Free State’s Liston builds confidence

Fresh off of winning Sunflower League and regional championship titles, Free State senior Ryan Liston will toe the line with the FSHS cross country team for the last time today as the Firebirds compete at the Class 6A state meet at Rim Rock Farm.

“I really think as a team especially that we can do some really big things this Friday. As we’ve shown at league and regionals, we can compete with some of the better teams at state and place pretty high up,” Liston said. “So we’re shooting for one of those top spots. We’re trying to make sure we’re up near the front of the pack and doing all of that stuff that we do.”

All about confidence

Liston is no stranger to competing at the varsity level, having done so since his sophomore year, but FSHS coach Steve Heffernan has noticed that the Firebird senior has taken a huge stride forward over the past two months. Heffernan believed that Liston’s breakthrough race came at the Haskell Invitational on Oct. 11, which was his second of four individual titles of the season.

“I think he felt like he could win that race, but he’s always been a little bit cautious in the middle parts of the race,” Heffernan said.

“He kind of takes it a little easier than we’ve always wanted him to, and at that meet, he went out hard from the start, had to struggle in the middle and still was kind of able to put it together and win the race at the end even though it was probably a lot more of a challenge than he was ready for.”

The strong senior campaign for Liston came close to never happening as he had doubts during his first few weeks of high school if running cross country was something that he wanted to do.

“Before my first meet freshman year, I was super nervous and I told my mom I was thinking about quitting,” Liston said. “She said, ‘Ryan, try the first meet and we’ll talk about how you feel about it after that.’ So I’m really glad I didn’t quit because that would have just closed an entire chapter of my life and I feel like this place is just the best place I could have for developing my skills in running.”

Fellow Firebirds following suit

The thing that has impressed Liston’s teammates about his growing confidence is that he has gained it without becoming cocky. Fellow senior Firebird Thomas Becker attested Liston’s confidence has carried over to the rest of the team.

“He doesn’t really beat his chest about stuff,” Becker said. “He goes out and he runs his distance every day. The thing about distance running is that sometimes you wonder if they’re good because they work hard or if it’s talent. Whichever the case is with him, he works hard either way so it doesn’t really matter.”

Running onward

While Liston remains focused on finishing his cross country and track career at Free State with a bang, he has started to look into where he will run collegiately.

Liston listed Drake, Kansas, Washington University in St. Louis, Pittsburg State, Fort Hays State and Southern Indiana all as possibilities where he might sign to compete at the next level.

“I don’t know really yet where I’m going to fall, you know. No real solid decisions or plans yet,” Liston said. “I was planning on waiting until spring, sort of somewhere maybe in the middle or end of track season to make my final decision once I’ve seen all of the different colleges and met all of the teams and see what each has to offer me.”

Running will be one of the main factors in Liston’s college decision, but so will his variety of other talents. Along with running cross country and track at FSHS, Liston is the online editor-in-chief of the school newspaper; participates in Link Crew and the Bigs in School programs and plays the trombone in concert, marching and jazz bands. Journalism headlined Liston’s ideas for major possibilities, along with psychology and exercise science.

Team first

One of the characteristics of each college that Liston has been paying close attention to is how close-knit the cross country and track programs are. The most enjoyable aspect of cross country at Free State for Liston has been the continuity of the team. He looks to maintain all of the friendships he has made with his current teammates after departing for college next fall.

“I feel like just competing with them, training with them, all of that stuff has brought us really close together and I really love the team aspect of it,” Liston said. “I also love racing obviously and I want to continue to do that. I like the competition, but my favorite part has probably been the team and just having all of the great guys around me and being able to make friendships that I’m sure will last long after I’m gone out of high school and college even.”