The boys and girls Cardinal Cross Country teams started practice officially this past Monday. Practices are held at 5:30 p.m. at the football field. Next week they’ll be moving to Pine Grove Park. Coach Bruce Fuhrman says there’s still time to come out for the sport,

“We are hoping to see some new faces show up in the next couple weeks. Join us for the next months and be part of cross country running.”

Boys

Last year’s state qualifying team graduated five seniors, including four All Conference athletes Isaac Fuhrman, Gunner Johnson, Jordan Bendson and Josh Freese.

“This was one of the deepest teams as far as ability that I had ever coached,” said Fuhrman, “Yet at Monday’s practice I asked the returning boys if they were ready to begin a quest for another strong season.”

Although the team is young, they have some good leaders and are looking at being a strong force in Section 8AA. Heading the team will be juniors and returning letter winners Brandon Sterriker, Justin Ziegler, Paul Plenvey and Trevor Hofmann. Others that Fuhrman expects to see contributing are Tony Courdillo, Colton Tietz, Korey Zetah, Jordan Heldman, Tyler Pogreba and Blake Miller.

A tough team to beat this season will be Detroit Lakes, the conference favorite. Another competitive team will be Perham, the Section 8 favorite once again.

Girls

Last year the girls team placed fourth at the snowy section meet and lost just one athlete to graduation, Kaytlin Roth. Roth was the Cardinal’s top runner, and will leave a big hole to fill but Fuhrman says that there are a lot of girls who are strengthening up to try for a spot on the varsity roster. Leading the team will be seniors and letter winners Tayah Smith, Emma Pogreba and Emily Fuhrman.

“We are hoping to put together a strong team as the season progresses. I like how things are looking,” said Fuhrman. “We have our work cut out for us this year as Park Rapids returns a host of talented runners and are the conference and Section 8 favorite.”

Perham, Baudette and Warroad are a few more very talented teams in the section that will prove a challenge for the Cardinal girls.