The mindset for an athlete who is involved with either cross country or track is one thing...they must love to just run, and run some more.
For Northwestern’s Justin Prack, he lives that mindset everyday. It is something that the Warriors runner has mastered enough to become one of the top runners in the Central Buckeye Conference, and it goes back to his days as a youth.
“I enjoy running both cross country and track and I started running back in the fifth grade in my middle school’s run club which was spearheaded by the cross country coaches Tracy Cleland and Brian Borton,” Prack said. “During the summer before my seventh grade year, I told my mother I wanted to continue with soccer instead of partaking in cross country. She threw a fit and Coach Cleland saw me on the track the following Monday.”
And fortunately for the Warriors, he did show up on that track. He has blossomed into one of the elite runners in the area, with some of his best times being among the top in the area. His best time in the mile is 4:32, while he has also posted some solid times in the 800 (2:03), 400 (:54) and 3200 (9:50). In cross country, his best 5K time is 16:13.
“To improve my times I run and stretch every day, and for the past 2-3 years I went to Ohio Valley Armory for strength and Conditioning,” Prack said. “Also, I used to have an off-season in the winter in which I would just do recovery runs to rest my body for track. But this past season coach got me into indoor track to ensure I get no days off.”
Prack is working to become even a better runner, with aspirations of making it back to the state meet this fall in cross country. He knows that his technique and fitness must be at its peak level in order to accomplish that goal.
” I hope to qualify for the state cross country meet,” he said. “However, I do not intend to go alone for the team will take the next step and advance past regionals and race in Hebron.”
“I am working on my foot turnover, my arm movements, and breathing in order to be the most efficient runner. Also, I am improving my general muscle strength to withstand running thousands of practice miles as well as guaranteeing that I spend the least amount of time on the race course. Moreover, I am working on improving my nutrition by eating fruits, vegetables, and not four pound bags of gummy worms.”
While he doesn’t keep track of his awards, Prack was an all-conference runner for the last three years, along with academic all-Ohio. His team has also won the Mad River Division of the CBC during his tenure at Northwestern. He has also advanced to the state cross country meet each of the last three years.
As for his future plans are to attend college and major in accounting, and of course....run.
