San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Brandeis’ Roper follows mom’s footsteps
In recounting his victory at the District 28-6A cross country championship meet, Brandeis senior Skyler Roper spoke of a pivotal moment late in the race when he took control.
Roper stayed right behind the leaders until the final 800 meters, when he sped to the past them and strode strong to the finish line, where he finished first and claimed the 5,000-meter race at North East Sports Park in 16 minutes, 12.74 seconds on Oct. 14.
Roper credited that strategy to his mother, Maggie Chan-Roper, a twotime Olympic qualifier for Hong Kong.
“I know this course,” Roper said. “I know all the tips, turns and tricks, and I knew that was the part where I could lose them. I know the technical stuff because I have a mom who was a world-class runner to teach me.”
Chan-Roper tightly hugged her son after the race. Roper had claimed his first district championship and qualified for the Region IV championships set for Monday at Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi.
“I would like him to reach his potential,” ChanRoper said. “I’m not going to shame him or anything. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of what he can do. …
He is a very smart runner in cross country, so it was exciting. He did it. He got it.”
It’s clear Roper caught the gene for distance running from his mother.
Chan-Roper represented
Hong Kong in the 5,000and 10,000-meter runs at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She qualified for the marathon for the 2004 Athens Olympics, but three weeks before she was set to head there, she had surgery to repair a fractured foot.
“It was amazing to run with the best of the best,” Chan-Roper said.
Chan-Roper also competed for BYU from 1996-99 and earned All-America honors three times in cross country. She was inducted into BYU Hall of Fame in 2009.
Roper discovered his talent for running around the time his mother did — in middle school. At the time, he played multiple sports before paring them down to soccer and running.
“I dropped each one as I found out I wasn’t good at them,” said Roper, who focused solely on running when he was a freshman.
When Roper reached high school, it was clear where his talent was.
“I don’t know if liked (running), but I was good at it,” Roper said. “It wasn’t until high school that I started liking running and being around people and having fun racing.”
Although Roper is the only runner of Chan-Roper’s three children, she never forced him to take up the sport.
“I never pushed him or asked him if he wanted to go running with me,” ChanRoper said.
Roper will be making his fourth trip to the regional meet. He finished second last year behind Johnson’s Taj Lee, who has graduated.
The top four teams and top 10 individuals not on state-qualifying teams will advance to the UIL state championships scheduled for Nov. 5-6 at Round Rock’s Old Settlers Park.