Pleasantville’s cross country squad will continue to show optimism for the next season with the amount of athletes returning.

The Trojans will be bringing back a lot of young runners, including Kurt Kuhnen, Tommy Booth, Brock Jones, and Jaydin Boone on the boys’ side. For the girls, they will be bringing back Kyleigh McConnell, Madilyn Rowson, Lauren Furnal, and Ali Archer. Coach Aaron Fichter tells KNIA Sports that he will be looking to build momentum off of the final month of the season.

“I was just happy with the last month especially. We had a huge number of kids out really. We had a large number of junior high through high school. It creates some challenges of its own. This is the largest group we have ever had. We had to try to navigate those challenges of experience versus new.

Pleasantville’s season ended at the state-qualifying meet in Pekin.