Chiles senior Matthew Newland has always been a lifelong Seminoles fan. This week, Newland announced he would be fulfilling a dream come true, and run for FSU.
"It was interesting as FSU was actually one of the first schools to reach out to me," he explained. "I had one of my visits scheduled to Lipscomb, but the hurricane changed that and the only other dates were ones where we had meets so I was only able to go to FSU, but I was beyond thrilled there. It was always a dream to be able to compete in the garnet and gold!"
Newland, who considered Army as well, was able to go out to Apalachee Regional Park and watch the team do a hard work out which helped cement his decision to stay in Tallahassee with Coach Braman. He says his visit to FSU was fantastic.
"It started off great with a lunch up in the track press box with Coach Braman and Coach Graves," he said. "Then we went to the FSU football game and I even got to go onto the field pre-game which has always been a huge dream of mine as I've grown up a Nole! What really sold me though was the bond that the team had and in addition Coach Braman and Coach Graves as they were really so kind and personal."
The senior has been an integral part of a Chiles program that has won two 3A state championships in track and field (2016 & 2017) and were runner-up the past two seasons at the 3A Cross Country Finals (2015 & 2016). Another part of the recent success of the Timberwolves has been fellow senior Michael Phillips whose mom Kelly, coaches the FSU women. Newland would love nothing more to get the boys together again at the next level.
"For sure I'm trying to get Mike and other Florida boys to come here as I think something really special can be built here," he exclaimed. "In addition Nationals is here in 2021 so it'd be so great to be able to compete on our home course!"
Now that the decision is behind him, Newland who is ranked third as an individual in 3A with a season best time of 15:50.10 from Great American, can focus on the postseason which has not only been good to him, but his teammatees as well.
"I'm very excited especially because I believe our team is one of the best in not only 3A, but in the state and I hope we can show everyone that," he said. "It's also a relief knowing I will not have to be worrying about trying to choose somewhere to go rather than simply worrying about racing the next 3 weeks!"
As an individual he hopes to crack the top two at state and bring back a team title after falling short the past two seasons, but knows it will be a tough battle between Vanguard and Belen Jesuit and others. Then he will take to the track before heading down the road to the FSU campus to start his time as a Nole.
"Honestly I'm looking forward to being able to compete for a team and school I've treasured since I was a little kid and running alongside great runners and even better people along with a great coach in Coach Braman," he noted.
- 1600m - 4:21.38
- 3200m - 9:13.66
- 5K (xc) - 15:50.10
