MARION, VA -- One of the top performances so far this cross country season was put forth by Marion senior Fleet Hower as he blistered a 14:48 3 mile on his home course at the Gathering of the Harriers cross country invitational. He also shattered the course record en route to the win as he was far ahead of second place Justin Hatch of Christiansburg who finished with a time of 15:57. In his first three races so far this season, Hower has broken the meet record in each (Run For The Hills Invitational, Radford Fall Classic, and Gathering of the Harriers). Showing how incrediblu deep the state of Virginia is in distance running this fall, Hower is ranked currently 7th in the state, even as a 14:48 3 miler. Hower will be looking to snag another meet record next weekend at the Blue Demon Invitational held at Christiansburg High School

The Christiansburg boys, led by strong races by sophomore Hatch and senior Troy Meyer (3rd, 16:10) were able to beat out Hower's squad, Marion for the boys team title in the red division race with 50 points. Marion finished second with 60 points as Hower also got support from senior teammate Jeff Freeman who finished in 7th place with a time of 16:20.

In the blue division race, the Galax boys were the top Virginia team as they placed 4th with 104 points. Andy Haines, a junior from Galax, was the team's top finisher as he ran a time of 16:45 for 9th place.

Natalie Creech of Lee is starting to gain some notice as she continues to hammer down excellent times early this cross country season. At the Gathering of the Harriers, it was no different for Creech as she won the red division race by a large margin with her time of 19:03. Expect to see her to make a climb in next week's Group AA girls rankings after this weekend's race. Taking second in the race was Marion's Dena Spickard with an excellent time of 19:28.7.

The girls team race in the red division was very exciting as the Christiansburg girls (37 pts) were just able to hold off the Blacksburg girls (40 pts). Blacksburg's Amanda Reinholtz tried all she could to help her squad as she took 3rd with a time of 19:30, but Christiansburg had superior depth over their familiar rivals from Blacksburg.