The Prairie Fire cross country teams go into the new season with their sights set on moving up in the Midwest Conference standings.

The two squads, under the direction of second-year head coach Alex Moreno, showed improvement last year and plan to continue that trend in 2013. "I would like to move each team up a notch from last year's Midwest Conference finish," he said. "That would put our men's team fifth and women's team eighth. I think we can do that."

Leading the Prairie Fire men's squad is senior co-captain Gabe Moreno, a two-time All-Midwest Conference selection. Sophomore Elizabeth Reyes had a break-out first year for the women's team by setting a new school record in the 6K. She already owns five of the top 10 fastest 6K race times in school history.

The Knox men's team returns six runners from last season and welcomes 10 newcomers. The women's squad has eight runners back from the 2012 campaign and seven new additions.