The ACGC cross country teams will be hosting their home invitational tonight in Guthrie Center.

In the most recent cross country rankings from the Iowa Association of Track Coaches, the Charger boys team moved up two spots from number 14 to number 12 in Class 1A. The girls team was also included in the “Teams to Watch” section for the first time this season.

On the individual side, senior Noah Nelsen slipped to number eight on the boys side, while sophomore Kate Crawford fell to her lowest mark on the season at the number five spot. Senior Lauryn Embleton also joined Crawford in the top 25, coming in at number 24.

The gold and black will run on their home course for the first time this season, but it won’t be the last as their home course was selected as one of the state qualifying courses for the state meet next month. Head Coach Colin Shawgo says it will certainly be an advantage to run on their home course. “We’re really focused on training on our course as much as we can. It gives us a huge advantage when it comes time to actually qualify for state because we have one of the more unique courses in the state of Iowa.”

The Charger Cross Country Invitational begins with the girls race at 4:30 and the boys to follow at 5pm from Guthrie Center.