Dowagiac sophomore Shawn Little became the first cross country runner to break 16 minutes in school history as he finished sixth overall at the Bulldog Invitation in Otsego Saturday.

Little ran a time of 15:58 against stiff competition, including Wolverine Conference foe Otsego.

Little broke the former record by 34 seconds.

“We had been looking forward to this meet,” Dowagiac coach Dan VandenHeede said. “It is a perfect combination of a flat, fast course, lots of amazing competition and a Saturday morning with cooler temperatures, which were perfect for personal records. All five of our boys got personal records with Shawn breaking school record to become the first Chieftain to run a 5k under 16 minutes.”

Grand Rapids Christian won the boys team championship with 75 points, while Sparta was a distant second with 118 points.

The Chieftains were 16th with 429 points.

William Leonard finished 102nd with a time of 20:18, while David Napier was 104th (20:55), Ryan Payne 108th (22:40) and Diego Martinez 109th (22:41).

Dowagiac did not field a girls team for the invitational.

The Chieftains are back in action Tuesday as it hosts Edwardsburg in a Wolverine Conference match featuring a pair of the league’s top runners in Little and the Eddies’ Jack Leman.

The pair finished first and second at the RedBud Tri-State Invitational Sept. 23.