Even on a sweltering mid-September afternoon, Scott City's Brandon Shemonia was fast.

The junior crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 41 seconds, good enough for first place and 20 seconds faster than the next closest competitor at the Central Tiger Time Invitational on Saturday afternoon.

"It was tough to hold pace," Shemonia said. "The heat was killing me. My mouth was so dry."

With temperatures nearing the mid 80s, the course wasn't producing standout times.

"The heat was really, really bad," Central runner Eric Schott said. "I didn't expect it after a couple of good weeks of weather in a row."

Jackson's Tori Parry, left, and Taylor Dickerson race toward the finish line Saturday at Central.

Even with the heat, Shemonia wasted little time in displaying his dominance.

He quickly broke away from the pack and ran the majority of the race on his own with little push from his opponents.

"After the first lap, I just tried to pull away," Shemonia said. "I finally broke away around the two mile."

From there in it was just the junior racing at the top.

"It was really tough to stay focused," Shemonia said. "I didn't think I could do it, but I just kept trying to focus and keep on track. A couple of times I looked back and that wasn't good. It broke my stride a little."

Scott City junior Brandon Shemonia stretches his lead over Farmington senior Colton Wooldridge during Saturday's race at Central. (Laura Simon)

While Shemonia broke away, the next wave of runners were closer.

Schott finished third with teammate Collin Summers placing fourth.

Schott said the goal for the day was to help a teammate finish in less than 17 minutes, but the heat played a factor.

"We paced him for the first two miles and then just tried to reel in the next closest runner, but our main goal was to help a buddy get under 17," Schott said.

Notre Dame's Ethan Holcomb rounded out the top five.

Cape Central's Mary Dohogne approaches the finish line Saturday, September 18, 2010 during the Cape Central Cross Country Invitational. (Laura Simon)

The Bulldogs senior had a game plan and succeeded in carrying it out.

"I was wanting to finish ahead of [Central[']s] Roy Leighton," Holcomb said. "I would have liked a better time, but that didn't happen. I kept the pace and that's what counts."

The heat also played a factor in Holcomb's time.

"The course was pretty firm and fast," Holcomb said. "But the heat definitely slowed it down."

Holcomb admitted it can be intimidating racing against one of the state's best in Shemonia.

Central's Jordyn Richmond approaches the finish line Saturday.

"I started right next to him," Holcomb said. "You know how fast he is, so it's pretty intimidating. But I just tried to block it out and see if I could run with him."

While the boys race was taken by a local runner, the girls race featured two Jackson Indians capturing second and third place.

Jackson's Taylor Dickerson came in second while Tori Parry placed third.

Both runners ran together after a tough week in practice.

"It's kind of a small meet, so it was our chance to not split up," Dickerson said of her and Parry. "We were kind of afraid we weren't going to hold it, but we did."

Delta senior Austin Seabaugh tries to muscle past Farmington junior Carl Wheeler at the finish line Saturday.

Indians coach Andrea Talley said the meet was a chance to have fun after a brutal week in practice.

"It was a lot of hard training and workouts," Talley said. "Coming in, they had a lot of stress on them. We had a big last week and they were still hurting. So we tried to have a fun meet and rejuvenate ourselves for Hancock next week."

Boys

Team scores -- 1. Central 33; 2. Notre Dame 8; 3. Carbondale 92; 4. Oak Ridge 104; 5. Jackson 108; 6. Farmington 144; 7. Poplar Bluff 179; 8. Marion 198; 9. Delta 212; 10. Northwest 244; 11. Woodland 302.

Top 10 -- 1. Brandon Shemonia, Scott City, 16:41; 2. Colton Wooldridge, F, 17:01; 3. Eric Schott, Central, 17:09; 4. Collin Summers, Central, 17:40; 5. Ethan Holcomb, ND, 17:46; 6. Dylan Gibson, Carb, 17:49; 7. Roy Leighton, Central, 17:54; 8. Eric Essner, SC, 18:02; 9. Ethan Seyer, OR, 18:02; 10. Riley Talbut, J, 18:09

Notre Dame senior Ethan Holcomb crosses the finish line Saturday.

Top-five finishers for local teams

Central (33) -- 3. Eric Schott, 17:09; 4. Collin Summers, 17:40; 7. Roy Leighton 17:54; 11. Lars Monia 18:12; 15. Brandon Bryant 18:15

Notre Dame (86) -- 5. Ethan Holcomb 17:46; 14. Nate Lincoln, 18:15; 17. Josh Johnson, 18:22; 22. Cole Ross, 18:29; 39. Lance Essner, 19:25

Oak Ridge (104) -- 9. Ethan Seyer, 18:02; 13. Caleb Elam, 18:14; 16. Corvin Schoen, 18:18; 33. Stephen Bolen, 19:10; 48. Hunter Metje, 19:51

Jackson (108) -- 10. Riley Talbut, 18:09; 19. Brock Nanney, 18:23; 24. Austin Koenig, 18:33; 26. Ray Hecht, 18:35; 41. Nate Martin, 19:28

Delta (212) -- 18. Zack Reigert, 18:22; 50. Brandon Horman 19:59; 51. Dwight Nance, 19:59; 56. Austin Seabaugh, 20:15; 63. Jeremiah Peikery, 21:14

Scott City -- 1. Brandon Shemonia, 16:41; 8. Eric Essner, 18:02; 44. Luke Keesee, 19:36

Meadow Heights -- 28. Daylan Davis, 18:41; 52. Paul Govero, 20:00; 76. Trent Kiefer, 23:17; 82. Isaac Elk, 25:19

Saxony Lutheran -- 31. Sam Breite, 19:03; 57. Kris Cook, 20:18; 80. Austin Mickan, 23:56; 85. John Olson, 27:52

Woodland (302) -- 58. Aaron Yount, 20:29; 65. Evan Thomsen, 21:17; 69. Mark Meek, 21:34; 78. Hayden Mayfield, 23:41; 81. D.J. Belcher, 24:48

Advance -- 77. Kyndel Page, 23:39

Girls

Team scores -- 1. Farmington 58; 2. Notre Dame 68; 3. Central 69; 4. Jackson 73; 5. Carbondale 98; 6. Poplar Bluff 131

Top 10 -- 1. Lacey Gibson, Carb, 20:27; 2. Taylor Dickerson, J, 20:49; 3. Tori Parry, J, 20:49; 3. Kristin Dippold, SL, 21:05; 5. Katherine Sitzes, F, 21:17; 6. Jordyn Richmond, Central, 21:22; 7. Mary Dohogne, Central, 21:58; 8. Maddie Baumgart, ND, 21:59; 9. Elizabeth Kiblinger, ND, 22:03; 10. Elsie Anderson, ND, 22:06

Top-five finishers for local teams

Notre Dame (68) -- 8. Maddie Baumgart, 21:59; 9. Elizabeth Kiblinger, 22:03; 10. Elsie Anderson, 22:06; 23. Ashley Schmittzehe, 23:25; 27. Alicia Landewee, 23:54

Central (69) -- 6. Jordyn Richmond, 21:22; 7. Mary Dohogne, 21:58; 12. Laura Chavez, 22:11; 25. Lessley Dennington, 23:37; 31. Cleo LeGrand, 224:39

Jackson (73) -- 2. Taylor Dickerson, 20:49; 3. Tori Parry, 20:49; 13. Zhao Ni Dirnberger, 22:13; 34. Xiao Shu Dirnberger, 25:05; 41. Kylie Christensen, 26:18

Saxony Lutheran -- 4. Kristin Dippold, 21:05; 37. Tori Winter, 25:30; 40. Sarah Winningham, 25:47

Chaffee -- 32. Molli McGowan, 24:59; 44. Randi Wiley 27:05; 48. Cassie Hindman, 27:58; 53. Rachel Reischman, 31:05

Woodland -- 33. Haley Morris, 25:02; 35. Molly Arnzen, 25:16; 50. Tess Rainey, 29:23

Delta -- 54. Shannon Ledbetter, 31:27