No. 20: Ryan Pajak
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School: Ringgold (PA)
Year: 2024
2022 Notable Finishes: 12th at Champs Sports Nationals in 15:22.90; 7th at Champs Northeast Regional in 15:38.70; 2nd at PIAA Class AA State Championships in 16:10.70; 3rd at Lehigh Paul Short Run in 14:58.40; 1st at Red, White & Blue Classic in 15:13.00.
Analysis: A returning All-American to Champs Sports Nationals, Ryan Pajak will have his eyes on more hardware in 2023.
Perhaps the key goal this fall will be the PIAA Championships, where the Pittsburgh area runner was second in Class AA last year and is a three-time top 10 finisher in Hershey. No doubt the favorite to win, he could go after a course record in the process.
But last year's accolades are also numerous: He ran a top 5K time of 14:58.40 at the Paul Short Run and claimed wins at the Red, White and Blue Classic and the WPIAL Championships.
It all concluded with a seventh-place finish at the Champs Northeast Regional and an All-American finish at Champs Sports Nationals, where he was 12th on the Balboa Park course in 15:22.90.
Pajak went on to score personal best times of 4:09.64 in the 1,600m and 8:48.20 in the 3,200m over the outdoor season.
THE MILESPLIT50 PRESEASON BOYS INDIVIDUAL
NATIONAL RANKINGS COUNTDOWN
RANK | DATE-TEAM |
|---|---|
| 25 | Aug. 21 -- Aden Bandukwala |
| 24 | Aug. 21 -- Anthony Provenzano |
| 23 | Aug. 21 -- Andrew Hauser |
| 22 | Aug. 21 -- Jack Meier |
| 21 | Aug. 21 -- Connell Alford |
| 20 | Aug. 22 -- Ryan Pajak |
| 19 | Aug. 23 -- Brayden Marshall |
| 18 | Aug. 24 -- Jason Parra |
| 17 | Aug. 25 -- Sage Wilde |
| 16 | Aug. 26 -- Joe Barrett |
| 15 | Aug. 27 -- JoJo Jourdon |
| 14 | Aug. 28 -- Marcelo Parra |
| 13 | Aug. 29 -- Seth Norder |
| 12 | Aug. 30 -- Ty Steorts |
| 11 | Aug. 31 -- Josiah Tostenson |
| 10 | Sept. 1 -- Adam Burlison |
| 9 | Sept. 2 -- Byron Grevious |
| 8 | Sept. 3 -- Paul Bergeron |
| 7 | Sept. 4 -- Jake Liebert |
| 6 | Sept. 5 |
| 5 | Sept. 6 |
| 4 | Sept. 6 |
| 3 | Sept. 6 |
| 2 | Sept. 6 |
| 1 | Sept. 6 |