STURGIS, SD – Ty Petrocco signed a national letter of intent to compete on the University of South Dakota cross country team at West Gym, Monday, Jan. 13.
Petrocco said he was considering Black Hills State University, South Dakota State University, the University of Wyoming and Augustana University in Sioux Falls.
“I really liked the team atmosphere (at USD),” said Petrocco. “I also liked the team atmosphere and how welcoming they were on my visit there. Another huge factor is how well I got along with Coach (Nolan) Fife, the USD cross country coach. He was super welcoming, and I loved his passion and his overall outlook for the future of the program.”
Petrocco has had an outstanding career as a Scooper runner. He was named to the South Dakota all-state cross country team twice, placed at the state track meet six times, has the 3,200 meter school record at Sturgis Brown High School and holds multiple cross country records. Petrocco credits coach Blake Proefrock for getting him into cross country and track.
“My family is a big football family and nobody in my family has been a distance runner,” Petrocco said. “I was kind of dead set on playing football and I had a lot of conversations with (Proefrock) in seventh and eight grade. I decided my eighth grade season to come up and run for the high school team. From there, cross country and running became my main thing. I was also extremely lucky to have a mentor as experienced and knowledgeable as coach Scott Peterson.”
Petrocco plans on pursuing a double major in finance and accounting at USD.
