Lexie Schustrom of Pinecrest was the top finisher among local runners at Saturday night's Jungle Run held under the lights at South View High School.

The Patriot senior finished second and broke the school cross country mark in the 5K race with a time of 18:37.9. The previous record of 18:44 was set by Rebekah Bishop in 2002.

Almost 1,000 runners and 41 teams competed in the eighth annual event that included championship, invitational and developmental races for both boys and girls.

Samantha George of Raleigh Millbrook repeated as the winner of the girls' championship race (18:13).

Terry Sanford was first in the team results with Pinecrest finishing second.

Six Patriot girls finished in the top 50 of the 135 runner field, including a sixth place finish by Ashley Brock (19:22). Brock's time was a personal best by 37 seconds.

Haley Germain, 28th (20:30), Alexa Zoellner, 33rd (20:48), Jennie Cunningham, 34th (20:49) and Madison Hart, 50th (21:34) of the Patriots each either matched or set a new personal best.

The winner of the boys' championship race over the traditionally fast course was Blake Williams of Northern Durham (15:14) while Hoggard won the team title. The Pinecrest boys came in sixth and Union Pines was ninth in the 21 team field. Dalton Allen of Pinecrest was the first of the local boys to cross the finish line with a 23rd place finish (16:55). Craig Baggett, 37th (17:09) was the only other Patriot runner in the top 50.

Three Union Pines runners that helped the Vikings finish first in the recent Moore County Championship held at Pinecrest also finished in the top 50. Will McCoy, 27th (16:59) led the Viking contingent followed by Trevor Morris, 42nd (17:13) and Joseph Morris, 48th (17:17).

Brittany Stevens of Union Pines (20:54) was the runner-up in the girls' invitational race.

The depth of the Pinecrest girls' squad was demonstated by the placing of seven runners in the top 50. That group was led by Sarah Pressley, seventh (21:28) and Fay Chu, 10th (21:57). The Patriots finished second to Hoggard in that division. Katana Lemelin of Pinecrest came in ninth in the girls' developmental race (23:21).

Top 10 teams in the championship race: Boys -- Hoggard 126, South View 135, Ronald Reagan 168, New Hanover 173, Millbrook 180, Pinecrest 193, Jack Britt 203, Cardinal Gibbons 213, Union Pines 232, Orange County 270; Girls -- Terry Sanford 87, Pinecrest 103, Cardinal Gibbons 120, Millbrook 138, Orange County 168, New Hanover 183, Biship McGuiness 187, Jordan 204, Hoggard 211, Ronald Reagan 237.

Contact Charlie Bergmann at cbergmann@ncc.rr.com