Head coach Chip Wilson predicted Porostosky’s success long ago.

“I knew from the first day I met Mark that he would be a great fit at MVNU,” Wilson said. “He came to a recruiting run we held on campus and he told me he loved to run. He was my first recruit to our new program, and since that first year he has been my right-hand man. It has been exciting to watch him mature as a runner and improve each season.”

Porostosky said the secret to this improvement is defining his goals.

“I run for several reasons and my goals work to motivate me,” Porostosky said. “My goals are always to improve my time and to prove to myself that I am not a rock stuck in the ground, but someone who is constantly moving forward, making changes for the better. I run for myself, my mom and family, my team, my school and most importantly for God.”

Fulfilling captain’s duties this season, he led the team through their strategic training made up of stretching, running, weight-lifting and form technique drills. In a typical week before a race, the team performed one day with a long run, two medium days with accelerations, one hard interval day and one easy day. Then Saturday came around and all the hard work was worth it, no matter the outcome of the race.

“I may feel good, or I may feel terrible,” Porostosky said. “Either way, I ran tough, I fought the good fight and at that point I can rejoice because of what I did. There is a heart in the sport unlike any other.”

When he’s not preparing to break MVNU records, Porostosky is usually found relaxing with his other passion, music.

Porostosky’s mother played the piano and sang while he was growing up, eventually inspiring him to pick up a guitar and begin leading worship in church. After that, he was hooked. He played trumpet through middle school and high school and was a member of the marching band, jazz band, choir and show choir. He said he now also “dabbles in piano and hopes to someday rock the violin.”

As a general music major, Porostosky, a native of Madison, Ohio, has maintained a 3.80 GPA and has been named an NCCAA Scholar-Athlete and is up for NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades. The Madison High School product leads worship in University chapel services and has traveled with the music and ministry teams the last two summers.

However, his guitar chords will be missing from the campus this spring. He will be spending a semester studying in a Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) Best Semester program at the Contemporary Music Center (CMC) located on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Boston.

After learning about the program as a freshman, Porostosky knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Last year, he applied to study off campus and then applied to go to CMC. He was thrilled when he found out in mid-October that he was accepted.

Porostosky said the semester will be an opportunity to learn how to write better songs, how to record and how to market music. He will also get a lot of performance experience.

“I will be learning from the people who have helped many get their start in the music business: Jars of Clay, Paul Wright and our very own MVNU student, Steve Bryan,” he said.

Porostosky said his future is still an open book, but he has music business ambitions and hopes to continue playing and writing music with his band, Halcyon Sea.

He anticipates growing musically and enjoying his time away from everything else while at CMC, but he is going into the experience without any specific expectations.

“I don't know how it will impact my life,” Porostosky said. “But I am hoping it will point me into a God-blessed direction for my life.”

Once Porostosky finds that path, he will follow it with the same determination that propels him over each hill and across every finish line.