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Canfield’s Copploe didn’t let mono stop him
By Brian Dzenis
CANFIELD
Through the cold, rain and illness, Giovanni Copploe pressed on.
The Canfield distance runner has taken his share of lumps as well as accolades and Wednesday was unmistakably a win for the senior. He signed his letter of intent to keep running at Ohio State.
“I have a the colors already. It was just the experience of being there and I get to represent my state,” Copploe said. “It’s a pretty cool opportunity.”
The Buckeyes won out over offers from Penn State, Bradley, N.C. State and Temple. While he opted to stay local, the experience from visiting the various schools was memorable.
“It was a pretty cool experience,” Copploe said. “I went to Bradley and I never heard of them. It was a small school and it was very nice. It opens your eyes to the world and the country and the opportunities you can have.
“It’s fortunate, the opportunities we have as athletes.”
Copploe could be anything from a mid-to-long distance runner for the Buckeyes. He runs seven days a week and stops for nothing and his senior cross country season was emblematic of that mentality.
Copploe had his best campaign this fall, picking up three first-place finishes and setting a personal-best time of 15 minutes, 46.5 seconds. Then he started getting sick and slowing down in the postseason.
“It came along in districts, but I wasn’t really feeling it. Then in regionals, I was running with a fever and I thought I had a cold, so I kept running,” Copploe said. “I ran in the state meet and I was tired. I couldn’t run fast and people were passing me.”
He ended up with his best finish at the state meet, 19th place with a time of 16:31.3. A couple weeks later, he learned through a blood test that he had mono the whole time. He doesn’t regret never stopping.
“All the countless hours, I didn’t want to waste them, so I finished the season as strong as I can,” Copploe said.
Cross country coach Mike Dahman cited Copploe’s motor as what makes him Big Ten Conference material.
“It’s his consistency. Day in and day out I started working with him last track season and he barely takes any time off,” Dahman said. “He gets in his long runs and workouts every day and if there’s something we need to add, he’s mature enough have that conversation and we work together to build on it.”
Copploe’s personal-best time in cross country is the best in Canfield history. He is also the Cardinals’ fastest runner in the 3200 and 5000 on the track and is currently about three seconds behind Chase Kern in the 1600. His career will be remembered as one with the highest degree of difficulty as he ran as a Division I racer when many of the Canfield runners he surpassed were racing at the D-II level.
It will also be characterized by the back-and-forth battles he’s had with Howland’s Vincent Mauri, another elite distance runner who is headed to Arizona State.
“He helped me a lot. If I didn’t have anyone to train with, I can text him to see if he wants to go on a run. Obviously we’re enemies on the course or track, but outside the sport, we’re close friends,” Copploe said. “With a competitor like that, not only can I push myself and he can push me. Every time we’ve raced, we put up PRs.”
Copploe will compete in indoor track this winter before his last high school track season. He is the third-fastest runner in the state in D-I.