Bearden’s cross country teams will kick off their seasons Aug. 26 at Oak Ridge High School.

“If both boys and girls teams work hard and individually improve, it is a successful season,” head coach Patty Thewes said.

The boys bring back their top runner from a year ago in senior Nathaniel Blalock. Last season, the boys placed fifth in Region 2-AAA with Blalock placing seventh out of 107 runners with a time of 17:05.

“I think that the boys could have a really good season with Nathaniel leading and Preston Ruth running,” assistant coach Ashley Powell said. “And we’ve got a transfer from Texas, Nathan [Worley], so I think we could make a strong team.”