Fishers Moving Fast

Most new high schools don't do this sort of thing. Their sports teams are usually building from the bottom up, hoping to squeak out a win here or there. The football team might go 0-for, and their basketball brethren likely will finish near the bottom of the standings. The Fishers boys cross country team has sped things up a bit. Two years ago, the team didn't exist. Last year, it won a sectional title and finished seventh at the state meet - without a senior. Now, they're the top-ranked squad in Indiana. "As far as a second-year (school) and being No. 1, it's definitely a great experience for us," Fishers coach Rob Seymour said. "We could not be more fortunate because ... you know we're not going to take years to have high expectations. The kids will meet high expectations much easier when they see the result, and they're getting to see results much quicker now. That's an advantage for us to be in." The Tigers have lived up to their top billing throughout the season. Junior Drew Shields, who finished 13th at state last year, led a 1-2-4-5 finish for the team at the Hamilton County meet, and senior Cale Allen finished third at the State Preview meet to help the Tigers win both events. Fishers showed off its talent out-of-state as well, easily winning the 15-team Midwest Meet of Champions in Ohio. Allen was third and Shields fourth at the invitational. So how did it happen so quickly? Well, it helps that the new school was built in Hamilton County, an area known for its cross country tradition. And being able to draw some of their runners from perennial powerhouse Hamilton Southeastern can't hurt. "This county is very strong in distance running, much stronger than the school corporation has ever been," Seymour said. "We're also pretty fortunate that we have a good group that we inherited, a lot of athletic kids. Not necessarily just cross country runners, but we were able to piece them together to make a very successful team." Seymour has found the quick success to be a great motivator. The runners can see the finish line, so to speak, and are eager to cap their meteoric rise with a state title. "It's easier to be able to sell your kids on hard work when you've got Scott Lidskin coaching Westfield and you've got Chuck Koeppen at Carmel and all these programs - they're just getting better and better," Seymour said. "It's easy to get the kids out and get them in the offseason, get them working hard and doing what they need to be doing." For the former Hamilton Southeastern runners now at Fishers, a focus on the team also has played a big role in their success. "I feel that this team has put a lot more effort into trying to be the best they can be for when the time counts," said senior Tyler Stegman, who finished fourth at the county meet this season. "Since we're all pretty much packed together as a team, we kind of all push each other. At HSE we kind of had our lead runners like Justin Roeder and Jordan Kyle who led the way, but we never were able to keep up with them. With this, we're able to keep each other ready and train each other better." Added Allen, a member of the HSE team that finished ninth at state in 2005: "I think there's a lot more of a team environment. We're all pretty close, and so that just kind of makes it a lot easier to train together." After the seventh-place showing at state last year, the training got a little more intense. With increased expectations and No. 1 ranking on their backs, coach Seymour admitted a few changes were made. "There's a lot of different things that take place being a No. 1 team, and we address all those things with the kids," he said. "We've done some things different this year with training, we've added some things that specifically address the fact that, hey, you're No. 1 and now people are gunning for you and how do we handle that attention. How do we stay composed and focused on the right things, and not let that overexposure take its toll on you?" Seymour said he's increased the team's training volume and holds weekly meetings to talk about the mental side of training and racing. It's working so far for the state's top cross country squad. "It's definitely an honor to be ranked No. 1, but we're not going to hold it in too high a regard because at the end of the day we know it's just a number, and it really matters about what you do at the state finals," said Allen, who finished 27th at state last year. "And that's what we're definitely geared towards. We've got a long run in mind, so we're just trying to set ourselves up right now to perform the best come state championships."