(Photos by Jeff Adams/Justin Pacifico)
Justin Pacifico's first love was football. In his first two years at Flagler Palm Coast he was a wide receiver and kick returner on the Bulldog's varsity team. Pacifico was also doing his homework on the school's track team. He had had an appreciated for Coach Dave Halliday and the history behind his coaching. At that time he says, he bought into the training and quit football because he didn't see a bright future on the gridiron.
"I started track in the 200, 400 and 4x100. You can probably find me running the 4x100 my freshman year in the finals at regionals. I've come a long way."
Starting out as as a sprinter, Pacifico found his niche in mid-distance during his junior year. He won five of his eight meets in the half mile including wins at the Bob Hayes Invitational, Districts, and the Golden South Classic where he posted a personal best time of 1:53.34. He was third at the Florida Relays and runner-up at the 4A state meet by four tenths of a second. In the 1,600 he ran a personal best of 4:28.16 at the Louie Bing Classic in Miami.
His speed parlayed onto the cross country course where the senior was an integral part of the Bulldogs team as their number one runner. Coming off a 27th place finish at the 2014 Cross Country Finals, Pacifico was district runner-up, third at regionals, and runner-up at the 4A Cross Country Finals this past weekend. With the state meet behind him,the senior says he could finally narrow down the recruiting process.
"The recruiting process has been great. I can't complain. The University of Florida was always the one there showing me love. I received offers from UF & Army (West Point), but I only visited UF. When I went on my visit at UF I knew that was the place for me. Everyone there has a work horse mentality. Coach Holloway really knows what he is doing."
Pacifico credits his background as a football player and focusing on running as making him a lot stronger as an athlete. He adds that he has more to prove in the 1,600 and 3,200 and that the Gators really liked his range.
"Although I have experience in cross country, I will just do track which I am totally fine doing. I can completely focus on track and help my team towards winning a national championship. I'm looking forward being apart of one of the best programs in the nation. Like I said before Coach Holloway knows his stuff so I can't wait to be coached by one of the greatest coach to ever do it."
He still has one more season left for FPC and says the decision to commit early was because there was no other program he wanted to be a part of and that it also takes away the stress of the recruitment process and lets him focus on the his last high school track season.
"I don't know if I'll be at Jimmy Carnes, but I'll definitely be at Florida Relays dropping some nasty times. Winning a state championship would be the highlight of my high school career. That's the only thing that people have on me. No state titles. But that will change this upcoming season."
Personal Records
- 800m - 1:53.34
- 1600m - 4:28.19
- 5K (xc) - 15:42.37
