Student Athlete of the Week Anna Prok

Anna Prok won't lack for summer tales to share with her classmates next week when Niwot High School opens its doors for the new academic year.

Along with training for her upcoming cross country season, Prok competed at the Nike Outdoors Nationals in June before joining Niwot teammate and close friend Addison Ritzenhein at the 2024 ESPY Awards on July 11. Prok, a rising junior, said it was a special experience to attend the ESPYs with Ritzenhein, who was being honored for winning the 2023-24 Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Player of the Year award.

At the event, which was held at Los Angeles' historic Dolby Theatre, the two Niwot runners mingled with several other nationally recognized high school athletes, including Duke University men's basketball signee Cooper Flagg.

"Everything was very athlete-based," Prok said. "They had a lot of spaces for the athletes and their families to connect with each other. It was super cool to see the future of where athletics are going to be in a few years because all those athletes are the next generation."

One month prior, Prok and other Niwot tracksters traveled to the University of Oregon's Hayward Field for the Nike Outdoor Nationals. Competing with REAL Training Colorado, a club program led by Niwot track head coach Maurice Henriques, Prok achieved a personal best time in the one-mile (four minutes, 56.92 seconds), finishing seventh in the event.

Other Niwot athletes who found success in Eugene included hurdler Reese Kasper, runners Eliana Henriques, Quinn Sullivan, Cole Mazurana, Ryder Keeton, Evan Kear, and thrower Jade West.

Prok's eventful summer came not long after a challenging sophomore year. Soon before the fall cross country season began, she was diagnosed with a sacral stress fracture (lower back) that forced her to miss nearly the entire season.

"It was really difficult to see your team doing so well and not being able to be a part of it because cross country racing is so fun," Prok said. "I still went to practice and cross-trained on the bike every day."

Prok triumphantly returned for the Class 4A state championships and finished 10th in Class 4A, helping the Niwot girls to their sixth straight state title.

In the spring track state championships, she took seventh in the one-mile race and was a member of Niwot's winning 4x800-meter relay team, which included her older sister Mia Prok, Ritzenhein, and Olivia Alessandrini. The Cougars girls ultimately won their fifth straight team state 4A title

Prok remains grateful to have raced with her sister Mia, who will be running at Wake Forest University in North Carolina this fall.

"It's been such a special experience to be on a team with your best friend and your sister," the younger Prok said. "It has brought to our team an element of togetherness that is super special. It really helps us race for each other and run for each other in races."

Now fully healthy and preparing for her third high school cross country season, Prok is excited to help lead Niwot's younger runners.

"Me and Addy (Ritzenhein) have definitely had to fill in the leadership roles that the upperclassmen left empty," Prok said. "It's been really cool to know you're kind of a role model for the younger girls on the team and to lead in the way that my sister and other impactful athletes have in the past."