NORTH ROBINSON — Cross country has become a very important fall sport at Colonel Crawford and with good reason. The boys and girls teams, both coached by Jody Grove, now entering her 23rd year, had great success last season.

The Eagles boys team completed the 2015 season as Northern 10 Conference champs and district champsions. They also finished fourth at their regional meet and competed at the state meet as a team, finishing 9th overall.

From last year’s team, Colonel Crawford is returning Chad Johnson (7th place at state meet), Brad Bauer, Nick Studer, Wade Hopkins, Braxton James, Zach Leonhart and Brandon Bauer.

Last year’s successes have set a high bar for this year’s team, as they are looking to return to state again and carry on the strong tradition of cross country for the Eagles.

The girls cross country team finished last season as Northern 10 Conference runner-ups. The Eagles were 3rd at districts and 9th at the regional meet.

Grove welcomes back Anna Reffey, Emily Kemper, Courtney Britt, Haley Laughbaum, Taylor Price and Courtney Lyons this season.

Grove said there are a lot of possibilities for the the girls team, including a chance to return to regionals in 2016, and to hopefully get some runners or the entire team to the state cross country meet in November.