Hard work pays dividends in any high school varsity sport, but this is particularly true in cross country. And 10 Ipswich girls' varsity runners have already been busy during pre-season practice sessions, along with six IHS varsity boys.

That Tiger girls' roster lists just two senior girls, Chloe Jager and Makala DeRaad and there is a lone varsity senior boy, Taylor Thorson. But each team returns a lot of firepower and varsity experience. (The Ipswich girls indeed placed third in the 2020 State B and last year's IHS boys landed in eighth place at their state meet.)

"Both teams are hoping to...