NEW CHICAGO | Before every River Forest cross country meet, junior Christopher Ramos gathers the nine Ingots on the small-school team, they lock arms and bow their heads.

HIGHLAND | On a beautiful fall morning, the sun casts a long shadow from behind the runners as they finish with the sun on their backs on the track at Highland.

CULVER | With five of the top 10 Indiana boys teams in Indiana plus powers from Illinois and Ohio, the elite race in Saturday's massive Culver Academies Invitational was its usual measuring st…

It's easier to follow than to lead.

(Previous ranking in parentheses; NR = not ranked)

For every single one of the thousand-plus runners at the New Prairie Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, there was a story of how he or she got to where each is in a high school career.