Acorn Athlete Profile: Cory Primm, sophomore, Westlake
Westlake’s Primm knows how to leave the competition behind
By Garrett Wait

SPEEDSTER-Westlake sophomore Cory Primm recently recorded one of the country's fastest times in the 800 meters. He excels both on the track and the classroom, where he sports a 3.6 GPA.

Special to the T.O. Acorn

Cory Primm is a leader. You can tell he is by the way he paces his teammates around the Westlake High School track during an afternoon practice. He leads by example, and oh what an example he’s been.

At the recent Arcadia Invitational, Primm ran a blistering 1:51.65 in the 800-meter event, finishing second behind senior Chris Campbell of Ventura High School. Primm’s time was good enough for fourth-best in the nation this year.

One would think the youngster is one of those robo-kids, a child specifically trained to run from an early age. But that assumption would be dead wrong.

"I started running competitively in the ninth grade," Primm said. "I never really ran before then, unless you want to include middle school races during PE."

It wasn’t a coach or overbearing parents that got Primm to run. It was his innate need for speed.

"We had a lot of races at Colina," Primm said. "In fifth grade, I started getting faster than the other kids. Pretty soon I was the fastest kid in school. I just get a kick out of going fast."

But he’s not just a speed freak out for his own individual success. He’s part of a team and his coaches have noticed Primm’s ability to do whatever he needs to do to help the team win.

"He’s handled (the attention) real well," said coach Joe Snyder. "Against Royal High School, Cory ran four events. Everybody had a job to do. He was just part of the group."

Westlake finished second in the Marmonte League behind Royal. But the team is young and the coaches are counting on Primm and his teammates to step up in CIF events.

"We expect him to do well in the postseason," Snyder said. "He’s going to run both the 1600 and the 800 at the league championships next week."

Besides the middle distance races, Primm is also expected to compete in the 400-meter and 3200-meter events.

But success for a student-athlete isn’t just measured on the playing field. It’s also measured in the classroom, where Primm excels as well. The sophomore carries a 3.6 GPA despite a schedule including AP-level courses.

The future seems to be wide open for Primm, but he’s too busy thinking about the here-and-now to be worried about what comes next.

"I plan on getting in contact with college coaches next year," he said. "Right now I just want to run solid during the cross-country season and focus on the 400 and the 800."

If the future isn’t in his focus, neither is the past. He doesn’t dwell on famous track stars from history. In fact, he still counts last year’s seniors on the WHS track team as some of his role models and admires anybody who’s willing to put in the work to be a good track athlete, including some of his rivals at Royal.

Despite all the success on the track, Primm shrugs off all the attention he has received.

"Everyone talks about it at school," he said. "But I’m just out here to do my thing."