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Bill Aris reflects on achievement of 2014 NXN sweep - DyeStat

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DyeStat.com   Jan 3rd 2015, 10:44am
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Aris reflects on F-M's crowning achievement 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

At the end of a long plane ride home, Bill Aris stood in the concourse of the airport in Syracuse and gathered his boys together.

They were national champions of high school cross country, an achievement not exactly new for Aris or his victorious Fayetteville-Manlius girls teams (who were on a different flight), but a first for the boys.

Aris told them it had been a pleasure to work with them, and before departing, had just a few words:

"Fellas, while we still have indoor and outdoor track, officially this is the last time you guys will be together (as a cross country team)," Aris said. "You're the best team we've ever had. You got the job done at nationals."

The guys on the team had referred to themselves over the course of the 2014 season as 'a band of brothers,' and they had come to the point of going separate ways. There were handshakes and hugs and the boys reunited with their families and dispersed.

In the wake of the NXN Championships in Portland on Dec. 6, Aris had received well wishes via text, email and phone from people all over the country, some of whom he didn't even know. But he was gratified by the names of former athletes who had sent messages of love and congratulations.

One that the coach thought humorous came from Nick Ryan, one of Fayetteville-Manlius' all-time great runners. The 2013 graduate had high school bests of 4:05 in the 1,600, 8:55 in the 3,200 and was top-15 twice at NXN.

"I can't believe it, coach," Nick said. "I'm the only Ryan sibling who is not a national champion."

That's because his three siblings – Peter (jr.) of the boys team and Olivia (sr.) and Sophia (fr.) of the girls team – all became champions on Dec. 6.

Fayetteville-Manlius' ongoing success at NXN – and now, its domination – is the latest example of a master coach at work.

 

Projecting Serenity

Aris wandered through the building at Glendoveer Golf Course that housed all of the team cubicles in the final hour before the start of NXN's championship races.

The successful coach from Fayetteville-Manlius (N.Y.) with the tall, lean frame and white beard knew that he had two chances to win that Saturday morning in Portland. His girls had already won seven times in 10 years at this meet and his boys were poised to win for the first time if things fell their way.

As hundreds of athletes and coaches buzzed around the large room, Aris spotted some unused physio tables in the center of everything. He casually walked over to them, sat down, swung his legs up and laid down to rest as if he were prepared to take a nap.

He knew that he was in plain sight of everyone, especially his own athletes.

"I was thinking to myself 'How can I set the tone for them to be relaxed and maintain perspective?'" Aris said. "I didn't pace around, or dictate to them. I left them alone and went over to one of those tables, laid down, relaxed and composed."

Aris closed his eyes just a moment before he heard the unmistakable clicks from multiple cameras.

The coach turned to face them.

"This is my million-dollar photo," one of the photographers said.

Aris resumed his Zen-like vibe, unsure if his own athletes had seen him or were perhaps even laughing at him. If they were, so be it.

 

Pulling As One

Aris got his first taste of coaching as an assistant in 1992 and began to adopt 1950s coach Percy Cerutty's principles as a template for training and life around 2000. He became the head coach at F-M in 2004, the first year that Nike began to hold a national championship for high school cross country teams.

His training regimen, his way of doing things (the 'Stotan' way), and the way he handles his athletes – has all been thoroughly examined and vetted over the past decade as his girls won seven straight NXN championships from 2006-2012. There are no secrets. No magic workouts or strength exercises.

Aris succeeds by braiding strands (individuals) into rope (teams) and then convincing his bands of brothers and sisters how much weight they can pull.

Aris talks about selflessness as one of the crucial elements of his teams' success and it's not always an easy trait to come by. Breaking down barriers and creating unity is the coach's never-ending mission. It requires an examination of spiritual, mental and emotional factors that can cause strands to adhere or repel.

"I don't mean to imply any negative connotation that people might have when they hear selflessness," Aris said. "The idea behind selflessness is that you're important, you're a special person. I want to make you the best person overall that you can be, and then by adding to the equation you build synergy and a certain dynamism that occurs when everyone is pointed in the same direction."

Countless coaches have aspired to those ideals on courts and fields around the world and Aris would no doubt push for the same selflessness if he were a basketball coach.

But cross country is the sport where Aris' ideas and methods take shape and then they are expressed through the teams' performances.

"Cross country is the purest team sport there is," Aris said. "That's the way I feel."

Aris uses the indoor track season primarily as a training period for the spring outdoor season. As the head track and field coach at F-M, Aris is committed to a robust track season with all of its individualized goals.

"Track is important but cross country preparation is the foundation of the whole year," Aris said.

F-M is a high-achieving public school renowned for strong academics, art and music as well as sports. The Hornets' success in cross country, while exceptional, fits into a broader context of state championships in a variety of sports.

The cross country team typically only has 25 or so members of each gender. There are no cuts. But those who join are asked to make a substantial commit. It's hard work and it isn't for everybody.

"A lot of kids would rather be on the bench in another sport than do this," Aris said. "I'm always looking to cultivate any new potentials but I'm not twisting any arms. There's a dedication requirement to being in our program."

 

Coming To Fruition

Aris arranges training to build toward championship season. Sectionals, States, sometimes the Federation meet, NXN regionals and nationals. F-M trains to take them down one at a time like dominoes.

And the 2014 teams, while very good, were not the most talented Aris has had.

"Every part of the process that we've preached comes with annual refinements and this year it came to fruition better than any year before," the coach said.

This team took selflessness to a higher place than before. The girls cared about the boys' success as much as their own. And the boys fed off the girls' celebration, using that elation to fuel their own drive off the starting line. At the end, it was one mission accomplished instead of two.

The F-M teams didn't need to follow a tightly-written script. It would have seemed unlikely that the first Manlius girl would come across in 46th place overall and the team would still win handily. But after a long string of mostly individual non-scoring individuals, Manlius' five finished with a 12-second compression.

"That girls team was not the best that we've ever had," Aris admitted, comparing the 2014 championship girls team to its predecessors. "The best ones were in 2009 and 2010. This one was about as good as 2008. But we've never had a 12-second compression. These girls had average-to-above-average abilities, above average fitness and above average unity to do it for one another."

The boys might have been undone when its leader all season, senior Bryce Millar, began to struggle in the late stages of the race. But Millar gutted it out for his team and several others – notably Peter Ryan, Kyle Barber and Adam Hunt – all picked up the slack.

"Bryce was thinking about his team, honestly. As much as he was wiped out afterward there was satisfaction on his face," Aris said. "If Bryce had won the race and the team lost, I don't think he would have had that jubilation."

The best moment for Aris was on the stage, receiving Nike's trophies, with 14 members of his team.

"We've always been a co-ed program and I've always treated them as athletes, not boys and girls," Aris said. "That moment captured the essence and fabric of our program. I think they felt that more than they ever had before."

Aris knows the work that goes into this and feels duty-bound to commend the other programs and coaches who were close. He wants to win but he is modest enough that he doesn't want to linger too long in the limelight. It's the antithesis of the selflessness that he preaches.

"I was impressed with Great Oak," Aris said. "They've made a big improvement and I expect them to be very strong next year. For Wayzata (girls) to get sixth, given the losses they had from last year's team, I thought that was impressive. There were some darn good performances.

"To say we're national champions in both genders, it's humbling. It really is. I don't take it for granted."

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