Salem's girls cross country team took a giant step toward clinching its second consecutive KLAA Central Division title Tuesday by out-running Novi, 25-34, in a dual meet held at Willow Metropark.

  Salem improved to 4-0 while Novi slipped to 2-2.

  The Rocks were led by second-place finisher Kayla Kavulich, who covered the course in 19:01.5, six seconds behind Novi's Jackie Mullins.

  Novi's Kerri McMahon placed third, but the next three harriers to cross the line were Rocks: Tori Tripp (19:42.1), Shannon Flynn (19:51.0) and Adrianna Beltran (20:05.7).

  Also scoring for the winners was Alejandra Beltran, who placed eighth in 20:17.9.

  Novi's final three scorers were Victoria Cortez (seventh in 20:08.6), Kelsey Hodge (12th in 20:38.9) and Kari Grandstaff (14th in 20:58.3).

  Also running well for Salem were Kara Booms (ninth in 20:26.3), Emily Bizon (10th in 20:32.5), Madison Goodpasture (11th in 20:32.8), Natasha Stevenson (13th in 20:39.8), Autumn Burin (16th in 21:05.9) and Amanda Beyer (17th in 21:09.9).