The Bengals varsity cross country season officially began Thursday Sept.1. After the Bengal boys team placed 10th at state competitions in October , the team includes three state returnees: senior Austin Byrer and juniors Joey Perez and Sakti Woodbury.

The girls team placed 11th at state as a team in October. The new school year brings two of the team’s state returnees, junior Miriam Ames and sophomore Kaitlyn Blume.

At the first meet of the year, the Post Falls River Run on Sept. 1 the boys took first as a team. Byrer placed first with a time of 16:55, Perez took third with a time of 17:09 and Woodbury placed ninth with a time of 17:54.

The girls team failed to place as a team at this meet. However, Blume took third overall with a time of 20:52.

The team’s second varsity meet took place in Farragut Park in Athol, Idaho, at the Timberlake Farragut Invitational.

The boys placed second overall as a team with Byrer placing first as an individual, coming in with a time of 15:55. Perez placed seventh overall with a time of 16:30, and Woodbury took fifteenth with a time of 17:16. However fellow Bengal, junior Connor Turpin, came in 16th place only 1.8 seconds behind Woodbury.

Byrer, who has earned first place honors the first two meets of season claims, “The varsity boys team has had a great season and we should continue having a great season moving toward districts.”

The girls competed in the same meet at Farragut, taking eighth overall as a team with a notable individual effort by Blume, who placed seventh overall with a time of 20:12.