Imperial House edged Atherton Two House Saturday in the Intramural Dorm Cross Country Championships at the Blue Golf Course in a race that involved a near-photo finish for first place.

Steve Manns of Imperial House (Third Floor East, Atherton Hall) managed to shake off a last-minute charge by Dave Boger of Atherton Two to win in 17:29. Boger finished at 17:32. Manns said he was "pooped" by the end of the race and was a little worried by Boger's last-minute charge.

The lead changed hands several times early in the race, but eventually, Manns gained too much of a lead for Boger to overcome. Boger said that teammate Matt Kretchmer, who finished third in 17:45, might have surprised himself. Kretchmer agreed, adding he wasn't training for the race and that the times were "about half a minute" faster last year.

The two-three finish by Boger and Kretchmer was not quite enough for Atherton Two to beat Imperial House, however, as Imperial House won, 27-30. Imperial House also defeated Atherton Two for last year's overall intramural title.

"They always end up first in IMs," Boger said. "At least they're in Atherton, so there's sort of a comradery."

Weather at the championships was cold, and there was the occasional comment about frozen toes, hands and even hair.

Manns didn't feel that the cold presented too much of a problem, however. "When you run, it doesn't get as cold," he said.

The Noll Harriers won the graduate team event with a score of 12, led by a first-place, 16:55 finish from Gary Miller. The Sneeshes were second with 15, and Nittany Valley Track Club claimed third with 18.

In the women's individual competition, Evelynn Ellis won with a time of 21:53, beating Christy Peters's time of 22:04. Karen White was third at 22:38.

Doug Steigerwalt won the Individual men's title with a time of 18:09, just beating out Gary Wulkowicz's finish of 18:10. Robert Robertson was third with 19:10.