In year’s past, the Guthrie Center cross country team has begun their season running at early bird meets in Council Bluffs, or the Iowa State University race, hosted by Gilbert. This year, they wanted to stay home. Activities Director Shane Arp says he made some phone calls to other 1A and 2A schools to see if anyone was interested in running at Guthrie Center, and the response was tremendous. The season opening race will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday at Guthrie Center High School and will feature teams from Guthrie Center, Adair-Casey, Audubon, Colfax-Mingo, Des Moines Christian, East Union, Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton, Griswold, Lenox, Martensdale-St. Marys, Mount Ayr, Ogden, Panorama, Southwest Valley, West Central Valley, West Harrison, AHSTW and Paton Churdan.