The South Knox Middle School girls’ cross country team delivered a championship performance on its home course Saturday, winning the South Knox Invitational against a field of 22 scoring teams. The Lady Spartans scored 77 points to edge Princeton with 80 and Castle with 83. Barr-Reeve finished fourth with 122. Macyn Perry led South Knox with a fifth-place finish in 12:10.02, followed by Haven Evans in seventh at 12:25.46. Lee Emma Dellinger ran a tremendous race to finish 16th in 12:45.55. Lydia Emmert placed 23rd in 12:57.58, and Jacie Shepard completed the scoring five in 26th at 13:02.35. The South Knox scoring five finished just 52.33 seconds apart, a strong team effort that proved critical in a championship decided by only three points. Molly Carnahan placed 30th in 13:17.09, and Audra Like finished 46th in 13:50.64 to serve as the team’s displacers. Cross country is not divided into classes in Indiana, putting schools of every size on the same starting line. South Knox, a 2A school, defeated Castle, a 5A football school with nearly 2,000 high school students, along with 3A Princeton. It was a David and Goliath victory for the Lady Spartans. The strength of the entire team was also on display. All 24 South Knox runners crossed the finish line by 19:30. After finishing runner-up to Barr-Reeve on Tuesday, the Lady Spartans responded with toughness, confidence and purpose. Every place mattered. The victory improves South Knox’s season record to 76–11. The Lady Spartans race next Saturday at the Shakamak Invitational.