24:25. That was the time of Noah Perkin's first ever 5K race. He was running two miles every other day at the time as an 8th grader and ran in a local race hosted by his church which was affiliated with Seffner Christian. Coach Andy Holmes saw the youngster and asked him to join the team. Perkins says he was hooked ever since.
"Without Coach Holmes, I wouldn't be anywhere near how successful as I have been. I wouldn't have even known about the sport."
That last sentence couldn't be more true. Before moving down to Florida prior to his freshman year, Perkins lived in North Carolina. He competed in basketball, baseball, and soccer, and didn't even know anything about cross country or track. Months after his first 5K at the church, he was competing for the Crusaders at the 1A Cross Country Finals where he finished 58th in 17:30.99, a six minute improvement.
As a sophomore, he broke 17 minutes two times, including at the UF Mt. Dew Invitational and North Port XC Invitational, but failed to reached the state finals, after faltering in district and regional competition. Junior year the times continued to drop, as Perkins went under 16 minutes, clocking a 15:48.02 at the 1A Region 3 Championship, and 15:56.00 at Foot Locker South. The highlight of the season came at the state meet when he was 4th in 16:09.20. Coach Holmes says his pupil has always exceeded expectations and that continued into 2015.
"I honestly wasn't sure he would get down to 9:23 in track and 15:20 in cross country and be able to win the flrunners.com Invitational Race of Champions. I think he was able to prove he could toe the line with the best in the state. After that recruiting really took off with all kinds of colleges contacting him."
In all eight meets this cross country season, Perkins has run under 16:30 with five of those under 16 minutes. All of those races, the Crusader's senior was fourth or better. He won the flrunners.com Invitational Race of Champions against the top athletes in the state and shocked many when he beat FSU signee Steven Cross. He was on the path for a stellar end to his season, but all that came to a halt when he had stress reaction after the district meet and was sidelined for regional. Many believed he wouldn't run at the state meet, but he showed up. Perkins came in third and didn't make any excuses for his performance. Holmes explained how the injury to Perkins brought out his best qualities.
"It set the example of the leader he was to our team, which you mentioned was very young. He handled the injury with such grace and really got our younger boys on the team to believe they could make it to the state meet without him. Those boys were so focused day of regionals. I know they wanted to make it to state for themselves, but they were also doing it for Noah. It was very hard on Noah being injured but he is such a class act he focused on how he could still help the team."
One of the top distance recruits in the state of Florida, Perkins narrowed his college choices down to Belmont University, the University of Florida, and the University of North Florida. He says he had a great time at each three, but in the end the Ospreys soared above the rest.
"It really came down to the team atmosphere, and how great the coaching staff are. I think Coach Pigg and Coach Cooke are both awesome! The guys are great and love having fun while competing to win as well. I used to watch guys like Morken and Bennett have great races, and to think that I will be running along side those guys gives me a great feeling! In the end, I felt UNF was the place for me."
Coach Holmes adds that UNF and Perkins are a great fit because of the type of runner he is and the type of training he has been doing.
"I think their training program is similar to what he has been doing for our school. I'm impressed with their program. They had a close win at the UF Invite over UF and I know coaches who have sent their runners there and have been happy with the program."
Now that he has the recruiting process behind him, Perkins says he is excited for his senior track season and his first season at UNF in the fall.
"This track season I look to bring on more upsets, break some records, and give it my all. My goals in college are to bring my team to nationals in cross country and get All-American honors."
Personal Records
- 1600m - 4:28.62
- 3200m - 9:23.04
- 5K (xc) - 15:20.80
