If the first cross country race of the season can be seen as an indicator, things could not look much brighter for the hopes of the Grayson County harriers this season.

With the Clemons brothers leading the way, the Cougar boys team finished third out of the 19 teams entered in the Madisonville-North Hopkins Invitational on Saturday. A young and improving girls squad finished ninth of 14 teams, led by freshman Kylee Gorby’s sixth-place finish.

Freshman Brady Clemons just missed a top-10 finish, coming in 11th of the 176 runners on hand in a time of 17:47.94 in the 5K race. Big brother Bryant, a junior, finished 18th overall with a time of 18:23.11.

Freshman Carter Cannon, who along with Brady Clemons and Zach Berry was an All-State runner as an eighth-grader, was the third Cougar across the line. Cannon finished 31st overall with a time of 18:54.33.

Senior Andrew Wright looked strong for the Cougars, finishing 36th overall in 19:00.38. Sophomore Clay Cannon was the final point-getter for the Cougars, finishing 48th with a time of 19:24.06.

Apollo finished first with 53 points, followed by Owensboro Catholic with 64 points. Grayson County was next with 66 points.

The outcome might have been even better for the Cougars were it not for a couple of factors. Berry, a freshman this year, has been battling illness for several months and is far from his top form. Sophomore Jaime Saltsman, the sixth Cougar across the line, became sick during the race and had to stop running for a time while he lightened his load. Saltsman finished 63rd with a time of 19:49.79, while Berry was 88th in 20:45.45.

As expected, Gorby finished ahead of all the young Lady Cougar runners with a time of 21:51.07, but some of the finishes of the other runners had to be pleasant surprises for the coaching staff.

Freshman Jordan Decker, who has yet to round into top running form, struggled in the early parts of the race, but had a really strong finish to come in as the second Grayson County runner across the finish line. She finished 58th overall in a time of 25:31.12.

Junior Hannah McKenna was one of the biggest surprises for the Lady Cougars. She knocked two to three minutes off her times from last season in finishing 60th with a time of 25:32.41.

Freshman Brittany Masden, who struggled at times last season as an eighth-grader, again showed the promise she displayed as a seventh-grader, earning points with a 72nd-place finish in 26:38.01.

The final points-earner for the Lady Cougars was Jamilyn Hall, another runner whose performance in the first meet of the year was something of an eye-opener. She finished 79th overall with a time of 26:56.66.

Two runners who finished out of the points, but put in terrific performances, were freshmen Savannah Carver and Claire Crawford. Carver was 81st with a time of 27:05.67, while Crawford was 88th in 27.45.82. Both runners had strong finishes and can expect their times to come down as the season rolls on.

Freshman Katelyn Dallas finished 103rd overall with a time of 29:51.42, and junior Natalie Cubbage was 123rd in 40:24.70.

Muhlenberg South was first in the team standings with 69 points, followed by Apollo with 71, and Fort Campbell with 103. The Lady Cougars finished at 224.

At the middle school level, both the boys and girls teams had fifth-place finishes, and both teams put their runners in close groups at the end, a sure-fire way to get good team scores as times improve over the year.

Nathan Bratcher was the top finisher for the Cougars, finishing 28th of the 115 runners in the boys’ race. Sydni Chaffins was the top Lady Cougar runner, finishing 35th of 82 runners. Bratcher’s time for the 3K race was 11:33.52, while Chaffins ran 13:42.48.

Sheldon Jones was 31st in a time of 11:40.93, Corbin Harris finished 42nd in 12:00.81, Spencer Byrd was 43rd in 12:03.40, and Jacob Hart was the final point-getter in 73rd with a time of 12:58.56.

Other runners for the Cougars included Alex Burden, 101st in 14:53.84, Kevin Pierce, 107th in 15:28.21, and Zach Warren, 109th in 16:25.29.

Katie Beeler was right behind Chaffins for the Lady Cougars, finishing 36th in 13:47.76. Christina Cubbage finished 40th in 14:05.39, Kaitlyn Henning was 41st in 14:08.62, and Haley Brooks was 42nd in 14:16.68. Sarah Pierce finished out of the points, but had a fine 46th-place finish in 14:27.64.

Other Cougar varsity runners included sophomore Tyler Deacon, 72nd in 20:05.67, sophomore Tylor Upton, 80th in 20:26.70, sophomore Brooks Gorby, 83rd in 20:31.53, Robert Curtis, 115th in 21:21.24, junior Kalib Lindsey, 120th in 21:28.27, and Spencer Jones, 123rd in 21:52.94.