Clarke's Ratner shows strong finishing kick

The first thing you’d suspect about Eric Ratner, Nassau County’s Conference IV cross-country champion, is that he’s blazing fast. The second is that he’s fanatical about running. But you’d be wrong on both counts.

Ratner, a Clarke High School senior who won the county championship with a time of 17:16.2 on Oct. 29 at Bethpage State Park, is more disciplined than speedy and enjoys playing the trombone as much as he enjoys completing a 5K. He’s an All-State trombone player.

“Eric is a great runner, but I think he’s more into music,” said Rams coach Sam Fox. “He plays about 30 hours a week.” And Ratner’s greatest strength as a runner is not pure speed, Fox said. “He just knows how to race. He’s a competitor.”

Ratner took first place in each of Clarke’s five league meets this season, finishing the 4K in times of 13:41.0 and 13:29.1, and the 5K in 18:26.8, 17:33.6 and 17:05.0. After achieving his goal of winning the county championship, he finished fifth in the state qualifier meet at Bethpage State Park on Nov. 5, finishing at 16:29.8. He’d set a personal best of 16:35.8 as a junior, and said that experience set him up for his senior season.

“Last year the seniors always beat me and I’d finish third or fourth,” he said. “I used that as my motivation and now I’m beating the juniors, so maybe it’s just part of a cycle.”

Ratner took a couple of days off from running to rest physically and mentally before beginning the indoor track season, where he is the defending county champion in the mile. He said there is a correlation between his two gifts, playing music and running.

“Running for distance is as much mental as it is physical,” Ratner said. “It’s very tactical. There is a work ethic involved, and it is the same for music as it is for running. Sometimes it comes down to that finishing kick.”

Ratner has not decided on a college yet, but he is interested in studying music and education.