Grant Fisher One Month Into Pro Career, Eager For What Comes Next

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Five years ago, Grant Fisher was a prodigious young talent when he made his first trip to Beaverton, Ore. for Nike Elite Camp.

He had one Foot Locker title in his pocket and was on his way to a second in his senior year at Grand Blanc MI. He had not yet let go of soccer, the other sport he played at a varsity level in high school.

Much has changed since the summer of 2014 for Fisher, who continued on a trajectory from prep star to NCAA champion at Stanford, where he was a 12-time All-American.

And now he is a member of the Beaverton-based Nike Bowerman Track Club, where his teammates include Matthew Centrowitz, Evan Jager and Lopez Lomong.

“It’s really cool,” Fisher said. “Talk to any high school kids and they’ll say ‘Oh, I want to be a professional athlete.’ Realistically, I knew the odds were rather slim. But I was fortunate to have things turn out this way. Not that many years ago I was here as a kid looking up to everybody.”

The six weeks have been a whirlwind of transition.

Fisher finished second June 7 in the 5,000 meters behind Wisconsin’s Morgan McDonald at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.  

“I went back to campus and had finals for a few days,” said Fisher, who was wrapping up a degree in electrical engineering.

“Two days after that was graduation. A few days after that, I ended up signing with Nike. Two or three days after that I threw stuff in a storage unit and have spent the past three weeks at Park City.”

During his stretch of altitude training in Utah, Fisher has competed twice in the red-and-black BTC kit.

There was a fourth-place finish July 9 in the 5,000 meters at the Sunset Tour meet at Azusa Pacific (13:29.03) and an 11th-place finish in the 1,500 meters Friday at the Stumptown Twilight in Portland (3:43.57). FULL INTERVIEW

“It is super-fun seeing what the next level is,” Fisher said.

Also, a little bit taxing.

“It’s important to understand emotional and mental energy,” he said. “It’s an exciting time in my life to be sure. Going into the fall, it will be nice to have some stability again. In Park City, it’s kind of a temporary feel. It will be nice to lock into (coach) Jerry (Schumacher’s) training.”

For now, Fisher is grateful for his new opportunity and thankful that his path to get here wasn’t cut short.

“Dreaming big and having these thoughts, to have things work out the way they have is really cool,” Fisher said. “I’m really thankful for all of the people who helped me get here. I’m really happy with where I am. To reflect back on being a little kid dreaming big, what it would be like to run and that be your job, run and be with your friends, that’s the dream.”