LIVE OAK — When he first started running cross country in middle school, Logan Haley set a carrot out in front of himself to chase for the next six years.
By the time Haley had graduated and finished competing at Suwannee High School, he wanted to set the school record.
Fast forward not even four years to the New World Fall Spectacular at the Cecil Field Golf Course in October and Haley found himself racing as an individual in the Elite Boys race. The rest of his SHS teammates were in the Boys B race.
He made the most of his opportunity with the best the state had to offer as he trimmed 20 seconds off the school mark set by himself and Morgan Mobley by turning in a time of 15:59.
“It was kind of very insane to look back on how far this had come and that I have 2 1/2 years to keep going,” Haley said about that first sub-16 race.
He didn’t stop there, though. Instead Haley, who has repeated as the Lake City Reporter’s Boys Runner of the Year, continued to make strides throughout the season, finishing third in the District 2-2A race and then lowering the school record even more with a fourth-place finish at the Region 1 meet in 15:58.7.
Haley then capped the year with even more Suwannee history, earning the first state medal in program history by finishing 11th in the Class 2A meet in 16:24.4.
None of that surprised Suwannee coach Brian Bullock. After watching how far Haley came from his middle school career to what he did as a freshman, Bullock knew where Haley could get. He then also watched his star runner put in mile after mile, day after day in the offseason.
All that work, all those miles paid off instantly once the cross country season began in the fall.
It also led to all that success.
But, Bullock has also seen other star runners succumb to the pressure that comes in Tallahassee at the state meet.
“He didn’t waver, he didn’t fold at all,” Bullock said. “He just competed.
“Finishing in the top 15 at that race is just so impressive. It’s so hard.”
But Haley has no problem with doing hard things. It’s why he and his teammates kept cranking out all those miles five to six days a week in the summer. It’s why as soon as last season ended, he turned the page to the next and how to best be prepared.
“Running is such a hard sport to do on your own,” he said. “When you have teammates who all show up, it pushes each other to keep going. If you feel bad, ‘Oh man, I don’t really feel like going today. Well, I can’t let down my boys so I’ve got to go.’”
So off they went. And went. And went.
Still, despite all that offseason work, there was still adversity to come during the season.
Even though Haley cranked out six top-six finishes on the season, including wins at the Dueling Summits and the Suwannee Invitational as well as a fifth-place finish at the Alligator Lake Invitational and a sixth-place ending at the HOKA Nights of Thunder, there also was the FSU Pre-State meet.
That is where Haley, who was under the weather and not feeling his best, took himself off the course and out of the race with about a mile to go.
It led to a conversation between Bullock and Haley about growing and having the mental strength to push through all the negativity and the expectations that come with all the success he’s had at such a young age and continue to persevere on off days.
“You have to continue to push and just finish,” Bullock said. “After we had that conversation, he just took off again.”
That led into the outstanding postseason where Haley put himself routinely among the best runners in the district, region — which Bullock said is the toughest in the state — and state.
“I think he was putting a lot of pressure on himself,” Bullock added. “The strongest runners, those with the strongest mindset will find a way. He did. He responded extremely well. It was a moment of growth for him.”
Haley, too, noted the importance of being mentally strong as a distance runner, of being able to continue to fight when everything is telling you to stop.
“That’s what the sport really comes down to, who can push through the best,” he said.
But it also helps, according to Haley, to come from SHS as it gives him an edge on those top competitors from top schools like Bolles and Bishop Kenny in Jacksonville, who don’t expect much from the runners from a rural school like Suwannee.
Rather, they expect to have their entire lineup dominate. Instead, he catches them off guard when they look up and see Haley right there in the front group with them.
And if he’s with them, he expects to soon be in front of them. It’s part of his strength on the course and as a runner in general, Bullock said, which is patience. Haley waits and attacks the game plan Bullock has given him, pouncing when he needs to.
“If he was focused on beating somebody in the top half of a race, or the top five of a race, he would do that,” Bullock said. “He would stick on them and then he was going to find a way to outlast them.”
He plans to continue to outlast them and find his way to more Suwannee records.
Although, now that he has accomplished setting the school record time, that isn’t at the forefront of his concerns any more.
“I’m more focused on the placement,” he said. “Maybe next year getting top five, top three. Maybe even my senior year trying to win state.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
Logan Haley
Suwannee, sophomore
The LCR’s two-time Boys Runner of the Year set a new school record with a time of 15:58.7 to finish fourth at the Region 1-2A meet following a third-place finish in District 2-2A (16:27.0), and he capped off his season by finishing 11th at Class 2A state (16:24.4) as the program’s first-ever medalist. His district and regional performances were just two of six top-six finishes on the season — he also won the Dueling Summits and Suwannee Invitational, placed fifth at the Alligator Lake Invitational and placed sixth at the HOKA Nights of Thunder.
Brant Johnson
Suwannee, sophomore
Ran a personal-best 16:49.0 to finish 23rd at the Region 1-2A meet following a 22nd-place finish in District 2-2A (17:27.0), and he went on to place 47th at Class 2A state (17:12.4). His best finish came at the Suwannee Invitational, where he placed sixth.
Daniel Stoltzfoos
Suwannee, sophomore
Ran a personal-best 17:39.0 to finish 49th at the Region 1-2A meet following a 55th-place finish in District 2-2A, and he went on to place 105th at Class 2A state (17:58.8). His best finish came at the Suwannee Invitational, where he placed 28th.
Josiah Daniels
Suwannee, sophomore
Ran a personal-best 18:29.6 to finish 72nd at the Region 1-2A meet following a 58th-place finish in District 2-2A (18:52.0), and he went on to 205th in Class 2A state (19:41.8). His best finish came at the Suwannee Invitational, where he placed 34th.
Kale Skinner
Suwannee, sophomore
Ran a personal-best 18:01.0 to place 14th at the Suwannee Invitational. He ran an 18:05.0 to finish 62nd at the Region 1-2A meet after placing 60th in District 2-2A (18:58.0).
Drew Hurst
Suwannee, senior
Ran a personal-best 18:08.0 to finish 63rd at the Region 1-2A meet after placing 89th in District 2-2A (20:08.0), and he went on to finish 187th at Class 2A state (19:20.7). His best finish came at the Dueling Summits, where he finished 46th.
Timothy Todd
Columbia, junior
Ran a season-best 19:08.9 to place 37th at the Suwannee Invitational and finished 66th at the District 2-3A meet.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Brian Bullock, Suwannee
Bullock’s Bulldogs qualified for state as a team for the fifth straight season, finishing a program-best 19th behind Logan Haley’s 11th-place finish. It capped a postseason where Suwannee finished sixth at the District 2-2A meet and then fifth in Region 1-2A. Under Bullock’s watch, the Bulldogs also won the Suwannee Invitational and were third at the Dueling Summits.