Austin Vandergrift: Allison Mopsik
Allison Mopsik races to the finish at the 2016 UIL 6A State meet
We have all been told to not judge a book by it's cover. Last cross season, there must have been tons of girls who learned that lesson when they lined up against ALLISON MOPSIK. If there was any freshman in the entire state that looked like a freshman based on appearances, it was Mopsik. As petite and short in stature as they come she competes as though she is the total the opposite.
At Vandergrift, Mopsik competed in some of the biggest meets in the state. With a 3rd place finish at the Islanders Splash followed by a 2nd at Texas A&M she rattled off several sub 20 minute 5Ks including an 18:05.33 PR at McNeil for 15th place.
Mopsik latter produced an 18:20.59 and 13th place finish as a freshman at the UIL 6A State meet and 39th at the Nike Cross Nationals South Region to finish the season on a roll. A year older and stronger, look for her to rely on her experience and confidence gained from last season. It also can't be overlooked that her Vandergrift squad is well coached and she has a team full of girls who can challenge her in workouts and meets making an elite level progression even more possible for Mopsik.
Keller: Vera Thompson
Vera Thompson competes at the 2016 Nike Cross National Championships
If you have some talent and you're a hard worker, what better of a situation is there to walk into than the one like VERA THOMPSON did? Thompson enrolled into a program full of young girls and a very capable coaching staff that was coming off of a 3rd place team finish the year before. Keller ended up being the best team in Texas and one of the best in the nation.
Thompson was able to benefit from having some of the top runners in the state and it helped her find her footing in the program and crack Keller's top 7 runner in no time. That was just the beginning. As the season progressed, Thompson went from running low 20s and 19s in the 5K down to 18s. By the end of the season, Thompson found her groove. At the UIL 6A State meet, she placed 14th with an 18:21.03 and followed that up with an 18:57.31 at the Nike Cross Nationals South Region.
With big meet experiences and big time performances at Marcus I, Chile Pepper, UIL State, and Nike Regionals and Nationals, keep an eye on the maturation of Thompson and her potential to make the Alex Maier jump from one of the faces in the crowd to elite.