(Photo by Jeff Hasselmann) Spencer senior Taylor Chapman works his way around the cross country trail at Brooks Golf Course in Okoboji Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008, during the Tigers' season opening meet. Chapman placed sixth individually, helping Spencer to a fourth-place finish. [Order this photo]

Spirit Lake Park did Tuesday what many believe the Indians will do throughout the cross country season -- they simply dominated.

The second-ranked team in Class 2A, a program that has finished in the top 10 three years running, including a seventh-place finish in Class 3A in 2007, blitzed the field in the area's season-opening cross country meet, taking first place by 30 points with a final tally of 37.

Spencer, who placed ninth in last year's 3A state meet and who opened the season with the same ranking, finished fourth Tuesday, putting one runner in the top 10 and three in the top 20.

Like Spirit Lake Park, Spencer returns four varsity regulars, but looks to replace two consistent top 10 place-winners from '07.

"It was nice to get this first meet in; the competition was tremendous," said Spencer head coach Jared Davis. "

MOC-Floyd Valley finished runner-up to the Indians with 67 team points, Western Christian was third with 89 and the defending Lakes Conference champion Tigers scored 91. Sheldon rounded out the top five with 147 points.

"Spirit Lake Park, MOC-Floyd Valley and Western Christian all ran very well. This type of competition each meet will only help us improve as the season goes on," Davis said.

Coming off a 14th place performance at state as a junior, Taylor Chapman led Spencer Tuesday, turning in a sixth-place finish in a time of 16-minutes, 53.98 seconds.

"Taylor ran well for his first competition -- he has not been able to put in the miles he is accustomed to in the offseason due to injuries, but for his first time out, I thought it was a nice performance," Davis commented.

Alex Toay, Carson Baethke, Aaron Brockshus and Tyler Hodgins all added top 25 performances. Toay was 19th in 17:51.97, Baethke was less than one second behind in 20th place. Brockshus finished 22nd in 17:59.31, Hodgins was 24th in 18:00.40.

Joe Binzer and Cort Silliman rounded out the varsity lineup, placing 31st and 38th, respectively.

Cory Altenhofen turned in the Tigers' top junior varsity finish, finishing as the meet runner-up with a time of 18:29.52.

"Cory ran a great race. He took 15 second off of his time on this course compared to last year," Davis added. "He will have the opportunity to compete in the varsity competition at our next meet."

Spencer will be back on the course Tuesday at the Estherville Lincoln Central Invitational.

Spirit Lake Invitational

Team Standings

1. Spirit Lake Park 37, 2. MOC-Floyd Valley 67, 3. Western Christian 89, 4. Spencer 91, 5. Sheldon 147, 6. Laurens-Marathon 153, 7. Storm Lake 173, 8. Cherokee 210, 9. Emmetsburg 258.

Individual Results

6. Taylor Chapman 16:53.98, 19. Alex Toay 17:51.97, 20. Carson Baethke 17:52.92, 22. Aaron Brockshus 17:59.31, 24. Tyler Hodgins 18:00.40, 31. Joe Binzer 18:38.44, 38. Cort Silliman 19:13.41.

Junior Varsity

Team Standings

1. MOC-Floyd Valley 32, 2. Spencer 46, 3. Western Christian 63, 4. Spirit Lake Park 150, 5. Storm Lake 210, 6. Sheldon 249.

Individual Results

2. Cory Altenhofen 18:29.52, 5. Cody Steinkamp 18:41.74, 9. Clayton McGuire 19:08.97, 14. Andrew Zinn 19:35.36, 16. Peter Walvatne 19:44.02, 18. Dana Morris 19:50.76, 19. D.J. Todd 20:02.44, 22. Chance Sorenson 20:16.79, 25. Tyler Greenough 20:22.27, 28. Trevor Black 20:43.07, 30. Tyler Schaefer 20:50.96, 31. Alvaro Castro 20:52.03, 35. Bryce Dillard 21:12.57, 36. Carter Gerdeman 21:12.57, 37. Scott Pruitt 21:19.62, 38. Aaron Riessen 21:20.36, 43. Mitch Wiemers 21:32.36, 44. Kevin Pruitt 21:40.60, 45. Murray Scott 21:41.64, 53. Casey Vanderberg 22:14.13, 55. Jesse Kuehler 22:15.77.