Wawasee’s Luke Griner leads Warsaw’s Javi Ramirez during a dual cross country meet last year. Griner is coming off a state medalist finish in the 800 meters last spring and hoping to carry over some of that success into the fall for Wawasee CC. (Photo by Mike Deak)

SYRACUSE — You’d think a trip to the state finals in the spring would have to inspire any runner with confidence in his fall prospects, too.

But if you were to characterize Wawasee track and cross country standout Luke Griner’s mood in two words as his junior cross country season approaches, the words that came most readily to mind would likely be: cautiously optimistic.

Griner enters the fall after making the podium at the IHSAA State Track and Field Finals last spring. He clocked 1:55.49 for ninth place at the 800-meter finale in Bloomington back on June 2, capping a stellar sophomore season on a high note after clinching sectional and regional championships at Goshen and Kokomo.

But the past is past, and Griner isn’t taking anything for granted as the cross country season looms. Besides, there’s a big difference between an 800-meter race and a 5,000-meter one. If anything, though, that spring bookend is motivation this fall, Griner says.

“Definitely in track, competing at state kind of motivates you to want to get back down there in the fall,” he said.

“You kind of think if you were to not go, it would almost be like a disappointment, you know? Once you went once, people expect you to get down there every time, but it’s a different sport.”

Not that there isn’t any carryover between seasons, however.

For one thing, Griner’s speed should translate well from the track to the countryside. He’s always had that burst, says Wawasee Boys Cross Country Coach Chad Hoffert, but Griner’s growth over the track season is part of a larger maturation process. The young runner — whom his track coach once described as “a wild pony” — is that much better acquainted with himself, with knowing both his strengths and his limitations. And that can only be an asset in the cross country season.

“I think that what happened in track this year where he knows what his body feels like, what his body can do, and he can calculate when do I need to make my move, where is that going to happen?” explained Hoffert. “And as we walk the course, he can kind of pick out spots and markers and say ‘Alright, this is probably where I’m going to need to do something right here or respond to another runner if he’s challenging me.’ Those are all just things that you just grow and mature into. Track and cross country, all those things can compliment each other in terms of learning what your abilities are, your limits are and those sorts of things.”

As he continued to shave time off his middle distance races — he trimmed nearly two and a half seconds off his race time in the three weeks between the Goshen Sectional and the state finals, a pretty significant cut at that level of competition — Griner learned to relax a little. That trick, which he picked up from longtime track and cross country mentor Dave Stookey, helped him run loose and conserve energy during races. And that efficiency will likely pay off over longer distances, too.

“The main thing that I can take from track is the mentality part. The whole last track season, I was so much more relaxed than I was the cross country season or any season before that,” Griner recalled.

“I remember the first indoor track meet, it just really stuck with me from then on to keep my face relaxed. I kept doing it, and my first indoor track meet I tied my 800 record, and I just kept getting faster and faster as the season went, keeping relaxed the whole time.”

Griner’s success in the spring season wasn’t without precedent in the fall.

Wawasee cross country closed the year with an 11th-place team finish at the New Haven Semistate last October after grabbing the fifth and final ticket out of the Elkhart Regional the week before. Griner’s speed played a big role in that semistate berth, too: He used his kick to pass a full four runners over the last 600 meters of the race, and the Warriors beat out Goshen’s score of 140 by just seven points to advance to the New Haven race.

“Even at the regional, just talking about speed — in the last 600 meters of the regional race, Luke passed four runners, and that’s pretty difficult to do. And we only made it to semi-state by seven points so that was pretty key,” Hoffert said. “We talk about that, the last thousand meters. You have to have something in your legs, and you’ve got to have something in your heart that makes you want to go faster than the other guys. Luke has always had that closing speed ability. The last 800 meters of a cross country race isn’t exactly the same as an 800-meter, flat-out run, but I think that that is one of his strengths as a cross country runner.”

And Griner is one of Wawasee cross country’s strengths, but he’s not alone either.

The Warriors return five of their top six runners from last season, including Griner’s classmate Spencer Hare, who is expected to slot in just ahead of the 800-meter state medalist. Braxton Alexander and Bennett Hoffert are also back to round out a deep junior class, while sophomore Thomas Conley makes his return, as well. Another sophomore, Michael Hammer, joins the team after competing alongside Griner as a member of Wawasee’s 3200 relay squad in the spring, and senior Ricardo Romo looks to add to the mix.

After last year’s strong semistate finish and with a full contingent of returning talent, you’d expect Hoffert to have high hopes for 2017. But, like Griner, the Wawasee coach is cautious in his predictions.

“We’re returning five out of our top six runners so logic would say you would hope that would be a good thing, but we don’t take anything for granted and we know you need to work hard on the process and results aren’t guaranteed,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing how we go out in our first couple races and kind of see where we’re at.”