IRON MOUNTAIN — Kingsford freshman Maria Murvich earned her first cross country victory, coming in at 22:00.2 on Tuesday in the Kingsford Flivver Invitational.

“I work hard on the hills and use them to my advantage,” Murvich said. “I run on hills a lot in practice. I was also glad to see the sun go behind the clouds. This is a very big confidence builder. It’s very special to get my first win on my home course.”

North Central’s Wes Knauf continued his solid senior cross country season, placing fourth in the boys meet.

The senior harrier covered the hilly 3.1-mile course in 19:21.3 on a cloudy and warm afternoon at Iron Mountain City Park.

“I was probably a little more conservative today,” he said. “I was in third place and wanted to keep that. This wasn’t one of my fastest times, but it was 31 seconds faster than I had at Forest Park. I’ll take that.”

The Negaunee boys edged Stephenson 46-48 for the title. Third-place Menominee scored 57 points.

Negaunee’s girls also won with 29 points, followed by Kingsford 41 and West Iron County 57.

Stephenson junior Canon Kuntze recorded his first varsity victory at 18:55.5.

“It feels good to finally get one under my belt,” he said. “It’s usually pretty warm up there. I was glad to see the clouds move in. This is a very tough course. I think the start caught me a little off guard. It was kind of nice to not have to get around anybody. You just kind of kick it in and see what you can do.”

North Central senior Alex Pipkorn took 14th (22:23.8), just ahead of Carney-Nadeau senior Sam Salo (22:24.9).

Negaunee senior Marlee Plaxco earned runner-up honors (22:12.4) and Stephenson junior Faith Cappaert, who was the early leader, placed third (22:52).

“I was a little slower than usual,” Plaxco said. “There were a lot of big hills in the woods, but overall I’m happy with it.”

Junior Callie Flagstadt was North Central’s pacesetter in 10th (25:50.5) and sophomore teammate McKenzie Walters was 15th (27:10.5).

“The kids ran pretty good on this course, actually,” North Central coach Katie Depuydt said. “The time Wes ran was pretty good. Everybody pretty much ran their season-best times, better than at Crystal Falls.”

North Central, C-N, Stephenson and Norway resume in today’s Superior Central Invitational.

“That’s a PR-type course,” Knauf said. “I’m going to be training and preparing for that.”

Stephenson hosts its invitational on the Dale Fountain Memorial course in Banat Sept. 18.

Boys

Negaunee 46, Stephenson 48, Menominee 57, Kingsford 93, Powers North Central 106, Carney-Nadeau and Norway NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Canon Kuntze, Stephenson, 18:55.5; 2, Brayden Bourion, Menominee, 19:01; 3, Simon Juklin, Negaunee, 19:07.4; 4, Wes Knauf, Powers North Central 19:21.3; 5, Owen Kuehnau, Stephenson, 19:40..9; 6, Michael Slawinski, Negaunee, 19:42.2; 7, Reed DeGroot, Kingsford, 19:51.7; 8, Trevor Verba, Stephenson, 20:29.5; 9, Blake Bourion, Menominee, 21:00.9; 10, Henry Zuhels, Menominee, 21:36.8.

Girls

Negaunee 29, Kingsford 41, West Iron County 57. Stephenson, Powers North Central, Menominee, Norway NTS.

Top 10 — 1, Maria Murvich, Kingsford, 22:00.2; 2, Marlee Plaxco, Negaunee, 22:12.4; 3, Faith Cappaert, Stephenson, 22:52; 4, Nori Korsman, Negaunee, 23:04.8; 5, Winley Brandt, Menominee, 23:10.6; 6, Lauren Adams, Norway, 24:46; 7, Gabriella Putnam, Stephenson, 25:03.8; 8, Maija Roberts, Negaunee, 25:20.9; 9, Ingrid Holt, Kingsford, 25:28.5; 10, Callie Flagstad, Powers North Central, 25:50.5.