With conference a month away for the varsity boys cross country team, the pressure is on for Friday, Sept. 18, when Thomas Miller, junior; Drew Bosley, freshman; Noah Cummisford, junior; Messi Elgin, sophomore; Adam Peterson, senior; Jordan Kranich, senior; and Zion Bullock, junior, will compete against 10 other teams from around the state at Grant Park Area 5 and 6.

This meet is an opportunity for the runners to get a sense of who they are up against heading into the last few weeks of competition. Miller summed up the words of the whole team by saying, “We are looking forward to being able to run on such a fast course. We will be trying our hardest against some quality teams.”

The boys will only race in three more meets, including Friday’s meet, before they arrive at conference on Friday, Oct. 16, only to be followed by sectionals on Saturday, Oct. 24.

“We are running against some teams we have previously lost to, but we hope that with all of our top runners back for the first time tomorrow, we can pull out a win,” Evan Routhier, team captain of the cross country team and varsity’s fastest runner, said. “We’ve never run this course before, so we’re hoping it’s fast,” Routhier said.

Daniel Claussen, head coach, said, “This will be the first week that our team will be at full strength; Evan Routhier, our number one runner, will be competing for the first time this season. We will be competing against some outstanding competition, and I am excited to see how we stack up.”