Faires has wheels

Spending a week at a special running camp at Lake Tahoe this summer has really helped Wheatland High's Eric Faires, who has high hopes of competing next month at the state high school cross country championships.

Running a full season under coach Shawn Millington hasn't hurt the Pirate senior either.

"They focused more on cross country at the camp," Faires said, admitting some track runners didn't seem to enjoy the camp as much as he did.

"It was geared toward the individual runner," Faires said. He also talked about camp counselors — one of which was current U.S. mile record holder Alan Webb — and how they took the time to point out flaws in each of the runner's techniques and helped them improve.

One of the changes Faires worked on was an arm that swung awkwardly.

"It was a backward motion," he explained, swinging his right arm behind his body. "It was wasted energy."

The camp at Lake Tahoe bothered some of the participants because it was at a higher altitude that most were not used to, but it didn't faze Faires.

"I was used to running at a higher altitude," he said, pointing out before his family moved to Wheatland three years ago, he ran cross country in the Rockies as a freshman in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Besides learning several valuable tips at the camp, Faires has benefited a lot from having Millington as his coach. Millington joined the program late last season, working with fellow Pirate Jessica Carpenter as she prepared to compete in the state meet.

Millington has prepared a training regime that has allowed Faires to consistently lower his times as the season has progressed. Wednesday, Faires posted his best time of the season for 3.1 miles — or 5,000 meters — clocking 17 minutes, 9 seconds at a Butte View League meet at the North Forebay Recreation Area in Oroville.

"I could have kicked myself in the shin," Faires said, admitting he figures he could have run a sub-17-minute race if he had just followed some advice gleaned at summer camp.

Faires said he probably could have shaved five seconds off his time by running hard up the hill and another five seconds by running fast around the final turn before the finish line.

"That's when most people slow down," he said. So he was told at the camp to sprint hard on hills and around corners to try and distance himself from other runners.

While he is mad at himself for not following the advice, Faires still is on pace to capture a state meet berth.

Five times this season he and Sutter's Tony Perez have squared off in a meet and all five times Faires has won.

Perez competed last fall in the state meet, qualifying with a time of 17:32 at West Valley High in Cottonwood. Faires nearly qualified for state at that Northern Section championship, finishing as the sixth individual runner — only the top five qualified, and Perez was that fifth runner.

On that same course earlier this season, Faires ran 17:29, so he is making a strong statement to qualify for state.

Another Pirate might be considered a long shot to make state, and that's Faires' younger brother, Philip, who is a sophomore. Philip rose to prominence at the Oroville meet last week.

His previous best for three miles was 18:40, Eric Faires said, but at Oroville he blistered that mark with a 17:54 time.

"No one thought he'd run that fast," Eric Faires said, adding he thinks it would be cool if he and Philip finished one-two at the BVL championships.

Although, "it wouldn't be cool if he passed me," Eric Faires laughed.

Faires has a number of goals he would like to achieve this season, including winning the BVL title and qualifying for the state meet.

"I'd also like to beat 17 minutes for 5k," he added.

"Faires is very capable of achieving all of his goals," Millington said. "He is full of potential."

Millington also added that Faires is a very dedicated and hard worker.

"He's come a long way. I'm so impressed with his tenaciousness."

Contact sports reporter Richard Myers at 749-4714 or rmyers@appeal-democrat.com.