Riley Novack is many things, an athlete, a scholar, but one of the things he truly excels at is being a good, kind hearted individual. This is thanks in part to his mother Sheryl Novack and James Novack who have raised a fine young man who has had many doors open for him in the past few months. Riley Novack runs cross-country for Montverde Academy in Clermont Florida. He also runs Track & Field and competes in the 800 meter, mile and 2 mile races. Safe to say Novack has a lot going on for him.

(Novack has chosen to compete at University of Florida in Cross-Country and Track & Field.)

While he juggles all of these sports activities Novack also has one of the best GPAs at the program. He has a combined total of a 4.3 GPA and that has impressed many schools who are looking to give him a look. Novack was part of our Outstanding Student this month and you can read all about him on our website and the March edition of the Style Magazine.

The Novack family visited many colleges over the past few months. Trips included Notre Dame, Florida State, and NC State. However one program went above and beyond what any other school had done for the Novack family. That University was none other than UF. The Novack family went to visit the University Of Florida which was the last of the institutions on their list. When they got there, they were absolutely blown away.

Before they were even invited to tour the campus, the head coach of the Cross-Country team Will Palmer met the Novack family at their home. No other coaches came to the Novack home and they were very impressed by that. Palmer had a great conversation with the Novack family that evening. Eventually that led to Palmer inviting the family to come take a tour of the campus. Upon arriving at Florida the Novack family had a surprise waiting for them. Coach Palmer had invited the Novack family to his house.

When the Novack family arrived to the Palmer household, they opened the door and were greeted by the entire University of Florida Cross-Country team who were greeting them at the door, along with coach Palmer. This was a pleasant surprise for the Novack family. No one had ever done that for them and it began to cement the fact that Florida was the place to be. Coach Palmer was the former coach for The University of Alabama women’s cross country team. He took that Alabama team to #3 in the nation before he was hired as the Gators head coach. Palmer saw the potential that Riley Novack had and was going to do everything possible to get him to play for the Gators. The team felt like a family. This is something Riley enjoyed at Montverde and he felt right at home now chatting away with Gator athletes.

If anyone has been on a tour of the UF campus you know how beautiful it can be. The Novack family was already impressed, but they were even more impressed by the medical facilities, classrooms, athletic training facilities and student activity centers that would become a part of Riley’s everyday life on campus. So the decision was made. Riley Novack would be attending The University of Florida! Yet another athlete in our area is going to an SEC program including Sam Walters of The Villages who heads to Alabama to play basketball. We also cannot forget about Tyree Patterson heading to the BIG 12 for Football and will play for UCF. It is great to see so many of our athletes offered the chance to play for D1 programs at the highest level.

(Riley Novack represents one of the best athletic High School Academy’s in the nation Montverde Academy.)

Novack does not just intend to run Cross-Country and Track & Field. He intends to get his degree in the medical field. The 4.3 GPA student is accustomed to juggling around priorities. With the amount of Sports and Education courses he will be taking, it is important to set priorities. But Riley is great at that and Montverde prepares their students for this type of life as they transition to Universities and Colleges around the USA. Novack is interested in the Pre-Med field and intends to potentially go into Nursing.

(Novack second from the right receives his cross-country state championship ring.)

Novack leaves Montverde with a great legacy behind him. Novack was twice named Cross-Country MVP. He is a Two team state championship winner in Track & Field. He was named Senior Runner of the Year by flrunners.com while also being awarded as an MVA Distinguished Scholar which he will be honored at during a signing April 19th. Novack will then be honored on April 26th when he officially signs with The Florida Gators. Did we mention Novack also plays golf, tennis and pickleball? This kid can do it all! Asked how Riley manages all of these activities he was quoted as saying “I try not to get caught up so much in the lights and just enjoy the moment”

Novack has many ambitions but perhaps his most ambitious plan is to Qualify for the Olympic Trials in 2026. Those Olympic trials will determine which athletes will move onto the Olympic games which will be hosted by Los Angeles California. We do not yet know what Novack will attempt to qualify for, but he has some time to figure that out. Florida is a great program and they will get the most out of Novack. He will be challenged mentally and physically, but if there is anyone in Lake & Sumter County that has the drive and smarts to get the job done it’s Riley Novack.

(Novack competed in the Champs Sports XC Championships. Novack wants to qualify for the Olympic Trials in a few years time when he will likely be a Sophomore or Junior at Florida.)

We want to take the time to congratulate Riley and his family for this enormous step in his life. We are excited for his continued Academic and Athletic success at one of the greatest Universities in the USA, The University of Florida. Riley is wrapping up his career at Montverde at the moment as he is competing in Track & Field. If you have some time we suggest checking out one of his races as the season winds down. Novack will likely be headed to states so we look forward to hearing all about how he does as that draws closer.

Congratulations Riley! Good luck at Florida!

Photos Provided By:

Sheryl Novack

@Joshua.Grenade

Montverde Academy Facebook