Princeton junior Payton Frueh described the Tigresses’ home course at Zearing Park as not a very fun course to run.

“It’s just a really boring course,” Frueh said. “You run the same thing over and over again.”

While the course may be boring, the end result was fun for Frueh and the Tigresses as they won their own Gary Coates Invitational on Saturday.

With three runners in the top 10, Princeton tallied 36 points to take the title ahead of Mercer County (56), La Salle-Peru (64), Orion (92) and Amboy co-op (97).

“The team did really well,” Frueh said. “Everyone got really good times. A few girls got a PR (personal record) today, which is really good for the start of the season.”

Frueh led the way for the Tigresses as she placed fourth in 20:56.08. Teammate Ruby Acker was just behind her in sixth in 21:13.87.

“I did pretty good for my second race of the season,” Frueh said. “My goal was to get in the 20s, and luckily I got that.

“I really pushed myself on the first mile and then I just had to keep telling myself that I got this and to keep going.”

Also for Princeton, Alexandra Waca finished eighth in 21:32.87, Natalie Meyer was 18th in 23:28.85 and Avery Waca was 24th in 23:51.51.

Lowpoint-Washburn’s Ellison Heineke won the individual crown in 19:39.87.

Freshman Lumen Setchell led Mendota as she placed sixth in 21:18.35.

“It felt really good,” Setchell said. “I feel like the (new) spikes helped a lot.

Setchell cut 31.6 seconds off her previous PR in a 3-mile race, which came Aug. 28 in the Genoa-Kingston Season Kickoff.

“I was very happy,” Setchell said about the PR. “The flat course and the competition (helped me to the PR). When everyone’s around you, in front of you and behind you, you don’t want them to pass you and you want to do better.”

La Salle-Peru senior Kiely Domyancich placed 10th in 22:16.65, while freshman teammate Ryan Owczarek was 13th in 22:33.28.

Fieldcrest senior Macy Gochanour finished 16th in 23:19.77, while Amboy co-op freshman Scarlett Payne was 17th in 23:25.86.

In the boys race, Amboy co-op junior Henry Nichols ran to victory in 16:44.25, beating Lowpoint-Washburn’s Caleb Scheirer by two seconds.

Dixon won the team title with 39 points, followed by Mercer County (78), Amboy (95), Lowpoint-Washburn (106), L-P (112), Mendota (118) and Morris (129).

Junior Gianni Verucchi led the Cavaliers as he placed fourth in 17:12.92.

“I started near the top of the pack and stayed top of the pack the whole race,” Verucchi said. “I wish I could have gotten higher, but it is what it is. There’s always more races.

“I wasn’t feeling that great today, so I just tried to do my best.”

Last year, Verucchi placed 17th in 18:59.4 in the Gary Coates Invitational.

“I put more mileage in and tried harder,” Verucchi said about his improvement from last year. “That’s the key to success.”

Senior Augustus Swanson led the host Tigers as he placed ninth in 17:47.1.

“I feel like I did pretty well overall,” Swanson said. “There were a couple times that got tough, but I finished strong. … At the 400 (meter mark), I started to pick it up and focus on my breathing and keeping my chest up. The last 100 meters, I opened up my arms and pushed through.”

Swanson’s time was 28.9 seconds faster than his 3-mile time on Sept. 9 in a home dual.

“In practice, we’ve been working on our conditioning and doing striders where you open up your stride,” Swanson said. “I think that helps my time get faster.”

Other area top 20 finishers were L-P’s Griffin Hammers (11th, 18:01.84), Mendota’s Carlos Toribio (13th, 18:06.27) and Mendota’s Berat Imeri (20th, 18:47.83).

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 33

Lumen Setchell runs during the Gary Coates Invitational cross country meet on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025 at Zearing Park in Princeton . (Scott Anderson)