Michael Fisher: Still Running Strong

From a 2005 cross country state championship for Ronan to

running for the Grizzlies.

MISSOULA - Ronan state champion Michael Fisher is the epitome of a runner.

"I feel like this is what my life is about now," Fisher said. "My focus is running."

Now running for the University of Montana as a senior, the one thing you'll immediately realize is that this guy works hard. All the time.

"About his sophomore year he just decided he was going to put in the work and effort to become the best he could be," Ronan cross country coach Gale Decker said.

That commitment was a catalyst for Ronan. Fisher became the centerpiece runner for the Chiefs and a leader for the 2005 boys' state championship team.

"He was the big piece," Decker said.

However, the Chiefs needed one more piece for the state championship.

They needed that fifth runner that could back everyone up in a strong fashion.

"After our first meet, it was obvious we needed a fifth runner," Decker said.

Fisher and Decker did their best Nick Saban impression to recruit football player Cameron Barber. He would end up finishing 30th in the state with a time of 17:08 in that state championship year.

"He was good to go," Decker said. "He just ran with us in the meets."

Placing second in the state meet was Fisher, who finished with a time of 15:44, just a hair behind Dillon's Lynn Reynolds' 15:43. The two are now teammates at the University of Montana.

"He's one of my best friends here," Fisher said. "It's kind of a joke now. I finished better than him in the regular season meets in high school and he finished better in all the state races. He's a great runner."

Reynolds couldn't stop Fisher and the Chiefs from a state championship.

"It was the best feeling in the world," Fisher said.

After high school, Fisher walked on to the University of Montana cross country team. He informed the cross country coach for the Grizzlies his intentions after track season and was given the team's training plan.

"That was a huge step up from high school," Fisher said.

Instead of a 40 mile running week, Fisher was looking at 60-70 mile training weeks to get ready for college.

However, if there was somebody that knew a thing or two about work ethic, it was him.

"He has a heart for running and a will to match it," Decker said.

Fisher successfully walked on to the Div. I program and immediately made a scoring impact for the team.

"I was 20-30 seconds faster for a five-mile race than a three-mile race I ran in high school," Fisher said.

As a freshman, he was Montana's third best runner two times during the regular season.

In 2007, he was one of the Grizzly's top five finishers five times during the season.

In 2008 and 2009, Fisher and Reynolds were the two top runners for Montana. Fisher now puts in 100-mile weeks over the summer in training and it has certain-ly paid off.

"It's tough but it gets easier," Fisher said. "That first 100 mile week you're dead at the end of it."

Fisher placed 34th and 33rd in the Big Sky Cross Country Championships his freshman and sophomore year, then 18th and 11th his junior and senior years.

"We got some races that are the best teams in the nation and you get some pretty loud fans there," Fisher said. "The competition in college ranges a lot."

The biggest challenge for the Grizzlies was Northern Arizona, one of the top three programs in the country.

"When you get them in a race it's a lot faster," he said.

While Fisher finished up his cross country season in 2009, he still had a year of eligibility left for indoor and outdoor track. That hasn't been a large adjustment for Fisher, who took fourth in the state his senior year of high school in the 3,200 meter race.

For the 2010 indoor season, Fisher finished 10th in the 5,000 meter at the Big Sky Conference Championships, so there's plenty of promise heading into the 2011 indoor and outdoor seasons.

In outdoor track, Fisher finished 11th at the Big Sky Championships in 2008 in the 10,000 meter event. In 2010, he placed eighth in that event and 13th in the 5,000 meter run. So there's plenty of optimism going into his last track season, except for the fact that it's his last time racing for the school as a senior.

"It's a bummer," Fisher said. "I feel every single year I improved. That last year will probably be pretty tough."

Fisher also credits a large part of his success to his two distance coaches at Ronan, Gale and Noelle Decker.

"They set me up perfectly for college," Fisher said. "They taught me a lot of great things that I still use."

While Fisher is student teaching after majoring in education, he wants to continue to run after college and compete at the highest level he can.

"I want to continue running every year and see how good I can get it," Fisher said. "It's a lot of work. It's a full-time job, but I want to see how far I can get."

And with his work ethic, anything is possible.