Like most fall sports, cross country begins practice well before the school year starts with the first meet often coming before the first day of school.

“We have to start a couple weeks before school starts because we have our first meet typically the Saturday before school starts,” girls’ cross country coach Amanda Byers said. “So we have to be ready before then, but just being able to put the mileage on before our first meet.”

Both girls’ and boys’ teams are hoping to send runners to state once again.

“The girls are really strong and going to be really competitive and still really young so I’m really excited to see how they do at their first meet,” Byers said.

“This season, I think the sky’s the limit,” boys’ cross country coach Steven Friar said. “As long as they keep working hard and showing up and feeding into what we’ve been teaching them, they will do pretty well.”

Along with the coaches, many of the runners have high expectations for the season.

“My goal is to place top 10 at state, and I think I’m going to do pretty well individually,” Carrie Fish said. “I really hope that I can help bring my team to state with me too.”

The FISD Invitational is the traditional start to the cross country season but rain washed out this year’s event.

“Training is going good, but we haven’t had our first meet yet,” senior Josh Akin said. “Everyone is working hard, so they just have to keep putting in the work everyday.”