Rapid City - One week after a disappointing finish at the Greater Dakota Conference cross country meet, Sturgis' Madeleine Takahashi, the defending state champion, rebounded in a big way.

Takahashi served notice on Thursday at the Rapid City Invitational, finishing with her best time of the season at Executive Golf Course.

Takahashi, who finsihed fifth at the GDC meet last week, took the lead at the onset of the race and didn't look back running the course in 14 minutes, 56 seconds, only increasing her lead as the race went on. She finished a full 10 seconds of second-place runner Bailey Eich, of Douglas, who came in with a time of 15:06 in the 4K run.

Takahashi said it was important to perform well at the Rapid City Invitational as the Class AA state meet is just a week away.

"This boosted my confidence a lot going into the state meet," said Takahashi. "Lastweek I didn't have that great of a race and this put me right back in the group of people for state. Today, I just relaxed and decided I was going to have fun while I was racing."

Takahashi wasn't the only Sturgis runner to excel at the Rapid City meet. The Scoopers also finished first in the boys division behind the performance of Damien Schuster. Schuster finished with a time of 16:15 in the 5K run.

"This is kind of a booster for state," said Schuster. "This race kind of shows us where we're at. This is a pretty flat course and Huron will have a few more hills.

"But it's definitely a confidence booster. Our team is young but strong, I think we can be a top 10 team. We're going to put it all on the line and see what happens."

Rapid City Stevens' Nathan Richardson had another strong performance, finishing second with a time of 16:25. At the GDC meet he finished third overall.

"Nathan is a good second half runner," said Stevens head coach Forrest Flaagan. "Wherever he is halfway through the race he's going to get it done, and he has a lot of confidence in that. I'm very pleased with his effort."

While there were no team results kept at the Rapid City Invitational, Douglas and Sturgis both placed two runners in the top four in the girls division, and Stevens placed four runners in the top 10 in the boys division.

Casey Coates, of Douglas, rounded out the top three finishers in the boys division with a time of 16:26. Makala Diggs finished third in the girls division at 15:25.

The Class AA cross country meet will be held in Huron Oct. 25.