The family lived in Orland Park, Illinois where Verzbicas attended Carl Sandburg High School, graduating in May 2011.

In June 2010, Verzbicas won the 2010 Adidas High School Boys' Dream Mile in New York City in a time of 4:04.

His 5000-meter time of 14:06 stood as the high school indoor national record until February 11, 2012 when Edward Cheserek ran a 13:57 at the 105th Millrose Games.

Following the 2011 Track season, Verzbicas planned a brief return to triathlon in an attempt to win the World Junior Championships in honor of his friend and teammate Kevin McDowell who was undergoing chemotherapy following a diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

In November 2011, after running in only two cross country races for the University of Oregon, Verzbicas announced that he would be leaving the school to pursue a career in triathlon with the hopes of making a future US Olympic team.

In January 2012, citing an unspecified broken bone, Verzbicas failed to finish his first professional triathlon race, the Pan American Championships in La Paz, Argentina.

[15] Bob Babbit of Competitor Magazine reported via Twitter that Verzbicas had a broken collarbone, blood in his lungs and was scheduled for back surgery the following day.