While most area cross country teams are beginning their seasons this week, the Columbus Wildcat squads already have a race under their belt. The Wildcat boys’ and girls’ teams competed in Mount Vernon Invitational last week, running a course set up at the Mount Vernon soccer field at Cornell College.

Senior Jenessa Carpenter came away with the top overall finish for Columbus, placing 49th in the girls’ race with a time of 23:30. Fifty-eight seconds separated the five runners on the Columbus boys’ cross country team. The top finish came from senior Marc Estrada, whose time of 20:41 was the 57th best performance.

Of the 17 runners on Columbus’ cross country team, eight were running a varsity race for the first time. The Wildcat cross country teams return to competition Thursday, traveling to the Iowa City Kickers Field for the Iowa City Regina Invitational.