Ted Stewart is a runner at Green Ridge High School. The boys' track & field team at Green Ridge won the state championship last year, but many of its stars have graduated. Now they are the underdogs, although Coach Bill Mallory is confident that Ted, Josh Johnson, and others can fill the gaps and compete with archrival Riverside High. Ted, however, will have to deal with his teammate Sonny Lamar who rarely has a kind word for anybody.