The Iowa Mennonite School boys and girls cross country teams will be on the course tonight for the first time in 2017 when they host their annual early bird meet.

The IMS boys are coming off of a season where Levi Geyer qualified for the state meet in Fort Dodge. Geyer placed 25th as an individual at state. IMS is also returning letter winners Cameron Roser-Peet, Jacob Boller, Micah Miller and Jessie Slater. With that veteran leadership will be a mix of youth with freshmen Aaron Hershberger, John Hughes and Gibson Lowenberg joining the team this year.

For the IMS girls, they will look to replace their top runner from 2016 in Calli Shaw who moved on through graduation. Shaw had the highest finishes for IMS at the Conference meet, taking 12th, and the state qualifier finishing 28th. IMS does return Serena Gerber who was 41st individually at conference. Other returning letterwinners for IMS include Mackenzie Gutierrez, Rachel Geyer, Greta Schrag and Ainsley Shaw. Freshmen Meredith Blossom and Kennedy Roth will also join the team for their first seasons.

Other area schools at the meet include Washington, Lone Tree, Highland, WACO, and Keota. Action begins tonight at 5p.m. at IMS.