GUNNISON, Colo., Sept. 18, 7:08 a.m. – The Ouray/Ridgway high school boys’ and girls’ cross country teams each finished a respective ninth-place at the Gunnison Invitational on Saturday at Western State College, and now are geared to host the Ramble at the Reservoir on Friday at Ridgway State Park.

Coach Bernie Pearce said attendees should utilize the Dutch Charlie entrance and parking will cost each vehicle $6 “regardless of size and purpose.”

The middle school race will start at 4 p.m., with the high school girls’ race slated at 4:30 p.m., followed by the boys’ race at 5:15 p.m.

“The Ouray and Ridgway runners are pumped up to host this Friday’s home course at Ridgway State Park,” Pearce said. “After flagging and marking the trails, they can have some lunch, chill-out at the campsite and wait for the other schools to arrive, instead of having to travel on the bus for a couple of hours and then force their legs to be ready to ramble.”

Pearce added that awards will be given out at the end, followed by a sweep of the course, “then back to Ouray…some sleep, then early departure for Hotchkiss [Invitational] at 5:30 a.m. Saturday to test the residual training effect.”

Volunteers who wish to help at the Ramble should contact Pearce at 318-8585, or coach Claudia Rebne at 318-8946.

At the Gunnison Invitational, seven of the boys’ and girls’ combined top eight finishers improved on their times from the same event a season ago.

“Coach Rebne and I were impressed by the number of our runners who improved their 2006 placing or time or both,” Pearce said.

The girls’ team earned 204 points to finish ninth among 11 teams. Michal Fagrelius paced the Trojans pack with a 14th-place finish among 103 runners, in 22 minutes, 46.7 seconds. She was followed by Katie Craig (25:09.1, 38th), Brittney Manzagol (27:02.3, 64th) and Betsy Stovicek (29:40.4, 88th).

The boys’ team amassed 201 points to also finish ninth in a 14-team field. Kyle Schoenebaum led the Trojans as he finished 12th in 19:11.3, followed by Jake Link (20:38.8, 41st), Scott Fedel (21:50.3, 72nd) and Tommy Stovicek (22:04.3, 76th).

The remainder of Ouray/Ridgway’s participants included Jonny Gregory (22:42.1, 87th), Vance Hawk (23:19.8, 92nd), Neill Pieper (24:13.1, 106th), Ethan Fries (24:28.8, 107th), Phillip Schaedler (24:36.1, 109th), Grant Zimmerman (25:19.8, 115th), Ricky Kuboske (25:29.6, 117th), Blake Zimmerman (28:06.7, 132nd), and Ben Anderson (29:49.6, 133rd).