This past Tuesday Isaac Nowak signed a Division 1 National Letter of Intent to run cross country and track for the University of St. Thomas.

“I was kind of close to getting emotional, but as I realized I was I thickened up. I was excited to see a lot of people come and support me, and it was kind of surreal seeing that I was saying what the next four years of my life would contain,” said Nowak about his signing experience.

Nowak started running track in 6th grade and started running cross country in his freshman year. This past fall he led NDA  to a state championship in cross country.,

“I decided to run track because every other kid in my middle school, St. John the Baptist, was doing it. I decided to run cross country because I was too small to play football. I knew that I would not be big enough to get a lot of playing time early, and since I was okay at running I decided to do cross country,” the senior explained..

“I enjoy the team and camaraderie in track and cross country. Although they are mostly individual sports, the team makes them so much more fun. When you have teammates to push you during workouts, it makes the satisfaction of running a good race even better. The other enjoyable thing is racing. Competing always hurts a lot, but when you push through and run a personal best, you feel very accomplished,” he said.

After getting offers from some D3 schools, Nowak finally decided on St. Thomas.

“I decided on St. Thomas because it was a Division 1 program and because it is a Catholic school. The Division 1 part was big for me because it proves that I can compete at the highest level.  The Catholic part was important because it provides an easy way for me to continue to practice my faith,” he said.

Nowak is still deciding on what he is going to study at St. Thomas but is leaning towards environmental science.