Highland senior Keiffer Sexton pulls away from the race field during the Washington Cross Country Invitational last Tuesday. Sexton won the meet with a time of 15:38, nearly a full minute better than the second place finisher. Photo by KCII’s Nate Gonner.

Several regional boys’ and girls’ cross country teams will descend on the Cedarcrest Country Club in Columbus Junction this afternoon for the annual Columbus Cross Country Invitational. Among the teams scheduled to compete in Columbus’cross country meet includes runners from Cardinal, Highland, Keota, Louisa-Muscatine, Sigourney, Winfield-Mount Union, West Liberty, and Wilton.

The boys’ race features one ranked Class 2A runner and pair of ranked Class 1A athletes according to the Iowa Association of Track Coaches (ITAC). Columbus senior Josh Keller recently cracked the Top 30 in the Class 2A individual rankings. Keller, No. 28, outran the 71-person field at the Winfield-Mount Union Cross Country meet Thursday. His run of 16:28 is 27 seconds faster than the entire field, and was the fifth straight race Keller finished in first place.

Highland senior Keiffer Sexton is the 14th ranked runner in Class 1A heading into the race. Sexton ran away from the pack in the Washington Cross Country Invitational, recording a meet-best time of 15:38. His time was nearly a minute better than the 52-person field.

Winfield-Mount Union junior Gavin Bencze is the final ranked runner set to compete in the Columbus Cross Country Invitational. Bencze, the 25th ranked runner in Class 1A, finished in second place at his home invitational. His time of 16:55 was 13 seconds better than the meet’s third place runner, Garret Hinson of Mediapolis.

The girls field doesn’t have any ranked runners according to the IATC.

The first race of the Columbus Cross Country Invitational is set for 4:30 p.m. at Cedarcrest Country Club in Columbus Junction.