The Warrenton boys cross country team opened its 2017 season with an eighth-place finish last Wednesday in the Fleet Feet Cross Country Classic at the Battlegrounds in Wright City.Freshman Ben Sommers led the Warriors with an 11th-place finish (11 minutes, 48.47 seconds).“Ben did a great job for it being his first high school race,” Warrenton Head Coach Jeremy Collins said. “I really didn’t know what to expect from him because we ran against some of the best runners in the state with Ayden Nichols from Hannibal and runners from Rock Bridge, one of the best teams in the state.”Collins said that as the season goes on, he expects Sommers to continue to finish near the top of the pack in races.Warrenton sophomore Paul Sanders joined Sommers in the top 20, finishing 17th in 12:17.36.Other Warrenton runners included junior Michael Hackmann (13:36.89), freshman Nathan Hackmann (14:35.35), senior Peyton Benfield (14:59.46), senior Ryan Spoede (15:09.13) and freshman Trent McDaniel (15:52.65).“Paul and Michael I think are stronger when it comes to running the 5K distance than last year,” Collins said. “As the season goes on, they will get stronger and I think they will have great seasons.  They are also key runners when it comes to how well our team is going to do this season.”The Warriors competed at Battlegrounds without two of their best runners, sophomore Corbin Estes and junior Nathan Nordwald.“We had two of our top four runners sitting out this meet because of injuries, so when they can race again it will definitely help when it comes to the team standings,” Collins added. “I was really pleased with the effort for the first meet. I think if we can get healthy, the team might surprise some people toward the end of the season.”On the girls side, sophomore Lexi Frederick led the Warriors to a 10th-place finish.Frederick finished 24th in 14:58.23.“Lexi ran about a minute faster last year, but it is tough to compare cross country races,” Collins said. “The meet director said it was a tough course because of the gradual uphill on the second mile, and it seemed like the footing was tough. “She ran well, though, and I was happy with how she competed for the first meet of the year. Now we can start to measure where she is to other runners in our conference and district.”Other Warrenton finishers included junior Alejandra Rodriguez (16:46.08), freshman Emma Lewis (17:30.08), sophomore Karlie Patterson (17:37.93), sophomore Anahi Saldana (17:48.49), sophomore Hannah Hoelscher (17:58.79), freshman Gabby Scruggs (18:30.30) and junior Olivia Scales (20:06.47).“The girls team is still very young and inexperienced, so I really think they can improve a lot throughout the season,” Collins said.The Warriors return to action Sept. 1 at Fort Zumwalt North.“It is a smaller race, but there are usually some good runners,” Collins said. “It is a chance for us to just get better and just become more experienced racing and seeing other teams that we will face at conference and districts.”.