CUSTER - Douglas swept the varsity boys and girls team titles at the Black Hills Conference cross country meet at Rocky Knolls Golf Course in Custer on Thursday.

The Patriots claimed the boys honors with 26 points. Hill City, led by individual champion Andy Coy, managed second place, tallying 41 points. In a close race for third place, Hot Springs (61 points), edged Lead-Deadwood (62 points) and Belle Fourche (63 points), while Custer finished in sixth place with 77 points.

Coy repeated last year's feat as conference champion, finishing the 5K run in a time of 16 minutes, 48 seconds.

"I'm trying to get a little faster each race," said Coy. "I'm working toward peaking for the state meet."

The sub-40 degree temperature made for ideal running conditions.

"I like it a lot better with cool weather," said Coy. "It was a nice relief from the hot weather we've had at the meets this year."

Douglas had five runners earn medals. Casey Coates was runner-up to Coy in 17:22. Nick Feller captured fourth place (18:05). Matt Nugent claimed eighth place (18:54), followed by Michael Barmon in12th (19:30) and Cole Stocking in 15th (19:47).

Joining Coy as medal recipients for Hill City were Kyle Alexander (11th) and Frank Torres (13th).

Belle Fourche, Hot Springs and Lead-Deadwood each had a pair of harriers notch places. Colten Njos led the Broncs finishing third in 17:45. Teammate Chester Schlosser was 10th in 19:12.

Tobie Spritzer paced Hot Springs, collecting a fifth place time of 18:20. Danny Watson was ninth in 19:01.

Lead-Deadwood's Shelby Wayne Williams and Cody Ertman posted sixth and 14th place, respectively.

Cody Herman was the top finisher for Custer, taking seventh place (18:49). Brian Ebner finished in 18th place (20:07) for St. Thomas More.

Douglas topped the girls division with 13 points. Custer took second place with 33, followed by St. Thomas More with 45 and Hot Springs with 64.

Patriot runners took home four of the top seven places in the girls division. Bailey Eich and Makable Diggs were 1-2 with clockings of 16:05 and 16:14, respectively. Alex Suhr claimed fourth place in 16:56 and Casey Cole finished seventh in 17:18.

"I like running in the cold better than the heat," said Eich. "I wanted to beat Karley Konkol, come in first place and have our team win the girls division. I had to push it. I was really tired."

"I knew we had the potential," said Douglas coach Dale Pepper of the Patriots' sweep. "The kids really stepped up. I was proud our fourth and fifth runners came through for us."

Konkol ran a third-place time of 16:30 on her home course. Joining Konkol as medal winners for the Wildcats were Mariah Gaston, (ninth), Laura Muse (13th), and Victoria Dahlstrom, (15th).

Lead-Deadwood had a trio of runners claim places. Bailey Voss was sixth in 17:14. Jessi Sternhagen posted a 10th place effort of 17:47 and Jordan Schumacher added a 12th place time of 17:56.

St. Thomas More medal winners were: Alison Eaton, (fifth) and Madison Kirsch, (eighth).

Natalie Bahr crossed the finish line in 11th place for Hot Springs.

All of the BHC teams, excluding Douglas will compete at the Region meet hosted by Lead-Deadwood at Tomahawk Golf Course on Oct. 17.