When you've come through a University of Michigan running program in an era when giants of collegiate running such as Alan Webb, Nate Brannen and Nick Willis are on campus, you don't often glimpse the spotlight. So despite the fact Ann Arbor's Nick Stanko posted honorable PRs of 14:15 for 5K and 29:30 for 10K as a collegian, to many he was an unknown commodity prior to this year.

And what a year it was. In addition to tearing up the road-racing scene (highlighted by a sub-50 minute 10-mile PR in Louisville, Ky), Stanko and his wife, Theresa, celebrated the birth of their daughter, Claire Therese, Aug. 6. In December he completed his teaching certification in art.

Stanko, 24, sees parallels between his artistic and athletic pursuits: "Running is a physical art: constructing training, putting pieces together, trying to put them together for one day, one performance."

He learned to ply his athletic trade in part from the blue chippers on State Street. While guys like Kevin Sullivan and Nate Brannen had their differences, Stanko noticed that, "While they have God-given talent, working hard was one thing they had in common."

Yet as a relative scrapper among the stars, Stanko's progression as a collegian wasn't necessarily made easier by their presence. "A rising tide lifts all ships" may be accurate in some circumstances, but the rising tide of distance running at a university often causes runners in their wake to sink - fast.

Stanko was in danger of falling in that latter category early in his Michigan career. "When I first came to Michigan, we were out the door pretty hard every day," he remembered. While he improved, he wasn't making the breakthrough he was looking for. He had to change to flourish.

The arrival of Willis on campus precipitated that change. Willis was adamant about taking a day off every week, and eventually Stanko and his teammates followed suit. They also eased back the pace on their recovery runs between workouts.

It didn't take long to start seeing results. "Physically I felt so much better with a day off every week or two. It kept me mentally fresh and not always feeling drained," Stanko said.

"And with those easy days, we found as a group that we were able to go harder on hard days, whereas before that hard days were toned down because we didn't have the energy to run hard."

Stanko also credits his improvement to a more-intangible reason: faith in his coach. "(Ron Warhurst) has good instincts to train people well," he said. "Through my five years in college I grew more comfortable with his training. I let go the little things and learned to go with the flow more."

Stanko's ability to go with the flow has helped him flourish post- collegiately when other runners of his ilk have begun to flounder. He credits the support of his wife and previous Michigan Runners of the Year Ian Forsyth and Paul Aufdemberge for helping him realize it's possible to run semiprofessionally while balancing life's other responsibilities.

He has also embraced the changes that come with running post- collegiately, racing distances on the road in 2005 from the mile to 30K, while stressing the quality of his workouts to compensate for the limited time he has to train. Stanko notes that sometimes that means taking two or three easy days after a hard effort, something not necessarily possible when in college.

Stanko's adaptability and his generalist approach to racing will serve him well in 2006 as he begins his teaching career and chases an Olympic Trials qualifier at Grandma's Marathon in June.

Before he rings in the New Year, though, he can take pause and note that as monumental as his year has been, the sum of his efforts on state roads created one more portrait of distinction: as Michigan Runner of Year.

Chris Lear is author of "Running with the Buffaloes" and "Sub 4:00: Alan Webb and the Quest for the Fastest Mile." His last piece for MR, an interview with then-University of Colorado freshman Dathan Ritzenhein, appeared in May/June 2002. MR