Close races were the rule on Friday when the Tah-Neva League Cross Country Championships were held at Centennial Park.
Carson Middle School ran off with three of the four team championships, but each of the three divisions came right down to the wire, including one tie-breaker.
And in yet another hotly contested affair, Carson's Adam Houghton got back up from a fall inside the final 1,000 yards and went on to win an 8th grade boys race in which the top four finishers all broke the course record. Houghton won in a time of 14 minutes, 51 seconds over 2.25 miles to finish ahead of South Tahoe's Ty Dayberry (14:55), Carson Valley's David Sturgess (15:01) and Sierra Mountain's Matt Gelso (15:02).
Houghton's effort also helped the Carson Solons win the 8th grade boys team title by a 40-44 margin over Carson Valley.
Annie Brinson won the 8th grade girls race for Carson in 16:36, a course record time for her division. Carson won the team title over South Tahoe on a tie-breaker based on the finish of No. 6 runner, Sandra McAlman.
One point was the difference as Carson won the 7th grade boys team title 47-48 over South Tahoe. Ian Rice of South Tahoe won the race in a course 7th grade record time of 11:22 over 1.78 miles. Carson's Chad Shroy finished second in 11:30.
The meet was hosted by the Sagebrush Stompers running club. See complete results in Monday's Skinny.