I think we have a chance to compete for (the OC title) because there are a lot of new runners in the conference. (Defending champion) Chilton is going to be tough again. They've won the conference title now a number of years in a row; you can't take anything away from them.

Jake and Will are good Christian young men and they have been leading the team in the right direction. Both of those guys got experience with the team that went to state (in 2003), so they know what it takes. We do a lot of team running and those guys are talking to our younger kids.

We've picked up a couple kids that went out for track last year, and they should help us. We have a time trial before each meet to get our top seven spots and that keeps the door open for anybody on the team to step up. We have a good-sized team and they have really been pushing each other.

We had to do some other things at that point, but we were still OK and had a chance to win the game.

I think he sees it as a way to get away from all the distractions. It's a chance for them to focus on basketball.

As we build out towards some of the areas where they still remain, the chance of someone encountering a panther may increase.