Record run caps Schoppe’s career
La Porte’s Ryan Schoppe was close as a junior. This time he left no doubt.
After finishing second last season at the Class 6A cross country state meet, the Oklahoma State signee secured his first state championship with a time of 14 minutes, 14.02 seconds in Round Rock, shattering the 15-year-old state record of 14:34.10.
He went on to make his first appearance at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Ore., where he finished 15th on the Glendoveer Golf Course.
Schoppe capped his high school cross country career with four district titles, two regional titles, one state title and four state berths, making him an easy choice for the Chronicle’s All-Greater Houston Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.
“Ryan’s season was pretty amazing,” coach Zach Johnson said. “It’s kind of what he’s planned for four years and where he wanted to be. He’s a leader on the team and in the school. He just knows what he wanted and put in the time and the work to get there to get it. Winning the state championship was his goal.” Q: How did you get into running as a sport? A: “I’ve been running since I was 8 or 9 years old. My dad made me do the summer track program every year, and that was the only time I ran, for like two months during the summertime just to stay active. And then I really got into it toward the end of my eighth-grade year, and when I got into high school and got to work with coach (Zachary) Johnson.” Q: Running can be a grueling sport. What makes you so passionate about it? A: “I just love the competition, and the pain and everything else all goes into one thing — making everybody better. The kids in the sport are great, which I love. Everybody’s nice to each other and we all get along pretty well.” Q: Have you always focused on distance running? A: “Yes. I tried sprints when I first started getting into it but I wasn’t too good at it, so then I transitioned into the 800 and mile when I was younger, and that’s what I ran, and getting up to high school I started to run the longer distances — the 2-mile and the 5K — and ever since then I’ve stuck to that.” Q: How did you look at finishing second last year? A: “I really enjoyed that silver medal last season. That was my first podium finish in cross country, so I was really excited about it. I gave it my all. (Flower Mound’s) Alex Maier just outkicked me at the end of it, and I kind of fell off, so that’s what drove me this year to finish strong, go out hard, not look back — and keep on going until I reach the finish line.” Q: As one of the favorites this year at state, did you feel any pressure to win it all this year, or were you more hungry than anything else? A: “I was a little nervous, but I tried to keep that out of my head. I trusted my training, and trusted my coach and what he had me doing, and in the end I blocked the rest of that stuff out. Once I hit race day, it all come together perfectly at the right time, and that’s why I was able to do what I did.” Q: So what went right at the state meet? A: “Conditions were perfect. I don’t know the temperature but it was perfect and there was no wind. And we
were the last race of the day, so I was able to see the other classifications run before me, and once I saw (Aledo’s) Graydon Morris run a 14:33, I was like, ‘Oh, I think I can run that time, too.’ So all that played a role, and the course itself is pretty fast, so I knew coming in that if I got out fast, was out in the front and then started to break away after the first mile, I could run a really fast time and win.” Q: What was your reaction to winning a state championship? A: “I was pretty shocked. I’m not shocked that I won a state championship, because I knew I could do it. I knew my training was right. I was really shocked about the time though – 14:14. That’s what really got me because that’s really fast. But winning the state championship itself, I was super excited. I knew I was in contention to win it, and last year after coming in runnerup, I had a little bit more motivation to push harder down the back stretch of the race.” Q: So, considering how fast your time was, is breaking the state record almost as big as winning the state championship? A: “I would definitely take a state championship over the record, because in cross country you want to go for place over time, but once I saw the clock, with about 75 meters to go at that point, I was like ‘Holy crap this is fast.’ At that point, I was more shell-shocked about the time than anything else.” Q: How do you think you fared at the national meet? A: “It wasn’t the performance I wanted it to be, but the conditions in Portland were not the best. It was like 39 degrees, raining, muddy and slippery, which I’m not used to because the conditions down here in Texas never get that way for a cross country race. … I (still) went for it, I went for the win, and I just wasn’t able to keep it up that day, and keep up the pace, and I fell back a little bit. But I’m still happy with my performance.”
Q: You are a two-time state champion in the 3,200-meter run in track and field, and you were runnerup in the 1,600 last season. What is your goal for the spring? A: “The goal for track is definitely to win state championships in both the 16 and 32 — and try to break the state records in both those events.”