The Columbus Wildcats are gunning for the top of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference and more in cross country this season. The Columbus boys, who finished third at the 2022 Super Conference meet, were ranked 20th in the preseason team state poll by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, with senior Damian Vergara checking in at number 22 on the individual rankings.

Vergara is looking for a repeat trip to the Class 1A state championships, where he ran a career-best time of 17 minutes 39 seconds, and will try to add to his hardware of all-conference honors and a sixth-place finish at districts last season. Joining him in returning to the roster is junior Bryan Tlatenchi, while Columbus is counting on freshmen Cade Storm and Ellis Hills-Carrier to run well in their debut seasons.

On the girls’ side, the Wildcats bring back top-time getter Ariana Vergara, as well as fellow junior Frannie Sosa, for a team that was sixth in the Super Conference last season. Freshman Iris Garza will be one of the newcomers to watch for Columbus, which opens its season Monday with a race at Louisa-Muscatine.