Once in high school, he started to thrive in cross country until he qualified for the Foot Locker Nationals for the first time as a junior. He placed 34th out of 40 runners.
His English teacher, Phil Giorsetti, knew all that would do is inspire Billy to train that much harder to return a year later to improve.
"He's the one who always steps up to a challenge," says Giorsetti. "He has dedication, discipline and curiosity. He's always into learning, always reading. Everyone knows Billy because he's the one out running before 7 a.m. every day.
"It does carry over from the classroom to running. He knows he'll be able to succeed because he's done it and he's one of the brightest students I've seen in a long, long time."
By now you may be wondering how fast is he on the track? You won't find his name among the national leaders in the 800 meters, the 1,600 or the 3200. He has run good times of 1 minute, 57 seconds, 4:19 and 9:04, times that make you wonder why the 6-foot-1, bushy-haired senior would be wooed by Stanford, Brown, Columbia and, of course, Harvard.
Those schools were attracted by his 4.3 GPA and 2,110 SAT score. They also looked at the conditions under which Orman runs when he competes in most of his meets.
"We have an all-weather track at Tuba City," says Billy, "but in the spring the wind is always blowing and it kicks up sand. I'm the connoisseur of dirt. There isn't a lot of competition, either."
Asked to run three events in miserable conditions, at altitude no less, Orman runs to win. Not wanting to embarrass his opponents and teammates, he leaves out that he often leaves the field so far behind he's catching them as he finishes. And that's in the 1,600.
He will run a few times in Phoenix and can't wait for the Arcadia Invitational in California, where he was second last year. Not in the invitational, but the seeded race. Bet he's in the invitational this time.
As for Harvard, that mixture of anticipation and concern — just like the contrast of Tuba City and Cambridge — is constantly there.
"I'm going for academics," says Billy, who hasn't decided on his major. "It'll be nice to be on a good team, to contribute my freshman year. I definitely like the longer distance (10K in college compared to 5K in high school) but really good grades are more important than really good times.
"The thing is, I'm in the top five of my class academically here but I'll just be just another guy there."
His father is a little less reluctant than Billy to point out that Tuba City High, which has a rich history of success in running, isn't among the higher achieving academic schools in the state. Quite the contrary.
"The educational background he has here isn't remotely close to some of the prep schools where many of the Harvard students come from," says Bill. "He knows that but he likes a challenge."
Orman says being one of maybe 10 anglos in a school that is 90 percent Native American has never been a problem, especially since his mother, Theresa, a Tuba City High Spanish teacher, is Puerto Rican.
And he says there is culture in Tuba City, just not the kind in Cambridge.
"The Hopi cultural dances, you can't see those anywhere else," says the 18-year-old. "It's just different. I'm looking forward to those differences."
