The Adel-DeSoto-Minburn Girls Cross Country Team are gearing up for their first meet of the season on Saturday, as a heavy upperclassmen roster looks to contribute.

The Tigers have 22 girls on the roster, and 17 of them are upperclassmen, with nine juniors and eight seniors. The juniors include Addy Bjork, Allie Eggleston, Danielle and Lydia Georgick, Ella Gonnering, Avery Lenaghan, Karley Mattes, Grace Montag, and Alexa Williams. Senior Rhyan Miller uses different strategies in practices and a race to inspire her younger teammates.

“During practice, when you see or you can feel your teammates falling behind, you just encourage them to keep going to stay with you, and then when you’re done with whatever workout you had for the day, you give everyone high fives and tell them that they did good. And then for meets, it’s a lot of just hyping up before and after the races. Telling your teammates and your friends that they did so good, and a lot of being a hype man.”

The rest of the seniors consist of Brenna Seidl, Ella Popp, Haley Nelson, Alaina Nelson, Brecken Morse, Haley James, and Jaeley Doll. ADM was led by sophomore Elliotte Von Roden in 2024, and she’ll continue to find her stride this year. The Tigers open the season on Saturday, traveling to Johnston High School for the Sunrise Invitational beginning at 8am.