(Photo by Ryan Christoffel, Sports Staff) Spencer's Hailie Iles jumps out front and leads the race during the running of the Sheldon Invitational Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008. Iles went on to finish 11th in a time of 15:51.32.

In a meet that included eight state ranked teams, the Spencer girls placed seventh and the boys placed fifth Tuesday at the Sheldon Invitational where Spirit Lake Park again reigned supreme in both divisions.

Both Spencer squads ran at less than full strength as the lady Tigers competed without top runner Ashley Loerts for the second straight meet, and the boys ran without Carson Baethke and Cort Silliman, who were each out due to illness.

"This was a big meet with a number of quality teams. Right now we need to start looking at where we need to run as individuals for the betterment of the team," said Spencer boys head coach Jared Davis. "We are getting very close to the end of the season and the two big meets of the year in conference and districts. This is the time of year where we have to ... focus on peaking as a team."

The Spirit Lake Park boys claimed their fourth team title in five tries with the Indians' only loss coming to previously top-ranked Algona. The Indian girls made it five-in-a-row behind six top-20 performances, including three top 10s.

"We had a little better performance tonight," said Spencer girls head coach Kurt Bauermeister. "We still need to pack tighter and bring our four through seven runners up."

The boys division featured five ranked teams, including the 3A No. 10 Tigers who scored 141 points. Western Christian, ranked seventh in 2A, placed third; 2A No. 9 Unity Christian was fourth and 2A No. 8 Sioux Center was seventh. Spirit Lake Park is No. 1 in 2A. Three of Spirit Lake Park's top five runners placed in the top 10 -- all five scoring runners were in the top 20.

Taylor Chapman turned in Spencer's best performance, placing third with a time of 15-minutes, 34.47 seconds. Joe Binzer (24), Alex Toay (34) and Cody Steinkamp (39) all placed in the top 40, while Aaron Brockshus placed 41st to round out the team scoring.

"Taylor had a nice individual performance. He continues to get better and strong each meet," Davis commented. "Joe Binzer stepped up nicely. He was very competitive and ran his best race of the year so far."

Unity Christian battled Spirit Lake Park in a two-horse race on the girls side, falling by 16 points to the 2A No. 4 Indians, who won the meet with 46 points. The Knights, ranked 12th in 2A, were one of three ranked teams in the girls division. Estherville Lincoln Central/Armstrong-Ringstead, who placed fourth with 124 points, is No. 11 in 3A.

Galva-Holstein was third on the girls side with 115 points, Sheldon scored 163 for fifth place and Le Mars was sixth with 177 points.

Hailie Iles led the Tigers with an 11th-place finish in 15:51.32. Becky Schulke broke the 17-minute barrier for the first time in her career, placing 27th in 16:31.53. Cassi Wilson was 46th in 17:21.13, Nicole Kramer was 54th, and Katelyn McDermott was 58th in 17:46.60 after being knocked down by a competitor more than halfway through the race.

"Most of our girls had personal records tonight," Bauermeister added. "Becky Schulke looked strong tonight ... and Hailie Iles looked tough again. She went right to the front and completed for the top spot as long as she could. She's running with a lot of competitiveness right now. I like to see that in a runner -- that is something that is very hard to coach."

Both Tiger squads are off for nearly a week. Spencer will be back in action Monday at the Algona Invitational.

Sheldon Invitational

Boys Team Standings

1. Spirit Lake Park 47, 2. MOC-Floyd Valley 79, 3. Western Christian 114, 4. Unity Christian 122, 5. Spencer 141, 6. Le Mars 152, 7. Sioux Center 192, 8. Sheldon 214, 9. Storm Lake 229, 10. Galva-Holstein 241, 11. Cherokee 305, 12. Estherville Lincoln Central/Armstrong-Ringstead 364.

Individual Results

3. Taylor Chapman 15:34.47, 24. Joe Binzer 16:39.98, 34. Alex Toay 17:02.29, 39. Cody Steinkamp 17:07.42, 41. Aaron Brockshus 17:11.62, 48. Chance Sorenson 17:31.75, 52. Cory Altenhofen 17:41.51.

Girls Team Standings

1. Spirit Lake Park 46, 2. Unity Christian 62, 3. Galva-Holstein 115, 4. Estherville Lincoln Central/Armstrong-Ringstead 124, 5. Sheldon 163, 6. Le Mars 177, 7. Spencer 196, 8. Western Christian 248, 9. MOC-Floyd Valley 276, 10. Storm Lake 280, 11. Emmetsburg 282.

Individual Results

11. Hailie Iles 15:51.32, 27. Becky Schulke 16:31.53, 46. Cassi Wilson 17:21.13, 54. Nicole Kramer 17:36.36, 58. Katelyn McDermott 17:46.60, 62. Jordan Staples 17:58.16, 70. Leah Rekow 18:13.28.