By Don Ketchum

Billy Orman can run like the wind. But there was a day when he didn’t want to do it. He felt more like dragging his feet instead.

He would come home from junior high and watch TV, but his father thought he could be more productive with his time.

Dad suggested that Billy should try to run for some exercise, perhaps even competitively.

“I sort of had an attitude for the first few weeks,’’ he said. “Then I finished in second place in my first meet and I thought, “Now I like it.’ ’’

His like turned to love, and the rest is history.

Orman has become one of the state’s top high school cross country runners. The senior at Tuba City is the defending champion in Class 3A and is working hard toward winning another title.

He made an early statement on Tuesday, Aug. 31, with a victory in the Hopi Invitational in Keams Canyon. The meet traditionally offers state meet-type competition.

“It was good to win it, but I still need to run better and our team needs to run better. We finished fifth ,’’ he said.

Running is not just for competition any more.

“It is a great way to relieve stress,’’ Orman said.

Tuba City sits on high desert, but it has a stark beauty. Orman and his teammates often take a run around a nearby reservoir as part of their training. He enjoys the camaraderie and the views.

“Usually you can get a 360-degree panorama of desert, but you can see different things sometimes,’’ he said. “You can see some of the Grand Canyon (to the west and north) and the San Francisco Peaks (to the south, near Flagstaff).’’

Tuba City coach Arvis Myron has been coaching Orman since junior high.

“He has a natural desire. He can be the best he wants to be,’’ Myron said.

Orman doesn’t form too much of a strategy in his races. He prefers to assess the situation as he goes along.

“The smaller meets, where I might have a better shot at winning, I start out running pretty hard,’’ he said. “But you can’t really afford to do that at the bigger meets. I just try and stay as close to the front as I can.’’

He took a great deal of pride in the fact that he was one of just 40 runners from across the country to qualify for the FootLocker national meet last December. He hopes to qualify again this year. Orman also wants to run in college, and believes he has a good chance to do so, at an Ivy League school or perhaps at Stanford.