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Craig — Although he is a senior, Jesse "Gus" Allen had yet to visit Loudy-Simpson Park as a member of the Steamboat Springs High School cross-country team.

And after a fifth-place individual finish at the Moffat County Invitational on Saturday, Allen said he has a new appreciation for the three-mile course.

"I loved it," he said. "It was flat, it wasn't all fields, and we went through the woods. So many of the other courses are fields and you just do a loop, so it's boring."

Regardless of the terrain, Allen breezed through, completing the course in 17 minutes and 57 seconds.

Steamboat Springs was able to claim a fourth-place team finish on the day for the boys.

Moffat County High School dominated the boys and girls side.

The girls finished first with a perfect score of 15, as Maddy Jourgensen, Eryn Leonard, Nike Cleverly, Bailey Hellander and Sassy Murray finished in the top-five spots.

Moffat County's girls squad is young this year but very potent.

Jourgensen, a junior, finished in just 19 minutes and 48 seconds.

"(Coach Todd) Trapp told us to stay in a pack in the first mile," she said. "After that, I started to pick it up.

The boys almost were as dominant, with Chris Zirkle, Alfredo Lebron and Alex McCoy taking the top three spots.

Zirkle was able to complete the course in a blistering 16 minutes and 54 seconds.

"Everyone had a good day today," Zirkle said. "I think the home crowd helped for sure. It's nice to have everyone you know cheering you on."

Steamboat Springs High School coach Greg Long said his team, though not full for the Saturday meet, still was impressive.

"We weren't looking at the score," he said. "We wanted to break up the top four of Moffat County, and (Allen) was able to do that."

Long said the boys team is relatively inexperienced, so having three runners complete the course in less than 19 minutes is a step forward.

"Scott (Powers) ran well today, and our top three ran well," he said. "I'm excited with what we were able to do today."

Steamboat's Powers and Asher Rohde were able to stretch their legs in Craig, with Rohde finishing eighth with a time of 18:20 and Powers taking 11th with a time of 18:56.