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April 4, 2006 He's a conference MVP without a pedigree or prodigy. Coming into college, Andy Prentice, Saint Martin's senior sensation who was named his region's athlete of the year for indoor track, was a runner without a past. And, seemingly, without a future. He ran track one year in high school and only dabbled at cross country while attending Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls, a 2A school near Spokane. Instead of running track, Prentice spent most his time chasing a soccer ball. Yet Brad Hooper, Saint Martin's coach, did something no one else did -- offer Prentice a scholarship. Potential, Hooper insisted, was lurking. "To be honest with you, I really don't know what he saw in me," Prentice said with a shrug. "My times weren't that great in high school." Eventually, as his weekly mileage increased from 20 to 75, Prentice became that runner Hooper somehow saw in that gangly kid five years ago. Prentice was a double-winner at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor championships, winning the 800 meters (1:54.7) and 1,600 (4:17). But before Prentice could win conference titles and advance to nationals, where he placed third in the 800, he had to suffer through some long, tiring workouts. "I could barely run 45 minutes straight when I first got here," Prentice said. "By the end of my freshman year in cross country here, I was running 45 miles a week." For someone who achieved only marginal accomplishments (21st at state his senior year) as a runner going into college, Prentice's resume has become downright gaudy. Besides being the West Region athlete of the year for indoor track, an All-American in the 800, a conference record-holder, a six-time conference champ, a school record-holder, a five-time academic All-American, he was a six-time national qualifier. Not bad for someone who would wear soccer shoes when he did his weekly eight-mile run with his teammates in preparation for cross country in high school. He'd run once a week. "I'd run with a group of guys," Prentice said. "But I'd never go out for a run by myself." It's not like Prentice is cashing in on running genes. His father is heavyset and never ran. Prentice ran track only his freshman year in high school and his cross country highlight came when he finished 21st at state. He turned out for soccer each spring because he felt indebted. He and his father went in front of the school board to request permission to start a soccer team. "Coming here, I knew I could do more in track," Prentice said. "My high school training wasn't much. Mostly goofing off." But there was no goofing off in college. "I love this kid," Hooper said. "He deserves every bit of this award. He has dedicated himself wholeheartedly to our school and to our program." Prentice, with his business degree in hand and his track career behind him, has run his last race. He's thinking about getting involved in intramural soccer as he works on his master's degree. "As much as he's done athletically, he's even better as a person," Hooper said. "I wish I could freeze him for my daughters." Courtesy of the Olympian
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