The Bainbridge Bearcat and Lady Cat cross-country teams graduated a lot of talent, but have plenty of young legs to have a strong 2018 season, according to coach Ridge Harper.

“We graduated a lot of kids, so the goals are to get a lot of these runners built back up. Get some miles on their legs,” said Harper. “And then we have a lot of students who really haven’t run before, so giving them the initiation to it and (showing them) really what it means.”

Harper, who is a teacher at Hutto Middle School, wants to bring his passion for teaching to the running trail. He wants to train runners to be safe, but also workout hard.

Though a schedule for the season isn’t nailed down, Harper assured the teams will be competing in meets around the region almost every weekend through the first week of November. The Bearcats and Lady Cats will be competing in Albany, Thomasville, Tallahassee and even a couple in Macon.

Taking leadership roles this season are Bearcat Stokes Moore and Lady Cat Vivanna Schuyler.

“Stokes Moore is one of our more experienced guys,” said Harper. “He’s really accepted that leadership role. He’s a huge encourager, which I like. He is a fun kid and a nice kid. He does a nice job.”

Schuyler, one of the fastest Lady Cat runners Bainbridge has ever had, has huge potential, according to Harper.

“She’s a really good girl, really smart and really takes that leadership stuff seriously, too,” said Harper.

There are plenty of other returning runners to help make this season a success, but Harper said he sees this year as a chance to build a strong foundation for future seasons.

“So in a couple of years, we will be competing a lot harder,” said Harper. “This year we are going to rebuild a little bit and learn a lot. But who knows, these kids could really run really fast, for all I know.”