F-M never stops appreciating what it has

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

On the Monday of Thanksgiving week, heavy snows closed Fayetteville-Manlius High School in upstate New York.

Bill Aris, coach of the Hornets’ boys and girls cross country teams, was up early to work in his driveway. He worked for two hours with his shovel and his snow blower. He took a break and then went at it again for two more hours. More fresh snow was coming down.

Practice for the cross country teams would be moved to Tuesday, although Green Lakes State Park would probably be unusable, Aris figured. And Wednesday should be normal, but he’d have to find an alternative to the park trails that his runners prefer.

None of it was cause for real worry.

On Saturday, Aris will lead his girls and boys teams into the NXR New York meet at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, about three-quarters of the way to New York City from Syracuse. For eight straight years, the New York regional has served as a steppingstone to qualifying both F-M teams to Nike Cross Nationals in Portland.

In 2014, Aris led his teams to a first ever sweep at NXN.

In 2015, his girls won their ninth national championship in 10 years.

And this season, the girls have been ranked US#1 all season with two front-running freshmen (Claire Walters and Phoebe White) and three juniors (Sophie Ryan, Palmer Madsen and Rebecca Walters). There has been a gulf between the top five and the 6-7 runners that Aris would surely love to close.

“Back in 2004, with my original Stotans, we had five boys and not one got injured, and the sixth and seventh were well off the pace,” Aris said. “They were all great guys. That’s similar to this year’s (girls) team. We’re five deep in effect.”

The boys team faces longer odds, but still warrants a chance to qualify for nationals for the 11th time in 13 years despite not advancing to this season's New York state meet. 

Staying Accountable 

Thanksgiving is a holiday that revolves around a dinner table laden with food.

It comes two days before NXR New York and nine days before nationals.

“We actually have a practice on Thanksgiving in the morning,” Aris said. “We get it over with quickly. It’s a moderate run and then they will go to their families.”

As for the turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, Aris has generally suggested to his athletes that they put it off for a couple of weeks. After all, they’ve been fueling their bodies for performance every week since base training started in early summer.

“If you go to Thanksgiving and stuff yourself, how are you going to feel two days later?” Aris asks.

Putting off pumpkin pie and other treats for a couple of weeks is a small sacrifice built upon many others in the pursuit of excellence for F-M runners.

Aris instructs his runners that they are accountable to their teammates. And from the Carter-Chapman-Malone years to the Fanning-Sischo-Brislin era to Farrell-Avery-Levy and on to the current group, selfless action is a continuous thread.

The girls have won 11 consecutive New York state titles.

“The (younger) runners learn from the older ones,” Aris said. “They learn from what they’ve seen, how to conduct themselves and how they compare. They get that at an early age and they come in knowing it. My summer program starts early and from the first day they are given an opportunity to buy into it, or not. But over time, they like it and they like the camaraderie.”

Aris has developed a schedule that works and methods for identifying kids he can work with, such as Phoebe White, a freshman who was a 400/800 runner last spring with little interest in cross country.

“It just evolves,” Aris said.

The coach doesn’t believe in building upon last year’s results. Runners graduate. Holes need to be filled.

“I erase all of it,” he said. “It starts over every year. You are re-inventing the wheel with some new kids and putting a team together every year. It’s a brand new team with brand new chemistry.”

There are just 20 girls in the F-M cross country program and there are no cuts. The boys team, which still has a shot at making it to nationals for a ninth straight time despite not advancing to the state meet, has only a dozen on this year’s roster.

Aris has always found enough kids talented enough and willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of something special. And a handful of families – the Ryans, the Chapmans, the Buchans, the Madsens, the Walters’ – have been tapped more than once for championship mettle.

Suggested Reading 

When the Louis Zamperini story, “Unbroken,” became a bestseller for author Laura Hillenbrand, Aris was so enthralled by it that he wanted every one of his runners to read it. This was two years before the movie came out.

“I made it required reading to every kid on my team,” Aris said. “If you really want to be in this program, on this team, this (book) represents the whole breadth, tone, soul and spirit of overcoming obstacles. And they all loved it.”

More recently, “The Boys In The Boat,” which documents the 1936 Olympic rowing team from the University of Washington, was also required reading.

“That book might have more to do with cross country running than any cross country book I’ve ever read,” Aris said.

Not long ago, senior Joe Walters asked his coach whether he had any more good book suggestions.

Aris thought about it for a bit and then dug out an old copy of “Never Quit,” the autobiography of 1930s track legend Glenn Cunningham, from his collection. Cunningham was badly burned as a boy and told he might never walk again.

“It’s a simple good little read,” Aris said. “What (Cunningham) overcame, it’s pretty humbling and (the story) might make you appreciate what you have even more.”

Walters reported back that he read the 143-page book in one sitting.