SANDPOINT — By the time you read this, the Sandpoint cross country team will already be running through Pine Street Woods.

That’s right, high school sports are back. After months of uncertainty and endless questions, the fall season is here.

Inside today’s Bee, you will find a 10-page insert previewing all of the teams in Sandpoint and Clark Fork. I spent the past week and a half interviewing athletes and coaches and Tuesday and Wednesday putting it all together. It was a lot of work and sleepless nights worrying about getting it done were aplenty, but it is now in the hands of our readers. And that’s all that matters.

In my stories, I touch on state hopes for every team. That’s part of my job, but the reality is those state championship events may not happen this fall due to the coronavirus. The great thing is the coaches and athletes realize that too and are just grateful to have an opportunity to compete. Grateful — I heard that word from every team, every kid and every coach. Because they know the sport they love could be taken away at any moment in the coming weeks and months.

OK, back to sports. The Bulldogs cross country team will be the first to compete this fall. Sandpoint takes on Timberlake in a dual meet at 9 a.m. today at Pine Street Woods.

Later in the day, the girls soccer team will step on War Memorial Field to face Lake City in their season opener. This is the official game on the new artificial turf at War Memorial Field. First kick is set for 4 p.m.

The boys soccer team will play their first match of the season at the exact same time, but they will be on the road.

For the boys and girls, this will be their first of three games against the Timberwolves this fall. With the 4A and 5A Inland Empire Leagues combining this season, Sandpoint volleyball and boys and girls soccer will play two matches against every school in the IEL, except for Moscow who canceled all fall sports.

To fill the void caused by the Bears forgoing the season, the Bulldogs have added additional games against teams in the IEL. And don’t be surprised if more games are added with all the uncertainty surrounding the season.

I could go on for days about how exciting it is to have high school sports back, but I’ll let my writing over the next week do the talking.

P.S.: The schedules included in the 2020 Fall Sports Preview aren’t completely accurate because they were updated after the special section had already been printed.