Columbus’ cross country team finished the most difficult part of its schedule Saturday at the Benton Invitational in Atkins, Iowa. Junior Josh Keller was the best Columbus finisher with 28th place in the meet that featured mostly Class 2A and 3A schools. Columbus was one of only four 1A schools in the meet.The boys did not field a full varsity team. The girls placed ninth in the team race, with Claire Hamilton, Ashley Canny, and Jenessa Carpenter finishing 47-49.Coach Steve Riley says,“It’s good to be finished with this part of the schedule.” They started the year with three meets against mostly Class 3A and 4A teams. He says those tough meets will probably make them better runners and their times dropped significantly because of it.” Riley was particularly happy with JV boys’ runner Bryce Carrier, who was running in only his second 5K race but knocked more than 2 minutes off his previous time.