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O-R Athlete of the Week: Ryan Pajak, Ringgold

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Name: Ryan Pajak

School: Ringgold

Class: Junior

Sport: Cross country

Pajak’s week: The Ringgold runner won the 3.1-mile Mingo Classic at Mingo Park, crossing the finish line first with a time of 15:18.86, nearly 11 seconds better than second-place finisher Brett Kroboth of Peters Township.

“That was very satisfying to beat him,” Pajak said. “He’s a really great runner, especially when he comes to race. He tries to beat me over the first mile and beat me over the second mile. He tries to beat me at the finish. So I’m really happy with the win.”

The junior is the defending WPIAL Class 2A cross country champion and will try to defend that title next Thursday at California University.

“Ryan is such a fast runner and I have talented kids on the team. But he is a special talent,” said Ringgold head coach Jen McMichael. “He works out on his own. He has different paces. He’s on a different schedule so he has different workouts.”

Pajak said he will run between 50 and 60 miles per week to prepare for the postseason.

“I’m familiar with the (Cal) course,” said Pajak. “I’m going to sit out Tri-State (today at Cal). I think a workout will help me. I did that during track season and it helped me out a lot. I think it’s more of a benefit to do a workout than to go all out on a race. Cal U is hard. I hope it’s going to be in tip-top shape when I run (the WPIALs)”

National rankings: A few weeks ago, Pajak traveled to Bethlehem for the Lehigh Paul Short Run. He finished third with a scorching 14:58.40 over the 5K course. Just imagine what his time would have been had he not been feeling poorly.

“I didn’t feel great that race, like I did in the Mingo Classic,” Pajak said. “I’m still happy with the time but I could have done better. I felt like I needed more energy. My stomach wasn’t feeling that great. It is what it is. I fought through it.”

That time was a personal record and the fourth best 5K time in the state in all classifications. That’s the third fastest time for junior ever. In the nation, Pajak’s Lehigh time puts him 82nd in all classifications and 26th as a junior.

Colleges coaches are starting to swarm, including Tulsa, Oklahoma, Penn and North Carolina, to name a few who started recruiting Pajak.

Compiled by Joe Tuscano

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