When the annual Carbondale Invitational had to be canceled this season because of the Saluki Way construction, Marion's cross country program and its new course was there to pick up the pieces Saturday.

Eli Baker and Jenna Griffith pulled eight teams together on short notice for the first annual Marion Invitational at the Crisp Sports Complex.

While Carbondale swept the team competition in the boys and girls races, Marion's boys raced shorthanded and the girls remained one individual short of having a team score.

"We were still able to fill a team, and the boys went out knowing we were shorthanded," Baker said. "They stepped it up, and some of them ran PRs. Even though key guys for us were gone, it still doesn't affect how you run your race."

Six teams ran in the girls race, but only two recorded a team score led by the Terriers (30) ahead of Hamilton County (70).

Mallori Chamness led the Lady Wildcats with a fourth-place finish in 21:26. Erin Farinelli followed in 16th (25:21) five seconds ahead of Hannah Baker in 17th (25:26) while Carly Crabtree wasn't too far behind in 20th (26:21).

"Mallori did not have one of her best races as far as time goes," Griffith said. "But it was good having Erin back to go along with Hannah and Carly posting their best times."

Farinelli missed Marion's last race because of a foot injury, but returned Saturday to tackle the hilly course.

"I talked to Erin after the race because she was kind of slow coming in, and I asked her if her foot was hurting," Griffith said. "She said it wasn't. It was just that she felt kind of out of shape.

"I was happy to hear that it wasn't her foot that was bothering her because I can't help the foot or do anything about that. The out of shape part we can work on and get her ready for conference and those meets at the end of the season."

Emily DeMattei, who has been recovering from a knee injury, could be back in time for the South Seven Conference meet, which will be held on Marion's new course. That would give the Lady Wildcats five individuals and a team score for the first time this season.

"Emily will get a little light running in, and hopefully we'll have her back for conference," Griffith said. "If so, that will be her first run on this course."

Lucas Cherry again set the course record for the third consecutive time, burning the course in 16:06 to lead Carbondale (40) over Hamilton County (59). Waterloo took third (68) followed by Benton (108), Marion (131) and Goreville (164).

As for the shorthanded boys team, the Wildcats were without three of their top five runners. Top runner Anthony Winkleman rolled his ankle prior to last Tuesday's race and did not participate while Dillon Peebles and Matt Mitchell were both out of the lineup.

"I was afraid if we ran Anthony today, being as hilly and tough as it is, that he might push it too hard and make it worse," Baker said. "We're going to give him a couple of days off, and then he'll be ready for conference and everything after that. Those are the meets that matter the most."

Ethan Wall was Marion's first runner to cross the finish line, stopping the clock in 19:05 to place 11th.

The Wildcats' next four runners were bunched together as Brockton Whitehead took 25th (20:28) followed by Joe Woodward in 30th (20:52), Ryan Atkisson 32nd (20:55) and Michael Jepson 33rd (21:01).

"It does play a mental game on you when you don't have three of your top five runners, but the times show that they stepped up and ran well today," Baker said. "It hurts knowing that they're not going to have the team score they want, but they did what they needed to do to help out the team today."

As for the first Marion Invitational, making the event possible on a new course in such a short turnaround couldn't have worked out any better. Baker and Griffith will now set their sights on making this a big-time event.

"Our goal is to get at least 15 teams here. We want it to be a race that's not going to be a guaranteed 'This is going to be the team that wins,'" Baker said. "We want it to where everybody is going to be out there, and it's going to be a real competitive race. I'd like to see over 100 guys and 100 girls in each particular race.

"If we can build that over time, then it will be competitive and teams will want to come here. This is a brand new course for us, and we're new to the invitationals. It's actually going to help build our program, too."

Goreville's Megan Francis was 14th in 24:46 while Stefan Messmer led the Blackcat boys with a 21st in 19:53.

Marion returns to action at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Harrisburg before concluding its week at Centralia on Saturday morning.