As all the fall sports seasons begin, the Trojan cross country teams competed at Dallas Center Grimes and Harlan. Time trials were held Tuesday, Aug. 27 to determine which runners would run varsity for the first meet but it’s not permanent. The JV players can take a varsity spot if they run a faster time than a varsity runner.

The girls cross country team is made up of 16 girls. The girls have four returning seniors in Katie Saluk, Corri Pelzer, Pluma Pross, and Kelsie Siedlik. There are also four juniors joining the team this year including Madison Botos, Becca Folds, Gwen Irlmeier, and Taylor McCreedy. The team also has one returning sophomore: Addie DeArment. Freshmen Laney Brosam, Edria Brummer, Dayna Dreager, Rio Johnson, Abbi Richter, Ava Rush, and Claire Wiederstein round out the girls’ lineup.

The boys cross country team is made up of 22 boys. There are eight senior guys on the team including Ben Andersen, Evan Brummer, Bradley Dennis, Clayton Jipsen, Zach McKay, Aybren Moore, Jack Mullin, and Cole Sampson. There are seven juniors including Craig Alan Becker, Keagen Garcia, Lex Somers, Joe Sonntag, Devlyne Sunderman, Ethan Williams, and Devin Wood. Sophomores include Issac Altman, Zane Berg, Drew Engler, Lee Houser, Cooper Jipsen, Tristan Mathisen, and Alex Sampson. There are no freshmen on the team this year.

At the Glenwood meet on Aug. 31, the girls took second place with 63 points with McCreedy getting 2nd place and Rush with 5th. All varsity girls runners ended in the top 45. At the same meet, the boys also received 2nd place, with Becker finishing 4th and Dennis finishing 10th. 

The cross country teams had another meet on Sept. 3. The girls’ placed 3rd, with McCreedy placing 2nd and Rush placing 10th. At the same meet, the boys got 5th place, with Becker placing 5th individually.

The cross country teams have another meet on Sept. 10 at the Clarinda High School.