Workout Wednesday shoot with Montverde Academy senior Riley Novack, who will be the lone athlete from Florida qualified to compete at the Champs (formerly Foot Locker) National Cross Country Championships this weekend in San Diego, California on Saturday, December 10th. Novack qualified for the national meet with his sixth place personal best 5K run of 14:59 at the Champs South Regional in Charlotte, North Carolina over the Thanksgiving weekend.
After finishing third in the FHSAA 2A state cross country race, the unsigned senior Novack has been on a tear since then in the post-season including winning the FACA All-Star Senior Meet with a sub 16 minute performance on the difficult Holloway Park 5K course then dropping a 9:10 3200 meter performance on the track at the flrunners.com PR Festival on the Track on November 19th.
The workout, only 3 days after his trip and race in Charlotte included a combination workout with him running 4x1000 meter repeats on the track ranging from 2:58 to 3 minutes flat followed by 300 meter hill repeats off the track soon after each 1000 meter interval with his times ranging from 48 to 54 seconds progressively getting faster on each ascent up hill.
With Balboa Park in San Diego having a significant hit that the 40 national finalists hit twice on the race, Novack's workout was a fitting to prep for the terrain that he will face this weekend as he is vying for a top 15 All-American finish.
