North Rockland senior Brett Bernard knows this is his last chance to leave his mark on the cross country team.

After taking a backseat to some of the Red Raiders' top cross country runners who brought the program to new heights over the past four years, Bernard is looking to overcome an injury from last season and lead the young team to its fourth straight county title.

Bernard is focused on staying healthy after he sustained a stress fracture in his right foot that sidelined him for a majority of the 2010 cross country season.

"It was devastating," he said. "Especially after coming off a strong sophomore year, I was looking forward to being one of top runners in the state and prove myself as a great runner that year.

"Now I have to redeem myself and prove myself as a strong runner all over again."

While the Red Raiders graduated their top runner in James Naglieri, Bernard will be in the mix to take over that spot. With a ton of talent emerging on the team, he's not alone.

"I'm not sure who will be our No. 1 runner this year," North Rockland coach Barry Baloga said. "We are fortunate to have a pretty young pack that aren't too far from him. But in our early runs, he's showing me the sort of look of a champion."

Senior Jon Miklos has also made enormous strides since joining the varsity team as a freshman and he expects to be near the top of the pack. He went from running cross country just for the fitness aspect of the sport to becoming a big contributor on the team.

"I would say what put me over the top was determination and hard work," Miklos said. "I trained during off-days and throughout the summer and I listened to coach every day."

Sophomores Liam Purdy and Asaad Jeffrey were the JV's top runners last year and have shown enough promise to give both Bernard and Miklos competition in the top tier.

"Either one of them could be our top man," Baloga said. "They are talented. They learned about running and being a distance runner just last year and became in tune with what being a distance runner's lifestyle is all about."

North Rockland will be focusing on its dual meets more than usual this season; Baloga feels it will be a good way to judge what his young team is made of and how it measures up against the rest of the county.

"Dual meets will show how competitive these guys will be," Baloga said. "We aren't going to just show up and be there as we've done with past teams. We hope to compete with the good teams in the county, build off those and be at our full potential by the time county and sectionals come around."

Season at a glance

Five teams to watch

Brewster: The Bears have moved down to Class B and are loaded with six of their top seven back from last season's Section 1 Class A title team, including the first-, second- and fourth-place finishers in sectionals.

North Rockland: Barry Baloga's Red Raiders, who won their program-record third straight county championship and finished second behind Arlington in the AA sectionals last season, are now in A and have potential No. 1s in Brett Bernard, back after an injury-plagued junior year, fellow senior Jon Miklos, and Liam Purdy, one of two promising sophomores along with Asaad Jeffrey.

Pearl River: Coach Mike Kiernan likes his depth with four second-team all-county runners returning from his Section 1 Class B title team — senior Joe Clinton and junior Brian Edsall, both also all-state runners, plus seniors Kieran Brennan and Stephen McNiff.

Somers: The deep Tuskers, the defending Westchester County champs and second-place finishers behind Brewster in the Class A sectionals, are in B and have five strong returnees — seniors Scott Friedman, Ryan Matsumoto, David Sammel and Kai Crannell, the reigning Class B steeplechase champ, and junior Justin Zorn.

Suffern: Joe Biddy, the Mounties' 43rd-year coach, said, "Rockland is going to be the most competitive it's been in years," and his team should be one of the reasons with senior returnees Evan Ward, Shawn Vettom, Kyle Collins, Mike Maidman and Ryan Cross.

Five athletes to watch

Charlie Carr, Brewster: The senior finished second in the section in Class A and eighth at the state meet last season to make second-team all-state, and he's coming off a spring season in which he won the sectional title in the 1,600 meters.

Joe Dinan, Tappan Zee: The junior was the Rockland outdoor winner in the 3,200 after placing seventh in the Class A sectionals in cross country and making sixth-team all-state.

Justin Maguire, Brewster: The senior has been running up the miles in training after a breakout season in which he won the Section 1 Class A championship, finished fifth at the state meet and earned first-team all-state, all-section, all-league and was named The Journal News 2010 Westchester/Putnam boys cross country runner of the year.

Marc Violone, Byram Hills: The senior, the reigning Westchester and Class B sectional outdoor champ in the 1,600, came in second at sectionals and sixth at the state meet last season in cross country, and made first-team all-state.

Brendan Wortner, Dobbs Ferry: The senior took the Section 1 Class C title and placed fifth at the state meet on the way to first-team all-state honors.

Three questions about the season

What's new with the classes?

AA has been eliminated in cross country, leaving four classes — A, B, C and D.

When and where are the sectional, state and Federation meets?

The sectionals are set for Nov. 4 at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, the states for Nov. 12 at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High in Verona and the Federation event for Nov. 19 at Bowdoin.

Can any teams derail Brewster in Class B?

Pearl River, Somers and Tappan Zee could be prime threats.