MUNISING — The Ishpeming boys made a statement in their cross country opener Tuesday, running away with the Larissa Varti Memorial Invitational hosted by Munising High School.

Ishpeming, placing six runners in the top 10, won this meet for the third straight time with 29 points. The Hematites were followed far in the distance by Marinette, Wisconsin, with 102 and Escanaba with 110.

Munising came in fourth with 118, while Manistique was 10th with 244, Gwinn 11th with 283 and Westwood 12th with 287.

The Ishpeming girls also won a much closer meet with 71 points as runner-up Menominee had 80. Munising squeezed past Esky, 88 to 89, for third. Defending champion Marinette was fifth with 106.

Westwood finished ninth with 207 as the only other area school with a team score.

Ishpeming junior Spencer Giroux was the boys’ pacesetter, covering the hilly 3.35-mile course in 18 minutes, 1 second on the Valley Spur Cross Country Ski Trails. He was followed by Esky senior Justin Sanpaka (18:18) and Marinette’s Carson Polomis (18:20) on a sunny and cool day.

“I’m used to having someone to pace off of,” Giroux said. “Today, I tried to get into a rhythm. The first lap was the hardest, although it’s easier to know what’s happening on a course with three loops. You know what you have to do after the first lap.

“I honestly thought it was supposed to be raining today. The weather was as good as we could hope for.”

The Hematites dominated because of the rest of their team breaking into the top 10.

Jonah Broberg was fourth in 18:32, Kyle Pruett seventh in 19:21, Devin Tasson eighth in 19:26, Coulton Prillwitz ninth in 19:34 and Silas Broberg 10th in 19:37.

Coach P.J. Pruett was happy with Ishpeming’s performance.

“I thought our guys ran well,” he said. “We’re happy about winning over here for the third year in a row. The boys are strong. We have a young team but a fast team.”

Sanpaka surged ahead of Polomis in the third lap, then hung on in the end.

“He kind of motivated me,” Sanpaka said about Polomis. “He told me ‘Let’s push each other.’ I pulled away a little in the last loop and stayed ahead of him, although I heard he got close near the end. It really motivates me to know where I’m at. This helps me mentally, too.”

Munising junior Madeleine Peramaki won the girls race in 21:03, just one second ahead of senior teammate Alyssa Webber. Marinette’s Kim Carviou placed third (21:19) and Esky freshman Nicole Kamin was fourth (21:48).

“Alyssa and I are really going to help each other this year,” Peramaki said. “It’s nice to have somebody to run with, especially in practice. We can pace off each other.

“When I was younger, I used to get uptight for the meets. Now, I have more experience and I’m more relaxed. The weather was perfect. It wasn’t too hot or too cold.”

Webber was pleased with being runner-up on her 17th birthday.

“It was pretty good,” she said. “I ran a little better than I did at Central Lake (Saturday) and much better than I expected. I like running with Madeleine. We run with each other every day. It’s nice to have somebody to work with.”

Kamin found her first high school race to be a little more challenging than the junior high meets.

“It’s a little tougher with the extra mile,” she said. “We ran two miles in junior high, so this was bit of an adjustment.”

The Ishpeming girls had to overcome some adversity as their No. 2 runner, Kayla Koski, went down with an ankle injury during the race.

“The other girls pulled it together and stepped up,” Pruett said. “We were also missing a couple girls and showed some depth. This was a good win for us.”

The Hematites’ Katie Loman finished seventh in 23:20, while Westwood’s Tessa Leece was eighth in 24:03.