The title defense for the No. 1 girls and the hunt for a trophy for the No. 2 boys begins this Saturday at Cedar Rapids Prairie for the Pella Cross Country teams.

The Dutch will see a variety of eastern Iowa schools on the path in that direction, with a handful of ranked teams in both fields, including:

Boys – #12 in 3A Clear Creek Amana, #13 in 3A Fort Madison, #19 in 3A Williamsburg, #20 in 2A Monticello, #2 in 4A Cedar Falls, #12 in 4A Cedar Rapids Prairie, and #19 in 4A Dubuque Senior

Girls – #13 in 3A Clear Creek Amana, #16 in 3A Williamsburg, #19 in 3A Western Dubuque, #2 in 2A Monticello, #13 in 4A Cedar Falls, #16 in 4A Linn-Mar.

Head Coach Doug Cutler says this is a great chance to see many of the eastern Iowa schools they otherwise won’t for a good majority of the regular season.

Projected varsity lineups:

Boys
Devon Browne, Kaiden Browne, Canaan Dunham, Jonah Ebersole, Mason Gaulke, Aren Hellbusch, Noah Schuknecht

Girls
Elsie Brenneman, Ruth Dunham, Marissa Ferebee, Lizzie Neumann, Chloe Punt, Mara Schiebout, Raegan Snieder

A full morning of races begin at 8 a.m. at Cedar Rapids Prairie High School. Read a full preview from the Dutch coaching staff here.