WEBSTER CITY – The Fort Dodge boys cross country team gave head coach Tim Hanson a nice early season surprise here Tuesday, placing second overall at the Lynx Invitational held at the Webster City Links Golf Course.

South Hamilton, ranked seventh in Class 2A, claimed the team title with 49 points, The Dodgers had 86, edging past No. 11 (3A) Humboldt (87) and Webster City (90).

Spencer Warehime from Southeast Valley, ranked seventh in 1A, repeated as the individual race winner, clocking a time of 16:59.09 to fend off FDSH’s Ryan Wagner for a second straight year.

Algona was fifth, followed by Roland-Story, seventh-ranked (1A) Eagle Grove, 14th-rated (2A) Southeast Valley, Clarion-Goldfield/Dows, Boone, St. Edmond, No. 14 (1A) Manson Northwest Webster, Hampton-Dumont and Belmond-Klemme.

“I wasn’t really sure where we would finish, so I was pretty excited to see us get second,” Hanson said. “We did pretty well, but we still have room for improvement.”

Wagner had a time of 17:13.37 and was joined in the Top-5 by teammate Jason Halverson, who had a time of 17:34.

“It wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for individually, but I think it was a good measuring stick,”?Wagner said. “I?didn’t run my smartest race, but compared to my time here last year, I’m in fairly good condition.

“Running with competition like Warehime is always great. Our team came out and proved we have the potential to perform better than last year and really compete in future meets.”

Fellow Dodger Justin Vaughan was 20th, Brennen DeCoursey crossed in 27th, and Brady Read placed 32nd.

Patrick Bocken led the Gaels with a 47th place showing in 19:57. Cole Allison was 60th, Jake Heidenreich finished 68th, Isaac Lursen was 72nd and Matt Bennett 74th.

“For the most part, the times were better (than at Southeast Valley),” SEHS head coach Mike Szalat said. “Right now, we are just a ways back of everybody, and need to keep plugging away and get into shape.”

Humboldt’s top finisher was Joseph Kunert, who finished eighth overall. Leading Webster City was Tyler Bultena, as he placed 14th.

Algona was led by ninth-place finisher Trey Engen; Eagle Grove’s Dalton Schaffer took seventh; Clarion-Goldfield/Dows’ Luke Rapp was 40th; and Manson Northwest Webster’s Andy Johnson placed 53rd.

Fort Dodge returns to action next Thursday at the Marshalltown Invitational. St. Edmond runs at the CYO next Saturday in Holstein.