Stone rolling into ranks of Anderson's elite runners

ANDERSON TWP. – He doesn't necessarily have the moves like Jagger, but make no mistake, Anderson High School sophomore runner Nick Stone is rolling for the Redskins.

"For his grade level, he's one of the best we've ever had," head coach Andy Wolf said. "He's a smart runner and he has good racing instincts, which you can't teach."

Toughness, on the other hand, is something Stone learned from his twin brother, Mitch.

As the two were beginning runners, Mitch was far superior to his younger-by-minutes brother. He won the Flying Pig youth mile race in fourth grade. But in fifth grade doctors discovered a malignant brain tumor, forcing surgery and 30 days of radiation treatments.

Nick grew taller and stronger while his brother recovered. Mitch eventually returned to good health and also runs for the Redskins, but now Nick is the star.

"I think I learned a lot from him through that," Nick said. "I don't want to say I do it for him - he's still a good runner - but if he can go through that, I can run a few miles a day."

Stone began to get serious about running in middle school.

"My mom said I had to pick a sport and it was (running) or football," he said. "I didn't want to get my brains beat in. I like getting in shape and running does that. It just fits my body. I've always been skinny and skinny guys run, I guess.

"I always say the ladies like the runners."

Wolf likes the Anderson sophomore class.

"The way our team is, our sophomores are actually the ones providing some of the leadership," he said. "We have a real nice group of sophomore distance guys - Nick, Mitch, Josh Gittleman - who all run the half mile and mile and can run the two mile. They're doing some really good work."

Something Stone doesn't mind a bit.

"I just feel stronger physically this spring," he said. "I think after cross country training, track is pretty easy. A mile is four minutes of pain and you're finished. Cross country is 16, 17 minutes of just hurting all over. But I believe in the runner's high. You feel so good when you finish a race, it's all worth it."

Stone hopes to race well into the spring, possibly reaching the state meet. He'd like to get his mile time down to 4:28 and his 800 down to two minutes even.

"You can't hurry to be fast, if that makes sense," Wolf said. "There are no shortcuts to speed over distance. You have to do the work and you have to do it the right way. If he stays interested and he stays healthy, he could be one of our best ever. The great ones have talent and work ethic and he's shown both of those so far."

Special mile

The boys 1,600-meter race at the Anderson Invitational is known as the Vern Hawkins Mile.

According to Redskins head coach Andy Wolf, Hawkins set an Anderson school record in the mile as a member of the class of 1949. Brown Stadium - where the invitational is run - was built on land that used to be part of the Hawkins farm.

The winner of the race each year gets a special plaque commemorating the achievement.

Wyoming High School junior Ben Stites won the 2014 event April 24. He edged Anderson sophomore Nick Stone by .02 seconds with a time of 4:33.58.

"I never hear him coming behind me," said Stone. "I was watching the clock, I guess, and not the field. It's tough to be that close to winning, but it's still a personal best, so I'm happy with that."

Stone won the 800 at the Invitational in another personal-best time of 2:01.23.

Teammate and fellow sophomore Cara Schildmeyer won the girls 3,200 meters in a school-record time of 11:10.23.

Turpin High School won the girls team competition at the Invitational.