Columbus, IA- The Iowa Association of Track Coaches (IATC) released their Iowa High School Cross Country Coach of the Year and At-Large Coach of the Year honors and one of our local coaches earned the recognition.
The Columbus boys’ team did not have a superstar on their team, but they ran as a unit, resulting in head coach Steve Riley garnering At-Large Coach of the Year honors for Class 1A in his 12th season at the helm.
The Wildcats finished in 6th place as a team at the state meet with 227 points, which was an improvement of three spots for their actual state ranking. Ryan Villa led the team for most of the season as he posted a time of 17 minutes and 34 seconds, which was good enough for 50th place.
The team also consisted of Cade Storm, Victor Tovar, Kevin Villa, Drake Marin, Elias Gonzalez Bravo, and Elias Duran. Riley also took home Class 1A At-Large Coach of the Year along with Scott Dennler for the Columbus’ boys’ team success during the 2025 track season.