The cross country season at Pella High school starts today, as three busloads of green-clad runners will make the trek to compete at Cedar Rapids Prairie. Mitch Shepherd, a senior on Pella’s boys squad, says he and his teammates are ready to face some top-notch competition.

“I’m just looking forward to all of the great runners we’re going to see out there,” said Shepherd. “We’ll see a lot of big 4A schools that are going to bring some awesome runners, so it’s going to give some good competition for varsity and JV.”

The Pella High girls also get to compete against one of the state’s best 3A teams, Solon, who should present a real challenge to the No. 1-ranked Lady Dutch. The meet features three tiers – a freshman/sophomore race, junior/senior race, and the varsity race; which should provide some ideal competition for Pella’s 127 runners.