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AMERICAN FORK — A year after joining a special club as Gatorade national cross country runner of the year, American Fork's Danny Simmons joined an even more exclusive cohort.
The Caveman senior who finished his senior cross country season with winning 10 straight races, including back-to-back 6A state titles and Nike Cross Southwest regional title, was headed to the weight room after a training run with his team early one morning.
His coach had just asked him to collect some gear donated by the program's alumni to distribute to his teammates after a particularly strong race, so Simmons was trailing behind everyone else. So when he entered the weight room with his arms full of gear, he wasn't surprised that his whole team was in front of him.
But who joined him did surprise him.
It was Grant Fisher, the Canadian-born American professional distance runner who set national records in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs en route to top-10 finishes in both at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Fisher was the last two-time Gatorade national runner of the year. And he was holding a pair of trophies, symbolic of Simmons joining the same exclusive club.
"It's really hard to describe how exciting it was. It was mind-blowing," Simmons told KSL.com. "Grant is a very well-rounded and great guy, and he's got great tips for my style. He's also very kind and a great human, on top of a great runner. It was pretty special."
Simmons is the first two-time Gatorade national runner of the year since Fisher in 2013-14, and one of just three all-time since Lukas Verzbicas first repeated in 2009 and 2010.
It's been a whirlwind two years for Simmons, who will wrap up his senior year of indoor and outdoor track before reporting to BYU in the fall to run cross country and then departing for a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The senior set six course records, a 6A state meet record in Utah, and rolled through five sub-14:50 finishes, including four at high-altitude settings.
He won 10 consecutive races, capped by a first-place finish at NXR before ultimately finishing 13th on a muddy, rainy track at Nike Cross Nationals this fall, when he was rated the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024 before signing with BYU, his dream school since he and his family moved from Idaho to Utah County to finish his high school career.
In a year where BYU harriers have stolen the spotlight on several occasions, from past greats Conner Mantz and Clayton Young qualifying for the U.S. Olympic marathon team in Paris to current stars like Joey Nokes and Lexy Halladay-Lowry on the women's team rewriting the school's record book, Simmons will enter his collegiate career with as lofty expectations as anyone.
"As the top junior nationals runner last year, he was, obviously, very highly recruited by everybody in the country, so it was really exciting when he chose us over some really good schools," BYU coach Ed Eyestone said of Simmons. "He's a guy that looks like he could come and be an immediate player for us his freshman year, which is really hard to do.
"In men's cross country, you move up from the 5K distance in high school to the 10K at the collegiate level, and he's the kind of guy that looks like he can handle that jump immediately. We have hopes he'll be a big part of what we do, right from the get go."
The Cougars have high hopes for Simmons, who signed as part of a recruiting class that also included Landon Heeymeyer, the runner-up at the 2023 NXR northwest regional and a top-10 finisher at Footlocker nationals from Meridian, Idaho; and Tyler Matthews, the No. 1-rated 800-meter runner in the 2024 class from Mesa, Arizona.
But few expectations are higher than the ones Simmons places on himself.
"I have big goals, and big dreams," said Simmons, who holds a 3.93 GPA and volunteers locally at the public library reading to children during their weekly story hour. "Having a coach like (Eyestone) helps me have hope in achieving those big goals. I'm really excited moving forward with BYU. I grew to love their team and the spirit that is around them, the way they live their lives. It helps me feel whole and complete, at home, when I am there with them."
In a program that produces national champions and Olympians at a high clip, Simmons is on track to fit right in. He's already accomplished a historical footnote.
All the more reason he hopes to add to the record books at a historic program like BYU.
"It's really exciting to see alumni and current runners just kicking butt and moving up," Simmons said. "It's pretty thrilling to see that and then think what are my possibilities. It's off-the-charts exciting."
