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Congratulatory hugs and cheers were plentiful Friday at the annual Tiger-Grizz Invitational at Freeman Park in Idaho Falls.

The meet, which had 54 registered teams from Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, included first ever individual wins, redemption and back-to-back victories.

The varsity boys and girls seeded races, which made their debut last year, had a repeat individual and team champion as well as new champions. Rocky Mountain senior Cody Lucas won his second consecutive varsity boys seeded individual title, claiming Friday's title in 16:01.4. Lucas took the lead by mile two and kept going for the win.

Friday was Lucas's fourth Tiger-Grizz, which allowed him to become more than familiar with the course.

"I love this meet," Lucas said. "It's always a fun time running it. We take this travel trip every year and it's so fun to cheer everyone on."

Lucas led Rocky Mountain to a repeat varsity boys seeded team title with a score of 24, the lowest of any of the varsity races. He and five of his teammates placed in the top 20: Hyrum Tuft (third, 16:20.9), Parker Goggins (fifth, 16:24.9), Jacob Thomas (eighth, 16:40.3), Thomas Kurtz (12th, 16:46.7)  and Hudson Godfrey (16th, 16:55.5). The Grizzlies won the title by 76 points over Mountain View.

Lucas, who placed ninth at last year's 5A state championships where the Grizzlies placed second as a team, said Rocky Mountain has big goals for the 6A state meet and the postseason this fall.

"We've been dreaming about a state championship," Lucas said. "We'll go on with competing at NXR (Nike Cross Northwest) for a spot at (Nike Cross) Nationals."

Another senior from District 3 won the varsity girls seeded race. Owyhee's Faith Johnson, who placed second in last year's race, got the win Friday in 19:02.1. 

She was in second place behind Twin Falls sophomore Raelee Richardson at the 2-mile mark before taking the lead and winning by 11 seconds over Richardson, who sat down next to her after the race and spoke with her at length. 

She was in a tight front pack prior to the 2-mile mark.

"It was tough," Johnson said. "I just told myself, trust your training, trust the process. (The win) means everything. I wanted to do this. I've been struggling my last two meets." 

Johnson is a two-time state cross country medalist, placing fourth at last year's 5A state championships. Owyhee moved to 6A this year with several other District 3 teams. 

When asked about a goal for this fall, Johnson said she simply wants to enjoy her final season running for the Storm.

"For this year, I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself," Johnson said. "I just want to have fun and see what I can do my last year."

Timberline, winners of last year's 5A state meet, beat last year's 5A third-place team, Rocky Mountain, 42-47 for Friday's varsity seeded girls team title. The Wolves had five top-20 finishers: Sasha Livingston (third in 19:36.5), Nadia Kouskov (fourth in 19:40.7), Lily Simmonds (eighth in 19:58.1), Eva Rivera (17th in 20:20.1) and Emma Bellomy (20th in 20:41.7). The Grizzlies also had five runners place in the top 20 to make the team race tight.

The varsity B team and individual titles went to eastern Idaho. Grace senior Cally Coleman won the varsity B girls race in 20:01, taking the lead in the final 200 meters of a highly contested race where no one could break away early. Ririe's Lucy Boone and West Jefferson's Bella Spencer led the pack at mile one.

Boone placed second in 20:09.9, her sister Liza placed third in 20:23.3 and Spencer, last year's varsity B champion and a two-time middle school Tiger-Grizz champion the previous years, placed fourth in 20:34.4.

"I wanted to be in the top five by the end of the race," Coleman said. "Then there was three of us."

Friday was a big improvement for Coleman, who competed for Malad her freshman through junior seasons. She placed 15th in last year's Tiger-Grizz varsity B race and 10th as a sophomore. Friday was her first time breaking 21 minutes at Freeman Park.

"I've done okay but not like my best," Coleman said of the meet. "I was feeling strong (today), mentally and physically."

The Boone sisters, along with teammates Lauren Robson (sixth, 20:45.7) and Jayci Baxter (20th, 21:49.5), medaled to give Ririe its second consecutive Tiger-Grizz varsity B girls team title. The Bulldogs won 52-85 over Soda Springs.

Sugar-Salem won both the varsity B boys individual and team titles. Senior Dylan Ball moved up in the final mile and ultimately won in 17:14.1, receiving and giving high fives all around in the finish area afterwards.

Like the varsity B girls race, the varsity B boys race was also up for grabs with numerous lead changes throughout.

"I knew this was gonna be the pack at state, minus a few people," Ball said of the runners in the front pack, who represent 2A, 3A and 4A schools. "I've been having some IT band issues but I wanted to show I can still turn on the burners."

Ball and the Diggers are after redemption this year in Sugar-Salem's first year in 4A. He collapsed at last year's 3A District 6 championships, falling short of qualifying for state, and the Diggers also did not qualify their boys team. District champion South Fremont went on to win the state title while Teton placed second. Ball said the goal this year is for Sugar-Salem to win a state championship.

His teammates Darrel Dickson (third in 17:21.7), Adam Willis (sixth in 17:27.2), Jaxon Johansen (ninth in 17:49.8), Kimbal Anderson (10th in 17:52.6)  and Nathan Dalling (12th in 17:58.7) also medaled for the Diggers, who won the team title with 27 points. They competed in bright blue shorts with bananas on them paired with their royal blue Sugar-Salem jerseys.

"It was mostly an idea by the seniors," Ball said of the decision to wear the shorts Friday. "It was a team decision."

Centennial claimed both varsity A boys and girls individual titles. Sophomore Annie Herd won the girls race in 19:58.6 and received one congratulatory hug after the next once she exited the finish area.

The cheers were all in celebration of her win and her time, which was a personal best. She also won by almost 10 seconds.

"It was my first win ever and it's also my first sub-20 time," Herd said. "I felt stronger, more coordinated and it was just a really peaceful race leading all alone."

She added that Friday was literally a breath of fresh air compared to the Boise area, which has had poor air quality due to wildfire smoke for more than a month. Cross country meets in the area have been canceled in recent weeks, and Herd said practices have been indoors with much more weight lifting than running.

Like Ball, Herd has goals for redemption this season.

"Last year was rough," she said. "I passed out at districts at the finish and didn't make it to state. I want to make it to state and place in the top five." 

It took a sixth runner tiebreaker, but the Skyline girls claimed the varsity A team title over Star Valley. Both teams finished with 100 points. Reagan Rhodes (eighth place, 21:03.5), Ellen Harrison (11th place, 21:22.7) and Analee Ricks (18th place, 21:40.4) medaled for the Grizzlies. 

Herd's teammate Sawyer Jensen, a junior, won the varsity A boys race in 17:21.6 to give the Patriots a sweep of the individual titles. 

Sporting sunglasses, he said he thought about a Centennial sweep after Herd won the girls race and thought it would be 'really cool' to give the varsity A boys race to Centennial.

"Our coaches said, 'Now you know what the bar is,'" Jensen said of the discussion between Centennial's coaches and the boys team after Herd's win. 

Jensen, who hopes to reach 15:45 or faster by the end of the season, said Centennial's practices prepared him for his strong finish Friday.

"I took the lead with 400 left," Jensen said. "We do guts 400s where we run all out 400s after our workouts. This was a guts 400, so give it all you've got."