One day in elementary school, Marquette High senior Noah Kauppila was asked to run in gym class. He did pretty well, so he thought to himself, I’m pretty good at running. That’s how he became a runner, almost by accident.
Fast-forward to the past year. Kauppila’s junior track season, he became state champion in the 800-meter run and earned second in the 1600. Capping off his final cross country season this fall, he placed first in the Class 4 state meet, breaking a state record in the process with a finish time of 15 minutes, 22.34 seconds. “That was big,” Kauppila says. “Everything built up to it, and to finally have everything come together in perfect fashion was amazing.”
In January, Kauppila was named Missouri’s Gatorade Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year. That same month, he was admitted to Princeton University, where he was recruited for the track team. Before he heads off to the ivy-covered campus, though, he’s got some goals in mind for his last season of high school track. “There are so many invite-only meets at the end of the year, and the best runners in the country are included, so to make some of those would be nice,” he says. “I want to improve in my events and earn more records, but mostly I want to enjoy my last year.”
Kauppila enjoys the unique mix of individual and team competition that cross country and track provide. “As an individual sport, everything you put into it, you usually will get a good payoff,” he says. “The results you get are a reflection of how you’ve trained. And with cross country relays, of course, you’re running with a team.” To keep in shape, Kauppila runs most days and loves Castlewood State Park’s wooded trails. He typically will run as many as 60 miles in a week. “During summer or the weekends when there’s no cross country or race, I’m usually running every day,” he says. “I’m always running.”
By Stephanie Zeilenga
