Five runners are out this season for cross country at Melcher-Dallas. The Saints had two state qualifiers from last season with one returning, that being J’Lyn Knutson from the girls squad. Head Coach Amy Stuart tells KNIA Sports she will rely on Knutson’s leadership and knowledge heavily this fall, even to the extent as a second coach.

Stuart:
“She will definitely take on almost that second coach role with ideas she’s learned along the way with therapy and she may even teach me a few things with what she’s learned with working with the coaches at Excelerate Performance, and she’s going to be a big piece of that.”

Knutson gutted out a state tournament appearance last season battling a hip injury that Stuart says she is still doing physical therapy on. The Saints first meet is September first at Albia.