The secret to F-M cross country's success: There is no secret

Tom Leo and Donnie Webb / The Post-Standard, December 10, 2010 8:21 a.m.

There is no magic formula when it comes to the success of the Fayetteville-Manlius High School cross country teams, as much as people want to believe there is, says Hornets coach Bill Aris.

There are reasons F-M has dominated the sport on local, regional and national levels, but no secrets, no cult-like control over the athletes and no absurd workouts the team is forced to endure.

The F-M girls team recently won its fifth consecutive national championship at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore., placing five runners among the top 29 overall. The boys finished second nationally in a separate event.

F-M’s performance was so dominating in Oregon that there were rumors of performance-enhancing drugs, much to Aris’ disbelief.

“I laughed at first when I heard it,” Aris said, “but then I got a little irritated that people would insinuate that about our clear, honest, sincere and very clean program. When people don’t understand, they make stuff up.”