Two hundred dollars. That's what it took to get Winter Park senior Billy Anguish to complete a whole season of cross country. Bribery? Perhaps. For a fourteen-year-old kid sometimes that's all it takes.
"My mom made me do it. My freshman year she gave me $100 to start and $100 to finish. I was basically thinking to myself hey I can do this and quit and still get a $100. Don't worry though, it was only a one time thing, but it sure did motivate me."
His mother Kathy Anguish was a three-time state champion for Miami Southwest High School in the mid 70's. She won a state title in both the 1600 and 3200, as well as in cross country (the distance at that time was 1.5 miles). Billy's dad, Will, was also a runner.
"My parents actually met in high school through running. My dad went to Miami Palmetto and he didn't win states or anything, but he didn't really have a coach. He got a lot better in college, but he didn't compare to my mom."
Will transferred to Florida State his freshman year to be with Kathy. She placed 26th at nationals her freshman year, but struggled with injuries her sophomore and junior seasons. Will meanwhile was an average runner, but pretty much near the bottom of the Seminole's roster. The two got married and started a family.
In 1987 the second of two Anguish children, Donny was born. Donny would also grow to be successful in the sport his parents loved. During his time at Winter Park he was a part of three state championship cross country squads for the Wildcats and finished 4th individually with a personal best 15:57. With all that success Billy, the youngest of four children, still wasn't impressed with the sport.
"I grew up around it, but I was never interested as a kid. I played basketball and baseball. Honestly, the first meet I ever went to was my own my freshman year. I first started running in middle school because my mom made me and then she gave me my brother and I money to do it in high school. It wasn't very inspirational, but we both think it's really funny because after we ran our first year there was no way we could stop. We focused on running more than other sports and decided that we were definitely built for running rather than say football."
That focus has paid off as Billy Anguish has become one of the top distance runners in Central Florida. Over the past three years he has seen his time drop from almost 17:00 to around 15:30 and has seen his state finishes improve significantly as well. As a freshman he placed 63rd; he finished 26th as a sophomore; and he improved to 11th last year. He owes his success to good coaching.
"Well, I had Coach Hill my freshman year and he really got me into shape with long tempo runs. I ran with varsity and they would always have to circle back for me because I always died like every run. When Coach Hill left we got a Vietnam War veteran in Coach Kuzub, and he does not allow slacking! He went from distance to constant workouts and some of the most painful runs ever, but it seem to work very well in improving me."
Anguish has one main goal for this season: to win a team championship. It's something brother Donny has done and mom Kathy has done both as an athlete and as a coach. She was an assistant coach for the 2009 Winter Park girls team that won the state championship. Billy knows that in his journey he will always have support.
"My parents talk a lot about running. They give me tips on pace, injury problems and so on. Every meet in Florida my parents go to and my brother actually goes to a lot of them as well."
Running brought Billy's parents Will and Kathy together, but it has also brought the boys in the family together. In 2008, Will, older brother Donny, and Billy traveled to China for the Olympic Games.
"That was the coolest thing ever. We saw all the track events and we got to watch Usain Bolt run."
As for who would win in a race amongst family members, the youngest Anguish thinks that's a no brainer.
"Oh, I would dominate them all no trouble."
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