BRODHEAD — The Cardinals return four of their top five runners on the girls cross country team, and three of five on the boys side.

“I hope we can place well in the conference again on both the boys and girls side, but most importantly that the individual athletes improve from last year,” said Curt Gratz, now in his 20th year at the helm.

Brodhead-Juda’s girls finished fifth in the Rock Valley in the fall of 2019, and the boys were sixth. The girls squad lost Carissa Purdue, its No. 4 runner, to graduate, while the boys saw it’s top two runners — Jacob Staffon and Carter Urness — run the final race of their high school careers.

“Our strength on our guys team will be our pack running. How close our pack ends up being to each other will determine where we end up as a team,” Gratz said. “We have a good group of talent, and we need to teach them to work together in races to have a strong team. They will need each other’s encouragement and motivation to get to the goals they have for themselves.”

The girls team has a strong core, Gratz said. Senior Madelynn McIntyre is one of the most accomplished runners in school history, reaching the state meet in each of her first three seasons. She was 21st in 2019.

“(The girls) will need to run as a close group to find success this year,” Gratz said. “Maddy McIntyre will be a strong front runner for us, but our success will really be based on how well the rest of the girls improve and work together.”

Returning runners for the boys team includes Sabian Blang, Brady Bruns, Josiah Engen, Jacob Lohmar and Kyle Braund. Joining McIntyre on the girls’ side are Lexi Lobeck, Gabi Ryser, Presleigh Arnold, Kyleigh Raupp, Ellie Riemer and Anna Skoumal.