HIGH SCHOOL

He coped with autism by running. Now he could push Columbus North to a state title.

David Woods
Indianapolis Star

COLUMBUS – He focuses better. He earns straight A’s. He looks others in the eye.

He hugs.

Before he began running, Austin Pulkowski did none of those things. Now he could be a state champion. In cross-country, his Columbus North Bull Dogs are ranked No. 1 in Indiana and top 10 in the nation.

Pulkowski’s parents want them to finish first Saturday in the state meet at Terre Haute. But this race has already been won.

“The state title would a cherry on the top,” Tiffany Pulkowski said. “But the difference it’s made in Austin is the championship that matters most to us.”

Columbus North High School cross country runners (from left to right) Evan Carr, Collin Pruitt and Austin Pulkowski, who has autism, practice on the school track Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

When Austin was 5, he was diagnosed with Asperger’s, a neurodevelopmental disorder. He is on the autism spectrum, although his mother said her son was considered high functioning.

There are challenges. Austin’s condition was manifested in echolalia, or repetition of another person’s spoken words. He can recite dialogue from movie scenes.

“Word for word,” said his father, Paul Pulkowski.

 Austin would tap his fingers or a pencil. He has motor tics and jumps around if bored.

Until he was 10, he would not wear jeans because he did not like the way they felt. He said he used to become angry and hit others if something did not go his way.

“I feel bad for what I’ve done to some people back then because of my temper,” he said. “But I’m glad I changed for the better.”

Running changed him.

In 2012, Achilles International, a nonprofit, created a running program that helps children with autism train three months for a five-mile race. Anecdotal evidence showed it improved emotional and physical health. Centers for Disease Control estimates 1 in 54 children in the United States has autism, and prevalence is 4.3 times higher for boys than girls.

Austin takes classes at Columbus Signature Academy New Tech, a national network whose mission is to prepare students for the information age.

Since third grade, he has been on a 504 Plan, which ensures a child with a disability receives accommodations at school. He excels at math and science, his mother said, because that does not change. English, writing and grammar are harder to master.

“You can definitely tell when he’s done with a conversation or texting,” Tiffany said.

In eighth grade, Austin was running in the halls because, well, he felt like it. A teacher encouraged him to join the running club, explaining to the parents that Austin needed such an outlet. By freshman year, he was on the track team.

Austin has a fraternal twin, Anthony, a violinist in the Columbus Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Anthony introduced Austin to Taekwondo, and both have black belts. But the Pulkowskis said they themselves are not athletes and knew nothing about running.

“When we signed him up for this,” Tiffany said, “we didn’t have a clue if he’d run a 5K in 16 minutes or an hour and 16 minutes. I always say we’re the only people at the meet who don’t care who wins.”

Austin found he enjoyed running, but also winning. He recalled his “shining moment” came as a freshman when he won two races at a junior varsity meet and his first individual ribbons.

Danny Fisher took over as Columbus North coach in 2017 after retirement of Rick Weinheimer, who coached the boys for 38 years and girls for 35. Weinheimer led the Bull Dogs to five boys state title — most recently three in a row in 2009-10-11 — and one for girls.

The standards, and the demands, of the program have not diminished. Columbus North boys were fourth in the state last year.

Fisher said Austin always does “exactly” as told, and would put in the requisite mileage even if not told.

“We’re very big on routine in our boys program,” Fisher said. “He thrives in that.”

Thus the pandemic and quarantine did not affect Columbus North runners as much as it might have. The Pulkowskis borrowed a treadmill to make sure Austin could run if confined at home.

 As it turned out, the coach kept the team connected through Zoom meetings, and the boys assembled to run in small groups. Austin estimated he ran 40 miles a week.

“Being uncomfortable is what cross-country is all about,” he said. “If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, how are you ever going to get better?”

Austin’s arrival perhaps pushed teammates out of their comfort zones. Yet the team’s culture was good for him, as he was for the team. Once the boys board a bus, cellphones stay in the locker room. They must interact.

“Do they get frustrated with him? Yes. Do they get frustrated with everyone else? Yes,” Fisher said. “Do they love Austin? Yes. Do they understand the value that he adds to the team? Of course.”

Columbus North High School cross country runners (from left to right) Evan Carr, Collin Pruitt and Austin Pulkowski, who has autism, practice on the school track, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

The boys are close enough that if Austin does something funny — like picking up coins off the ground or losing his shoe in a race — they can laugh with him, not at him. Senior teammate Collin Pruitt recalled the day Austin fell asleep on the ride to preseason camp at Brown County State Park, then beat everyone in the workout.

“He’s in his own world a lot of the time,” Pruitt said. “But he has the same goals.”

Evan Carr, a junior, acknowledged there was a learning curve when Austin joined the team but that everyone adapted. If Austin is tougher on himself than warranted after a race, “we understand that also,” Carr said.

At other times, Austin can say “genius things,” assistant coach Andy Keffaber said. “He weeds out all the clutter the rest of us have and gets right to the point.”

Austin can get from point to point quickly. Before last year’s state meet, he had not fared well on the LaVern Gibson Course. But Austin was Columbus North’s No. 4 runner and 66th overall (46th in team scoring).

In an August time trial, he ran 1,600 meters in 4:26 — a time that will advance out of a track sectional. A few seconds faster, you can make it to state.

In an Oct. 3 race, Columbus North beat Carmel by one point at Terre Haute, 62-61, thanks to Austin. He had the second-fastest final kilometer out of 205 runners — 3:07, compared with 3:08 by winner Kole Mathison of Carmel — and placed 10th. Austin passed about 10 boys in the closing 400 meters.

“We keep watching the videotape, over and over,” Keffaber said.

It takes fuel to keep Austin going, as his parents discovered.

There have been days when his digital watch revealed he moved five to eight miles without leaving school. In his first week of running, he lost 12 pounds. He was advised not to eat right before a race, but when he faded midway through one, he complained afterward that he was hungry.

For 3 ½ years, breakfast has been the same: eggs and banana bread or toast. Lunch amounts to seven pounds of food.

“We weighed it,” Tiffany said.

Before races, Austin packs two bananas, two packets of peanut butter crackers, two cereal bars, six Slim Jims. Not more. Not less. He does not eat all of it, but the storehouse is ready.

Columbus North High School cross country runners (from left to right) Evan Carr, Collin Pruitt and Austin Pulkowski, who has autism, practice on the school track Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

For someone who craves Taco Bell and devours two double Whoppers at Burger King, Austin has a disciplined diet. He might drink three or four gallons of milk a week, but soda is limited to one a day. Snacks are grapes. On his birthday, he ate half a piece of cake, and that’s it.

Austin has committed to Bellarmine University, 78 miles south on I-65 in Louisville, Ky. He was awarded financial aid for athletics and academics for a school transitioning to NCAA Division I.

He developed an interest in forensic science from watching crime or horror shows on TV and YouTube. Unsolved mysteries — like identity of the Zodiac Killer — intrigue him.

It could be argued his acuity has been sharpened by his activity. After college, he wants to run marathons.

“It’s affected me mentally because I’ve got autism,” he said. “And I tend to be wound up. I would daydream a lot. With running, I’ve drained energy and can focus more. And I’ve become more sociable.”

His mother’s happiest moment came when the team huddled after a race, arms around each other, and Austin was in the middle of it all. Sensory issues faded away when he is on this team.

He is a Bull Dog, and forever will be.

“He’s going to be one of those guys we’re going to be talking about for years, and the legacy he’s left here, because of things he’s had to overcome,” Fisher said.

Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

IHSAA cross-country state meet

When: Saturday, girls race at 11:30 a.m., boys race at 3 p.m.

Where: LaVern Gibson Championship Course, 599 S. Tabortown Road, Terre Haute.

Admission: $10. All sales digital only via GoFan ticketing (linked on IHSAA.org).

Webstream: $14.95 on pay-per-vew at IHSAAtv.org.

GIRLS PREVIEW

Team rankings

1, Fort Wayne Carroll; 2, Carmel; 3, Columbus North; 4, Hamilton Southeastern; 5, Franklin Central.

Runners to watch

>> Zoe Duffus, Sr., Carroll. Sixth at state last year, ran a 4:55.40 indoor mile and won New Haven Semistate by 12 seconds.

>> Karina James, Jr., Lowell. State’s only unbeaten and highest returning finisher (fourth).

>> Nicki Southerland, Fr., Delta. Freshman had not lost until finishing second to Duffus at semistate.

>> Annie Christie, Sr. Carmel. She has improved by a minute over 2019 and won Shelbyville Semistate by eight seconds.

>> Sophia Kennedy, So., Park Tudor. Ran with Christie at semistate until late, and was third. She was fifth at state as a freshman. Her teammate, Gretchen Farley, the semistate runner-up, is playing in Friday night’s Class A soccer final.

>> Out of the mix. Edgewood senior Analyssa Crain and Brebeuf Jesuit junior Madeline Keller, second and third last year, are sidelined by injuries. Also out is Bishop Chatard sophomore Lily Cridge, whose time of 10:30.07 for 3,200 meters was nation’s fastest by a freshman.

BOYS PREVIEW

Team rankings

1, Columbus North; 2, Brebeuf Jesuit; 3, Carmel; 4, Hamilton Southeastern; 5, Noblesville.

Runners to watch

>> Izaiah Steury, Jr., Angola. Ethiopian adopted by an Indiana family will contend to win a national title Nov. 15 at Terre Haute. He ran 3,200 meters in 8:57.17 in August and is unbeaten this season. Seventh at state last year.

>> Lucas Guerra, Sr., Highland. He was second at state last year but lost to Steury by 45 seconds at New Prairie last month.

>> Kole Mathison, So., Carmel. He is also unbeaten after a July track 3,200 in which his 9:10.32 nearly set a state freshman record. He is trying to become third sophomore to win in 70 years. He was 11th at state as a freshman.

>> Will Jefferson, Sr., Whiteland. He had not lost any race in 12 months before finishing second to Mathison at Shelbyville Semistate. In that July 3,200, he overtook Guerra, 9:06.39 to 9:06.66.