Central girls capture team title

The host Central girls cross country team entered the Central Invitational having won the girls varsity team competition four years straight.

Make it five years.

Central runners Veronica Schabbing, Mary Dohogne and Brittany Moreland were the first three girls to cross the finish line Saturday as they overcame a muddy home course — something Moreland said her team enjoyed — to help the Tigers to the top team finish in the girls varsity event with 15 points.

"It's definitely nice, especially since it's me and [Schabbing[']s] senior year, and the fact that we won our last home meet," Moreland said. "We as a team love running in the mud. We really like the extreme conditions. It's just a lot of fun."

Carbondale finished in second place (64). Dexter followed in third (71).

Schabbing finished in 20 minutes, 5 seconds. Dohogne finished in 20:44. Moreland completed the course in 20:53.

"I'm so proud of [Schabbing]," Moreland said. "She's been working so hard for so long. ... Gosh, I'm really proud of her."

The last time the Central girls failed to win their own meet was 2003. They took second that year.

— Christopher Smith