DOWAGIAC — With the postseason closing in, Dowagiac sophomore Shawn Little is raising his game.

The Chieftain standout easily bested the field at the annual Dowagiac Rock N Run hosted at the middle school Thursday.

St. Joseph swept the boys and girls team championships, but the performance of the day belonged to Little, who broke his own personal record on the Chieftains’ home course by more than 20 seconds.

“It was a good race,” Little said. “I almost slipped a few times, but I pulled through. I think I am in a pretty good spot (heading into the postseason). I am hoping to PR (personal record) again, but that might happen and it might not. I would be fine with the time I have right now.

“It was pretty important (to win the Rock N Run). A lot of people came to watch me. I did not want to come here and disappoint them.”

Little said he took control of the race around the two-mile mark.

“A lot of people died up there,” he said. “There was one St. Joe runner who pulled through, but I gained some distance over there on the straightway.”

Dowagiac coach Dan VandenHeede was not surprised by the outcome.

“I have not seen his official time, but it certainly was a new PR on this course,” he said. “I did not know what St. Joe would have and their one runner ended up passing Jack [Leman of Edwardsburg] and coming up on him. That was about the only unknown. [Little’s] goal was to have his best time on his home course and he did that for sure.”

As a team, Dowagiac finished 13th.

Niles finished sixth and Edwardsburg seventh overall. Cassopolis finished 15th.

The Eddies’ Leman was third overall with a time of 16:46, while Niles’ Devin Tomlinson was fourth with a 16:48.

St. Joseph’s Anna Fischer posted a time of 19:06 to win the girls race.

Niles’ Kaylee Thompson set a new school record for the Vikings with her third-place time of 19:37.

“We ran mentally tough and the results show it because every girl had a career PR time,” Niles coach Jami Foster said. “We had a rough couple weeks and the girls pulled through and it was a great team effort last night.”

The Vikings were runner-up to St. Joseph. Edwardsburg was fourth and Cassopolis 10th.