Both Brown County cross country teams ran well enough in Tuesday’s sectional to advance to regionals this Saturday.

By placing in the top five, the girls and boys squads met their first goal for the state tournament. Each team finished fourth on their home course at Eagle Park.

In the boys race, Columbus North earned a perfect score of 15, but Brown County’s Alden Westcott nearly spoiled the No. 7-ranked team’s domination. In the final stretch, North’s fifth place runner Seth Williams narrowly overcame Westcott, who crossed the finish line about a half second behind Williams.

Westcott (16:10.47) may have missed the higher finish, but he advanced as an individual for placing in the top 15. Fellow Eagles runner Connor Guingrich joined Westcott in 14^th (17:04.45).

Eddie Ryan (17:47.38), Zach Roush (17:50.92), Nick Harding (18:01.06), Chris Norman (18:07.57) and Brock Updike (18:13.82) rounded out the field, all placing in 37^th or better among the group of 82 runners.

For the girls, Rose Guingrich placed ninth (20:26.36), followed by Madison Morris in 19^th (21:48.38), Corrissa Proctor in 31^st (22:40.16), Jaylnn Stanford in 41^st (23:50.64), Samantha Francis in 44^th (24:05.71) and Daphne Law in 47^th (24:21.46).

The regional races will be conducted at Eagle Park on Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. The top 15 individuals and the top five teams advance to semi-state, which will also take place in Nashville.