The last of five DODDS-Europe fall sports toes the starting line Saturday as the 2014 boys and girls cross country season opens its six-week run with six meets across three countries.

Here’s a look at some of the runners expected to contend for a European title Oct. 25 at Baumholder, Germany.

GirlsThere’s a perfect storm brewing in DODDS-Europe girls cross country. The dominant reigning champion, Baileigh Sessions of Patch, has moved on after winning her third straight European title as a senior.

But every member of the pack that closely followed her returns: the next five finishers from last year’s European championship race are back for another run at the crown.

With five seasoned competitors chasing one newly-vacant championship, this season might rank among the most competitive in recent memory.

The list of contenders starts with Ramstein senior Madison Morse. She posted the best time of the regular season last fall, a 19-minute 29-second effort Oct. 19 that was 17 seconds better than any other runner, including Sessions, was able to produce. But she slipped to second at the championship as Sessions completed her trifecta.

And just because Sessions is gone doesn’t mean Patch’s long-held grip on the top spot is bound to slip. Incumbent Panther Kelleen McGuinness will seek to upgrade her strong third-place showing in 2013 to the top spot this fall.

The return of Morse and McGuinness would be enough for an interesting race. But the field gets thicker from there with the return of last year’s respective fourth, fifth and sixth place European finishers: Kirsten Carson of Brussels, Kelly McCaskill of Ansbach and Marra Lopes of Lakenheath.

Meanwhile, the footsteps of the next wave of DODDS-Europe contenders fall ever louder. That contingent is led by sophomores Frances Gatterburg of Bitburg, last year’s ninth-place finisher, and Naples’ Katye Cairns.

BoysWhile the girls’ side of the sport is arguably more competitive than last year, the boys’ field has thinned. That leaves reigning champion Mitchell Bailey of Patch as a definitive preseason frontrunner.

Bailey’s margins of victory were thin last year. He posted the best time of the 2013 regular season with a 16:27 showing in an Oct. 5 race he won by a single second. He wrapped up his fall campaign in slightly more comfortable fashion with a 12-second victory at the European championship race. Now a senior, Bailey is back for more.

What’s unclear is who will give him a similar challenge.

Roster turnover has eroded the talent bases at the large schools that historically produce most individual cross-country title contenders. The affected programs include Wiesbaden, Kaiserslautern, Vilseck and Bailey’s own Patch squad, all of which lose top-15 finishers from last year’s race.

But Bailey won’t win the crown unopposed. Fourth-place European finisher Ryan Parker of Wiesbaden returns. Ramstein’s Harrison Adams is back after finishing eighth in last year’s title race, as are Royal teammates and fellow top-25 finishers John Casey and Luke Stotts.

Sophomore Eduardo Castaneda takes over the lead defending Division I team champion Vilseck. Bailey’s Panther teammate Alex Donnelly, meanwhile, offers in-house motivation. SHAPE’s Tobias Muxtfeldt, International School of Brussels’ Taichi Kimura and Baumholder’s Daniel Sparks are among the best smaller-school hopes for a top finish.

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripes

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