bell cow
n.— «But the goal is always the same, finish early and often. That, meanwhile, is the job of the “bell cow,” a term for the team’s lead runner who’s job it is to jump out early and interrupt another team’s pack.» —“Cross country siblings running the pack” by Justin L. Oliver in Texas A&M University North Texas e-News Nov. 4, 2005. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
If someone urges you to spill the tea, they probably don’t want you tipping over a hot beverage. Originally, the tea here was the letter T, as in “truth.” To spill the T means to “pass along truthful information.” Plus...
John in Dallas, Texas, wonders about the phrase Hail fellow well met. This expression combines two old phrases. The first is hail, fellow!, once a warm casual greeting. To be hail fellow with someone meant “to be on friendly terms with”...