Clay Shively, the Kansas high school middle distance runner who has broken some of Jim Ryun’s former prep records in that state, won Sunday’s boys championship mile at the New Balance Nationals in Boston. He came oh-so-close to breaking four minutes — 4:00.47 — but won handily.
In an interview with Citius Magazine’s Kyle Merber afterward, Shively talked a bit about his decision to commit to NAU. He said he’s more of a miler, but likes cross country and is capable of succeeding at longer distances. It will be quite a jump from high school cross country (3 miles) to college (10K); ask Colin Sahlman, another prep mile star.
Still, Shively is a big “get” for NAU.
Here’s what he had to say to Merber about choosing to be a Lumberjack. It boils down to two words: Mike Smith.
“I’m a firm believer that Coach Smith is the best coach in the world right now,” he told Citius. “Not only does he know what he’s doing in writing up workouts and the actual training side of things, but mentally they are just on it about being the strongest you can in your body and your mind and just love the mental side of team, and the humility there.
“There is a lot of good stuff in store for me, so I’m super pumped to be part of that program.”
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