It is almost axiomatic that the level of commitment the Coaches Aris have been able to ask of the kids has grown in measure with the success of the teams. You can build your expectations as your resume justifies it.
Bill and John Aris make no bones about the size of their program. They don't want a large program--they want a program of very highly committed kids.
To the extent that numbers are relevant, it may turn out that less really is more where the goals of this program are concerned. I assume they bring kids along at volumes and intensities of training that are appropriate to their running background. But I'm also guessing that, even for newcomers to the program, the volumes and intensities demanded are sufficient to disperse the chaff of uncommitted wannabes.
And, I surmise that it's not merely a commitment of kids, but a commitment of their families as well. Speculating here, there is likely an expectation that family trips and such are largely scheduled around the training schedule.
And that is probably just the tip of the iceberg. I'm inclined to believe it didn't start out that way. Once you have risen to a certain level of achievement, however, you can tack on all manner of expectations that would be perceived as ludicrous and inexcusable in the absence of a proven track record. To have seven girls running at the nearly-matched sort of level the F-M girls demonstrated in Portland this last weekend would require something on the order of a minimum of 50 miles per week of volume per individual.
I suspect it's more than that for at least most of those girls. If my hunch is correct, that would translate into a minimum of 7 hours of running per individual per week, plus an indeterminate amount of time spent on ancillary activities. And about diet? It is beyond question that the F-M girls have better dietary habits than almost the entire nation, and quite possibly almost the entire nation of high school cross country runners.
Certainly the coaches Aris have spoken about the importance of diet, though I'm at a loss to uncover any specifics of what their program asks of the kids. This is not to say, however, that the commitment to dietary soundness is forever and absolute. Worth noting is the fact that the F-M girls' table was scattered with empty pop cans, more than one per seat, following last Saturday's dinner at the Nike campus.
Apparently, winning the national title brought at least a brief reprieve from the usual dietary expectations of the program. Regarding the nature of their training, geography dictates that F-M runs a lot of hills. There simply aren't many other options in their neck of the woods.
Combine that with the fact that F-M identifies cross country as their point of emphasis among the three seasons cross country, indoor, and outdoor and you have a basic understanding of the fundamental orientation of their training. Perhaps a couple of observations on the personality types of the coaches are in order as well. Of the two, Bill Aris is both the more gifted speaker and the one more comfortable in front of a crowd.
Clearly, he believes in what he is doing--as all successful coaches do. Doubtless, he, like all humans, has private moments of self-doubt, but the public persona doesn't show much, if any, of that.
In my one experience of listening to John Aris, he seemed ill at ease with the task of being in front of a large group of people. Things are likely different in smaller, more intimate, settings such as you would find with a cross country team. Conclusions The fact that Fayetteville-Manlius can dominate the national scene of high school cross country for four years running and with no end in sight with a team numbering about 20 public high school student-athletes underscores one very important point--there is plenty of talent walking the hallways in every school of any reasonable size in this nation.
Unless your school is down around or fewer students, let's all stop making excuses about the sizes of our schools. The number one obstacle to great cross country performances for any school is getting the talent out of the hallways and onto the course. Clearly, F-M has done that--perhaps better than any other school in the nation.
And getting the right kids out for cross country requires a pied piper kind of personality. In addition, Eagle Hill is ranked 21 of 1, middle schools in the state; first for having the best middle school teachers in the Syracuse Area; and 70th for having the best middle school teachers in the state. Wellwood is ranked 41 of 1, schools in the state and 88 in the state for having the best middle school teachers.
Enders Road Elementary School is ranked first in the Best Public Elementary Schools in Syracuse Area list; 37 of 2, elementary schools in the state; and 37 in the state for having the best elementary school teachers.
It is ranked th in the state as having the best elementary school teachers. They get right out on it and have a feeling like they belong there. Why are they good? Winning has not come without its detractors. Aris has been accused of being too demanding. If you say you want to be a state champion, OK, but are you willing to do the work and make the commitment to do that? It takes a different approach. One of the assumptions is F-M kids run mega-mileage.
Our highest priorities are on nutrition and sleep. Aris said what he does best is motivating and inspiring kids. Aris points to the progression of Rutledge, who as a freshman was the slowest runner on the girl roster. As a sophomore, Rutledge improved to the 14th-fastest runner, still not quick enough to make an impact in meets. She may be the best example of how our approach works, with her training driving her performance.
Winning, too, breeds success. Younger runners now look up to the varsity runners and want to be like them. More kids are attracted to cross country. Two years ago, the Fast Bees, a cross country program for elementary school kids, was created.
Aris said his learning never ends. He reads about his sport endlessly. But how they dominated the event, defeating runner-up Kinetic of Saratoga Springs by 50 points, was almost unbelievable.
During the race there was the normal screaming and cheering. But after the race, when the scores were posted and people realized the level of dominance by F-M, there was mostly silence. F-M totaled 27 points.
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