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After two team national championships, seven individual/relay national titles, 21 All-American citations and 16 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual/relay championships, Myles Pringle is on to the next phase of his competitive career.
Pringle has signed with Elite Sports Marketing & Management, based in West Chester, Pa., and joins recent Ashland University track and field grads Katie Nageotte and Drew Windle in becoming a professional athlete following a stellar collegiate career.
"We are still working out the details of sponsorships and meets," Pringle said. "As of right now, we don't have anything set in stone, so that will be up and coming.
"It's so surreal, because my senior collegiate seasons are over. Now, I'm keeping that tradition going, and I'm happy to do that. I'm hoping to make my mark at the next level."
Pringle concluded his career as an Eagle by helping the men's team to its initial NCAA Division II team national titles, first indoors in March, then outdoors in May. For the first time in five years, a D-II men's team won both titles in the same calendar year.
"I tell my teammates all the time, 'you guys decided to come my senior year and help us do this. Where were you my junior year, my sophomore year, my freshman year?' I always joke around with them about that.
"It's very exciting, because it was my senior year, and it was the year that everything was happening with Jud (head coach Jud Logan), so we got to give that national championship to Jud. I was very happy about that."
One of the meets Pringle is looking forward to is the 2019 USA Track & Field (USATF) Outdoor Championships, July 25-28 in Des Moines, Iowa.
"We are training right now for USAs," Pringle said, "but they do want me to get into some meets, just so I can stay fresh and keep that competition mindset going."
Pringle is ranked No. 19 in the United States in the men's open 400, thanks to his 45.54-second finish at the 2019 GLIAC Championships. He is the fastest NCAA Division II men's 400 runner indoors in history, regardless of track size, at 45.67 seconds, and is the eighth-best all-time D-II men's 400 runner outdoors at 45.35 seconds.
His 4x400 relay split at 2019 outdoor nationals, however, was 44.72 seconds, and suggests big things still are to come. Pringle believes a time like that in an open 400 is feasible prior to 2019 nationals in July.
"Splitting 44.72 in the 4x4, that made me happy," he said, "because I was like, 'that 44 is there.'"
While Pringle is starting his professional track career, he's not done at Ashland. He will continue to pursue his degree in Sport Communication, which will include an internship in the Eagle Athletic Communications office and a full semester of classes, and is slated to graduate in December.
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