The Columbus Junction cross country team has a mix of veterans and new blood to help propel the team this season.

On the boy’s side, the Wildcats bring back their top two runners who were both All-Conference. Eli Sents and Efrain Barajas are the top returners as they battled to be the top runner on the team all last season. On the girl’s side they bring back quite a few runners in Ashley Canny, Grace Chapman, Claire Hamilton and Taylor Hills, who were all in the top five of last years team.

Head coach Steve Riley says having these vets back is good, but there will be a lot of green on the team as well.

“We have a lot of experience coming back, and in terms of newcomers, especially on the girl’s side we have a lot girls who will be trying it out for the first time, and we are really excited about that too,” Riley said. “So we have kind of a mixed team [experience wise].”

Columbus Junction starts things off at Cedar Rapids Prairie on August 31. They will also go to the Keota Invite on September 10, and then hold their own Mike Jay Invite on October 7, just three days before the Conference meet on October 10. The Wildcats will run at Districts on October 24.