THE FRONT ROW with BRUCE BOURQUIN, Oct. 17, 2014

Jake Finney is the top-ranked Class 5A runner in the state, according to IdahoXC.com.

How the Lake City High senior got there, running on his Vibram FiveFingers running shoes, is a fun tale.

And sometime in the relatively near future, the 17-year-old born in Coeur d'Alene could be involved in assessing insurance risks for several people.

AS A Timberwolf freshman in 2011, Finney read a book titled "Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Super Athletes and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen."

Since then, Finney has worn Vibram FiveFinger running shoes, form-fitting, rubberized shoes which he says helps him run better due to five separate toes which simulate barefoot running.

"I wear them on courses that have pavement," Finney said. "It's been helping me strengthen my lower legs, my core."

In the book, author Christopher McDougall tracked down members of the Tarahumara Indian tribe in the Mexican Copper Canyons.

After being repeatedly injured as a runner himself, McDougall marvels at the tribe's ability to run distances of more than 100 miles at various speeds, without getting the routine injuries of most American runners. He asserts that modern cushioned running shoes are a major cause of running injury and the explosion of running-related injuries since the introduction of modern running shoes in 1972.

On Oct. 29 of 2011, Finney finished 32nd at the state 5A cross country meet, with a time of 17 minutes, 19.67 seconds.

After a full season of training while wearing Vibrams, Finney leapt all the way to fifth at state as a sophomore (16:04.70), then was fifth at state again as a junior (16:37:00), with Dwain Stucker of Meridian, who finished second, the fastest junior (16:18).

Lake City coach Heather Harmon-Reed saw the transformation from eighth grade, when Finney began running competitively, to sophomore star.

"He realized how good he could be," Harmon-Reed said. "He's always been a hard worker. He understood the effort to make those improvements."

Finney went from playing tennis to running cross country.

"Once I had moderate success, I was serious," Finney said. "I fell in love with it."

CURRENTLY, FINNEY runs 50 to 70 miles per week, works out with Bud Rasmussen at Ultimate Athlete on Sherman Avenue in Coeur d'Alene and adheres to a healthy diet.

The regimen has paid off. On Sept. 27 at Eagle Island State Park, Finney finished eighth (15:36) at the Bob Firman Invitational and was the fastest 5A runner ahead of Stucker (15:40), which helped Finney become ranked No. 1 in 5A.

On Nov. 1, Finney will have a shot at winning the state title at Eagle Island.

"Hopefully I'll contend at state," Finney said. "It (running at Firman) gives me a lot of confidence. I'll run the Nike Regionals and hopefully, I'll be able to run at the Nike Nationals."

Finney has been able to compete with a Lake City runner who has been nearly his equal at times, Kyler Little, who was sixth at the state meet as a sophomore and fourth as a junior.

"We have a great friendship," Finney said. "Having him train with me day in and day out makes all the difference in the world."

Finney's parents, Fred and Diane Finney, operate boats for Finney Boat Works in Post Falls.

His older brother, Matt, is a student at the University of Idaho and in 2011 teamed up with Luke Ness to win a state boys doubles title in tennis for Lake City. Jake also has an older sister, Kate, who is helping out with the family business in Phoenix.

AS FAR as college plans, Finney, who is a semifinalist for the National Merit Scholarship award, has received several athletic and academic scholarship offers. Home-schooled since sixth grade, he is looking at possibly running in college for Utah State University in Logan, Utah, Gonzaga University, the University of Portland and Washington State, among other schools.

The big kicker is Finney prefers attending a university that offers an actuarial science major, a mathematics-based major which involves statistics and math methods in order to assess risk in insurance and other fields.

"I've always liked math, so it seems like a natural progression," Finney said. "There are a wide range of possibilities."

Finney has been in dual enrollment classes at North Idaho College since he was a sophomore. This spring, the student with a 3.98 grade-point average in four classes at NIC will graduate from the junior college with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree and will be a junior academically.

So thanks in part to those Vibram FiveFingers, some extraordinary running talent and some serious brains, the path could be practically endless for this Timberwolf.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013 or via e-mail at [email protected]