, so I’ve definitely made a big improvement. We have one more race, U.P. Finals, and I hope that I can P.R. on that one.”

Ellie Sturos ran for the Hancock Bulldogs girls and finished with a time of 22:30.8. Hancock finished second overall with 35 points. Sturos and the Bulldogs will look to finish out a strong season with a first place finish at U.P.’s.

“I think I did okay,” she said. “It was nicer the last time we were here. It was really hot, (so) this felt much better. There were a couple of spots where it got really muddy. It also started hailing at one point and that kind of hurt a lot.

“This season our team did really well. That’s really what we’re shooting for, winning U.P’s. We’re all pushing each other throughout the season and that’s what we’re going to continue to do throughout U.P.s.”

U.P. Finals will be held on Oct. 20 at the Pictured Rocks Golf Course and hosted by Munising.

Results

Boys Team

1, ISH, 26; 2, HOU, 33; 3, NEG, 72.

Boys Overall

1, HOU, Wood, 17:53.3; 2, ISH, Broberg, 17:59.1; 3, ISH, Giroux, 18:05.6; 4, HOU, Peterson,18:28.8; 5, ISH, Longtine, 18:33.8.

Girls Team

1, HOU, 29; 2, HAN, 35; 3, ISH, 68; 4, WIC 113; 5, CAL, 118.

Girls Overall

1, NEG, Paupore, 20:18.8; 2, HOU, Needham, 21:24.3; 3, HOU, Velat, 21:34.1; 4, NEG, Prusi, 21:37.3; 5, HOU, Seagren, 21:47.8.

Boys

Ishpeming

1,Broberg, 17:59.1; 2, Giroux, 18:05.6; 3, Longtine, 18:33.8; 4,Broberg, 18:40.9; 5, King, 19:15.5.

Houghton

1, Wood, 17:53.3; 2, Peterson, 18:28.8; 3, Bulleit, 18:48.4; 4, Labyak, 19:14.7; 5, Sullivan, 19:26.9.

Negaunee

1, Anderson, 19:05.1; 2,Johnson,19:30.4; 3,Prusi, 19:58.4; 4, Ziegler, 20:06.4; 5, Bedard, 20:55.6.

Girls Team

Houghton

1,Needham, 21:24.3; 2, Velat, 21:34.1; 3, Seagren, 21:47.8; 4,Woodford, 22:57.5; 5,Isaacson, 23:53.2.

Hancock

1, Anderson, 22:08.9; 2, Sturos, 22:30.8; 3, Dennis, 22:50.1; 4, 22:52.3; 5, Chynoweth, 22:52.3.

Ishpeming

1, Racine, 22:19.0; 2, Longtine, 23:10.8; 3, Koski, 23:24.6; 4, Gardner, 23:51.5; 5, Willey, 26:58.9.

West Iron County

1, Bociek, 24:07.8; 2, Kolenda, 24:35.8; 3, Shamion, 26:05.8; 4, Bradshaw, 26:07.2; 5, Dennis, 28:43.2.

Calumet

1, Jacques, 24:17.2; 2, Poyhonen, 25:38.9; 3, Loukus, 26:08.9; 4, Bruchman, 26:10.6; 5, Eskola, 27:12.2.