National Scholastic Athletics Foundation

This is the sixth Fall 2013 edition of our new NSAF weekly feature on nationalscholastic.org: the Emerging Elites of the Week.  The New Balance Nationals Indoor and Outdoor meets have become known for the ever-expanding and improving competition in the divisions of the same name.  Similarly, the NSAF seeks to give weekly recognition to track and field and cross-country athletes reaching new and exciting competitive levels with their recent performances.

This week we honor the fast-rising runner-up performers from two of the country's biggest races on opposite ends of the nation (photos by Carolee Gregg and John Nepolitan).

 

Female – Fiona O'Keeffe, Davis HS Class of 2016, Davis CA

2nd, 17:17 (5k), ASICS Clovis Invitational, Woodward Park, Fresno CA

Davis HS (Davis, Calif.) under Coach Bill Gregg has had a long tradition of outstanding individuals and teams in California.  Laurynne Chetelat, class of 2008, set the gold standard with her 16th at Foot Locker Finals and an eye-popping senior track season that included a 9:52 3,200 and a 6th in the World Junior 3k.  Of the female distance who have passed through the San Joaquin Section school since, current soph Fiona O’Keeffe (right, photo by Carolee Gregg) might be the best since.

After finishing 6th at D1 state as a frosh last fall, O’Keeffe was a surprise qualifier for Foot Locker Finals.  Injury struck at the worst time, however (see below), as it also would last spring while she was preparing for the state 3,200 – preventing her from besting her 10:40.17 PR.  This fall, however, O’Keeffe has come back stronger, showing improved speed and consistency while winning the seeded race at Stanford and finishing 2nd at Clovis only to 3-time state and 2-time NXN champ Sarah Baxter.

A few thoughts from Fiona:

On getting started in cross-country and her athletic background:  I got started with running in fifth grade, when I was old enough to join our school's track team.  My first year of cross country was in sixth grade, and I loved it right away!  I competed for both my school and the Buffalo Babes running club in junior high, running about 3-4 days a week.  When I was younger, I did a bit of soccer, but I never pursued it seriously (and it's a good thing too, because I have zero coordination).

On the Davis distance running tradition, running for Coach Bill Gregg, and what it’s been like growing on and with the team:  Joining the team as a freshman honestly couldn't have been much better, because the older girls on the team were so welcoming and really made me feel like a part of something very special. This year, I hope that I've been able to play my part in keeping that inclusive and caring team atmosphere going.
And I couldn't ask for more a more supportive coach and teammates.  All of the girls that I run with are amazing people, and each one of them brings so much to our team.  Coach Gregg (we call him Bill) has helped me through some frustrating experiences as a runner, and he helps foster our great team dynamic.  I trust him fully as a coach; he's so knowledgeable and inspiring.  We usually have two harder workouts each week, and we're not super high-mileage.  I feel so lucky to be running on the team at Davis!

On overcoming difficult racing experiences, such as her DNF at Foot Locker Finals last year and finishing 22nd in state 3,200, and what she’s learned from them:  Unfortunately, I got injured going into both Foot Locker Finals and the 3,200 at state meet.  I wasn't sure in the days leading up to either of those races if I'd even be able to get on the line.  Foot Locker in particular was a disappointing race – the feeling of dropping out of a national competition is not one that I ever want to repeat.  After state meet in track, I spent most of the summer getting healthy, so the time off made me appreciate each opportunity that I have to compete.  I feel very fortunate to be running without injury right now.

On her victory at Stanford, her fast runner-up to Sarah Baxter at Clovis and what she took away from those races:  At both Stanford and Clovis, I just wanted to get out there and run as well as I could, and score as few points as possible.  Honestly, it was a bit surprising to be out in front at Stanford, but everything fell into place after about the first mile.  Sarah Baxter is phenomenal, but I knew that it would be a great opportunity for competition with everyone in the race.  I was really happy with the individual and team outcome at Clovis.

On team and individual goals for the rest of the season:  I'd like to stay healthy and continue to improve on my performances from last year.  Getting second place as a team at Clovis was really encouraging, but third place was just one point behind us, so we have some work ahead of us!  We want to be competitive at the league, section, and statewide level going in to the rest of the season.

Male – Bryce Millar, Fayetteville-Manlius HS Class of 2015, Manlius NY

2nd, 12:21.1 (2.5M), Manhattan Invitational Eastern States Championship, Van Cortlandt Park, NYC

When a lot of folks think of Fayetteville-Manlius XC (Manlius, N.Y.), they think about Coach Bill Aris’ 7-time national champion girls.  But his boys have been nearly as impressive, making multiple NXN Finals appearances and developing a tradition of individuals capable of winning titles at every level – even national championships.  While Nick Ryan was finishing his fabulous career last spring, following the great Alex Hatz (2010 Nike Indoor and New Balance Outdoor national mile champ), already the sharp-eyed fan could see the next F-M standout beginning to emerge.  Could Bryce Millar (right, photo by John Nepolitan), still just a junior, be next?

Last fall as a soph, Millar was 4th in the Class A state meet and 8th at NXN NE, supporting Ryan’s triumphs as their teams were 2nd (by a point) at state and won at Bowdoin.  A 16th-place team finish at the Finals followed, then indoors Millar improved to 9:25.05 for 3,200 (also has a 4:21.29 1,600 best from 2012), but had some issues outdoors (see below).  After a great summer, however, Millar is running better than ever this fall – highlighted by runner-up finishes at McQuaid (14:45.1 3M) and Eastern States (12:21.1 2.5M, 48 seconds faster than 2012).  Oh, and by the way, the team is running terrific, too.  After the close runner-up finish to record-setting CBA at Easterns, US#5 (DyeStat) F-M is in the national championship conversation.

A few thoughts from Bryce:

On the way the Easterns race unfolded and how he felt about getting 2nd:  The race was very intense.  For most of the time, I just focused on trying my best to stay right with the lead pack, since there were several guys all together for pretty much the whole race.  Since this race was full of so many fast runners, I went into it thinking that there are probably 15 guys who could win this race on any given day. So I just wanted to try and keep myself in contention for the whole race.  I was very pleased with the way the race went.  With my team having a pretty good day, and me being able to contribute to that, just made it very exciting.

On coming back from some sophomore year struggles in outdoor track (which followed outstanding indoor and XC success):  In outdoor, I had gotten too ambitious, trying to push myself to improve very quickly, and also had gotten sick in the middle of the season.  So after a couple of rough races and talking to my coach, we figured to just stop stressing so much and just recover and try to run my best.  Following that plan, I was able to help my 4x800 team get to States and medal. 
Our summer training was very good.  We all came into it knowing that with us graduating key contributors of last year’s team, that not a lot of attention would be on us.  So we just trained and worked very hard all summer.  This was probably the best summer training I’ve had.

On his background in the sport and athletics in general:  I got started in the sport when I was very young, through running fun runs while my dad would be running his races.  However, the first sport I ever did was football.  I grew up dreaming of playing for the Green Bay Packers.  One Christmas, all I wanted was for my dad to throw me 250 passes, and that’s exactly what we did.  I first joined the team the summer going into my 8th-grade year.  At first I was nervous, because the training was a lot different than what I had done in modified track.  But once I got to know the guys on the team, and got to know the hard work you need to put in to be good, I started feeling more comfortable and confident.

On following F-M’s other recent national standouts, like Alex Hatz and Nick Ryan, and what he learned last year as a soph on the Ryan-led team:  It’s been great following guys like these.  I still remember when Alex came up to talk to me during one of my modified track practices.  I always looked up to him ever since then.  Having Nick as a training partner when I got on varsity was a nice experience.  He taught me how to be competitive with everything I do and how to push myself just that little bit extra.

On having Andrew Berge improving so dramatically and joining him as a 1-2 punch for F-M:  It’s been great having Andrew doing so well.  He’s been doing a great job all season.  While he might be an unknown to many people outside our team, we’ve always known he was capable of these performances.  He has dealt with a string of injuries over the past couple of years.  I am so glad that he is healthy and having the season he deserves for his senior year.

On team and individual goals for the rest of the season:  Our team goal is the same that it has been all year: just keep improving every race. My individual goals are the same as the team, to just keep trying to improve and help my team succeed.