Big River Feature Interview: Nick Happe, Matt Schwab, Nate Shipley

Big River Running Company co-owner Ben Rosario is now writing cross country and track articles for St. Louis Scoop Magazine. You can read his articles in the magazine as well. Ben caught up with the Francis Howell North trio of Nick Happe, Matt Schwab and Nate Shipley before the cross country season to talk about the team at FHN and what it's like to have such a great group of frontrunners.

.........................................................................left to right: Nate Shipley, Nick Happe, Matt Schwab

The sport of cross country is pretty simple. Add up the places of the first five runners on each team and the lowest point total wins. It does not take a mathematician to figure out that if you have three guys that are going to finish in the top ten of just about every meet that you are going to be pretty good.

The boys from Francis Howell North enter the 2007 season with as good a top three as a coach could ever hope for. Junior Nick Happe and seniors Matt Schwab and Nate Shipley lead a team that might be able to bring home the Knights' first ever State Cross Country Team Championship.

Howell North head cross country coach Bob Doak said that it is great to have such a talented group of frontrunners.

“It's great from the standpoint that they do the hard work,” Doak said. “They are not afraid to work hard and each one of them put in summer miles in the 400-500 range.”

For Happe, a convert from soccer, this will be his first cross country season. He had success on the track team as a freshman and ran more than 500 miles before his sophomore year only to once again choose soccer at the last minute.

“I had played soccer since I was three years old and it was hard to give it up,” Happe said. “After last year I changed my mind when [soccer] wasn't as fun as I thought it would be.”

Of course there were other factors as well. His friends and teammates, Scwab and Shipley, had been hounding him since he was a freshman to join the cross country team.

“We've been on him since track two years ago,” Schwab said. “I'd say ‘you're an idiot for playing soccer.'”

Happe may have just proved them right this spring when he capped off a breakthrough track season with a fourth place finish at the State Meet in the 3200 meter run. He happened to set the school record in the process.

Schwab said it was really that performance and not his prodding that sealed the deal.

“Once he started being successful I think it was him realizing that ‘Hey, I could be better at this,'” Schwab said.

Doak referred to Happe's conversion to cross country as “an early Christmas present.”

With all the hype surrounding the addition of Happe it might be easy to forget that the experience of the two seniors will still be the driving force of the team.

Schwab and Shipley finished 24th and 28th respectively at last fall's Class 4 State Cross Country Meet and are the ninth and 13th returners for this year's meet. To think that Happe may actually be the highest finisher of the three is certainly a scary proposition for other teams.

Coach Doak was cautiously optimistic with his hopes for the season.

“I know they all three want to be All-State and I would like to finish in the top four teams,” Doak said.

Happe was a little bit more optimistic though still careful to avoid any bold predictions.

“We're at least hoping for top four but our overall goal is to win,” Happe said.

Of course they will need a solid four and five runner to take home the overall title. Shipley, whose teammates and coach agreed has the best mix of strength and speed of the trio, was quick to point out that the rest of the team was looking good as well. His assessment of the team this season shows his knowledge of the sport after four years.

“First we have to make sure no one gets hurt,” Shipley said. “In the races I'd like us to stay up in front and set the tone.”

Wise words from a kid who originally showed up for cross country to get in shape for basketball.

“I didn't even know what cross country was,” Shipley said.

He certainly knows now. Shipley, along with Schwab and Happe now seem fully entrenched in the running culture. Perhaps most importantly they seem fully committed to each other and their team.

“I have immense confidence in Nick and Nate,” Schwab said. “There are a lot of nerves when you are out there by yourself but with the team you feed off of their confidence.”

Ask them about each other and they will rattle off a list of attributes that make their friends the great runners that they are. Something about running mile after mile together seems to create a mutual respect and bond that is tough to break.

Schwab spoke of the differences between them.

“Nate is solid all-around,” Schwab said. “Happe, he can run forever and he doesn't get injured. Me, I'm the speed guy and a little better at the 800.”

In fact, it was the 4 x 800 relay last spring that Coach Doak said was a turning point for the boys.

“They really came together in that 4 x 800 on the track,” Doak said.

Francis Howell North was in a very tough district and sectional and had to fight very hard just to make it to the State Meet. Their other leg, then senior Chris Loseman, was recovering from a stress fracture in his leg so the boys did not know from week-to-week whether he would be able to hold up during the race. Somehow he did and the Knights took home sixth place in the very competitive field.

Loseman and fellow 2007 graduate Tommy McNab had also made it to the State Cross Country Meet for Howell North last fall, giving the Knights four individual qualifiers even though their team did not qualify. McNab actually finished ahead of Schwab and Shipley in 21st and Loseman was 56th . One has to wonder what the team could have done with Happe in the line-up.

The boys said they do play the “what-if” game a lot about last year but if all goes well this season there will not be any what-ifs. There will only be a happy bunch of runners from Francis Howell North on the podium in Jefferson City that first weekend in November.

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