Nephi Tyler
Graduating class: 1999
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2016
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
At the start of Tyler’s first freshman race for FHS, a nearby brush fire had filled Bourne’s outdoor track with the smoke of burning scrub oak. The acrid air burned the eyes and lungs of those racing, but it didn’t stop Tyler from winning the two mile that day. Be it wildfires, wind, rain or cinder mud, not much could keep Tyler from the winner’s circle his next four years at FHS. Tyler was the last of the runners at FHS to fly circles on the Round Gym track or kick up dust around cinder stadium track.
In his first season of cross country, he won the sophomore race at the Peter Jewell Invitational in a time which would have won the senior division that day. Sophomore year he was 4th at the SCC championships and junior year he was 2nd in a torrential down-pour. By senior year he would go on to set course records at Martha’s Vineyard, Wareham, ORR and Fairhaven. Tyler also went undefeated in the SCC, winning one particular race on a flooded Apponequet course where the deluge was knee deep in some sections. Tyler won the SCC Championship meet and SCC Runner of the Year honors. He also won the Bay State Invitational at Boston’s Franklin Park, and placed 2nd at the State Coaches Meet, with a personal best 16:03 5k at Franklin Park. Junior year, he ran a two mile best 9:46, placing third at the Loucks Games. As lead-off leg on the distance medley relay, his team set the Class D state record. By senior year he focused solely on the mile in championship races.
Tyler greatly valued the dedication of coach Bob Demanche and teamwork of Bryan Silveira as they pushed each other to break the FHS mile record held by former FHS runner, David Crabbe. Steve Bender, a longtime FHS coach and expert motivator, put the challenge to Tyler that he “wouldn’t be able to handle the workouts Crabbe did.” Those words lit the fuse on a conflagration of wins and records that would define Tyler’s senior year. As anchor leg at the SCC Indoor Relays, Tyler was more than a full lap behind rival Seekonk before the exchange. Tyler took the baton with a cool hand and tracked down his prey, unleashing a crowd roaring final kick to win by a lean at the line. At the Falmouth Relays, Tyler again took the baton 100m behind the leaders. A calculated fury over the next two laps gave him another leaning win at the line and a sprint medley school record.
In major competition, Tyler won the Loucks mile in a school record time of 4:20. He also set the 800m school record in 1:59. At the SCC Championships, Tyler won the mile in 4:23. At the Class D State Championship he won the mile in 4:21, holding off a last lap attack from his Seekonk arch rival. That time would stand as a Class D state record for the next 10 years. At the All-State meet Tyler placed 4th in 4:20, the winner being the top ranked miler in the nation that year. Tyler earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Utah where he was captain and set school records in the 1500m (3:43) and DMR (10:05). He won the1500m at the Oregon Invitational and at the NCAA Indoor Div. I Championships he placed 11th in the mile.
He graduated with a degree in journalism and ran several years under the legendary Arkansas Razorback coach, John McDonnell. He placed 22nd at the USA Cross Country Championships, ran bests in the mile (4:03), 800m (1:50) and 3000m (7:57) which ranked him 12th professionally in the US.
Tyler has coached cross country at the college level, was an assistant editor/researcher of a national best seller, and works in research as an Advanced EMT. He races competitively in cross country skiing and enjoys alpine skiing in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.