Southwestern Community College Head Cross Country Coach Trey Bruton recently announced the signing of four student-athletes to the Spartans' 2018-19 cross country program.

The four signees include two area standouts, Skyler Rawlings and Austin Lundy, from Nodaway Valley High School in Greenfield. Both individuals were members of this year's Class 1A state championship team. The other two signees include fellow Iowan Josh Carstens, from Panorama High School in Panora, and Evan Ouverson from the Rochester Home School in Minnesota.

Rawlings and Lundy will be joining forces with former Nodaway Valley teammate and current Spartan Shane Breheny, who is coming off one of the best cross country seasons in recent history for a Southwestern freshman.

Bruton looks for Breheny to be a leader for the team this fall.

"It will be nice having them close this summer and Shane there to lead, so they can push each other with summer training and build that base we need to be successful this fall," stated Bruton. "Skyler has shown he can run at a high level and push anyone in our top five; and Austin, who has improved so much in high school, has the potential to continue that growth at the collegiate level."

Carstens is no stranger to the other student-athletes on Southwestern's incoming roster, as he competed at the Iowa 1A level against many of them. Bruton said it will be nice for Carstens to be able to compete with them instead of against them. Carstens was a standout in his own right at Panorama and just came off of a 21st place finish at last fall's state cross country championships.

"Josh has a good work ethic and a level head," commented Bruton. "He will be a strong component to add the depth we were missing a bit with this year's team, because he is one of those guys who is going to be fairly consistent every week and we can always count on to put his best out there."

Ouverson was a key member of the state-qualifying Rochester Home School team in the state of Minnesota.

"Evan is a down to earth and driven individual. He is a versatile kid that will not only help us in cross country, but he will bring in some good mid-distance talent that will really be beneficial for us when we get to track season," mentioned Bruton.

Bruton said these individuals will provide a good base of athletes to add some much needed depth to the Southwestern roster.

"We established the foundation for our program to grow on with this year's team and expect big things as we move forward," stated Bruton. "With the addition of these fine young gentlemen, we have added some key components to an already talented group of returners for next season."

Bruton feels the sky will be the limit for the team this fall.

"It will all come down to how hard they work this summer to get ready to toe the line with some of the nation's best," summarized Bruton.