He is driven. He is focused. And he listens to and trusts his coach. All of those qualities make a great runner and athlete.

For North Mecklenburg's Stephen Haas, the best distance runner ever to come out of Mecklenburg County, this is his essence.

He earned - emphasis on earned - All-American status last year, the first-ever Mecklenburg County boy runner to do that. He finished in the top 15 at the Foot Locker national championships, after making it out of a qualifier in Charlotte.

Haas is one of the top three returning cross country runners in the nation, after finishing as the third best junior at the national championships.

He has the second best time (15 minutes, 5.3 seconds) ever recorded by a North Carolina runner at McAlpine Park's 3.1-mile course. The best time goes to former Watauga runner Ricky Brookshire, 14:57.7. And Haas is heavily favored, along with his team, to win the N.C. 4A Championship Nov. 4 at McAlpine. If that happens, it would be the first cross country title for a North Mecklenburg runner, or team, since 1965.

But his attention seems to always turn to the national scene, not getting caught up in the sentimental feelings of accomplishing something that hasn't been done in 35 years. Not that the state title isn't on his mind, but he has higher aspirations.

"I just want to go out and run fast," Haas said. "I don't feel like there's much pressure. I've just been sitting and waiting, and now it's my turn. I definitely want the team title and state title in cross country, but one big thing is Foot Locker again."

"I want to be one of the top runners in the nation."

His college choices include some of the top and most storied programs in the country: Colorado, Wisconsin, Oregon, Indiana and the most dominant program the past 15 years, Arkansas.

He is so fast that his 3,200-meter time of 9:11.30 last spring in track would have beaten Southeast Raleigh's state-record-setting girls' 3,200-meter relay team. Four girls combined to run the same distance in 9:26.84 this past spring.

"He's not afraid to go and get somebody," said coach Brad Herbster, owner of a running store in Davidson and a former college runner. "His focus is national, and with him that's how we've been trying to focus him."

When Haas talks of competition, it's about Ryan Hall (from California), Alan Webb (from Virginia) and Dathan Ritzenheim (Michigan), some of the nation's top runners.

"I definitely want to close the gap this year," Haas said. "You have Alan Webb, and you have Ritzenheim, and it kind of falls back. They're kind of at a different level. And then you have us back there. It's me and the Jeffersons (John and Sean from Florida). I just want to close the gap. I definitely want to be considered one of the fastest guys in the nation."

Herbster knows runners like Haas are very rare. After Haas made it to the national championships last year, he wasn't just happy to be there. His goal was All-American, which was a top-15 finish. He finished 11th and his focus immediately turned to improvement, not resting on just making it there and the fact that he was an All-American.

"Our goal for him was to `Velcro yourself to the top 15 and see what happens,'" Herbster said. "That's what's fun about coaching him. We have a game plan developed, and he goes out there and stays true to the game plan and gets the job done.

"Not too many coaches, in their lifetime, will have a runner qualify for Foot Locker, much less an All-American.