Washington High School senior, Cloe Copas, recently made one of the biggest decisions in her life, as she prepares to transition from high school to college.
Copas recently announced that she has signed a letter of intent to attend Morehead State University, located approximately 60 miles east of Lexington, Kentucky.
A signing ceremony was held in the lobby of the gymnasium at Washington High School Tuesday, Jan. 12.
“I visited Morehead and I really liked the campus,” Copas said. “I talked to the coach and I really liked the coach. I met some of the members of the team and I really liked all of them. They all had good things to say, so, I just felt like it was the right fit for me.”
While working her way to the top of the distance runners at Washington, Copas also played basketball her freshman year, was a member of the swim team as a sophomore and last season, she competed in indoor track.
“I want to major in early childhood education so I can be a kindergarten teacher,” Copas said.
“Coach (Ryan) Day and coach (Louis) Reid are the ones who got me interested in cross country,” Copas said. “I really appreciated them helping me, along with coach (Tim) Walters and coach (Corey) Dye and all of the other coaches I’ve had throughout my career. They all helped me get to where I am today and I want to say thank you to them. They’ve made my experience very positive.”
Speaking of favorite teachers or subjects in high school, Copas said:
“I really liked Coach Day and Coach Reid,” Copas said. “My art teachers, they were always positive. They always talked to me about everything, so, I really appreciated them, too.”
“I’ve been blessed, honestly, to coach Cloe these past four years in cross country and track,” Louis Reid said. “She’s an extremely hard worker. In track she has been a great mile and two mile runner for us, ever since her freshman year. She’s been all-conference in the mile or the two mile. She’s been in the top four every year since her freshman year. This year I expect it to be no different.
“She’s one of the top runners in our region and one of the top runners in the state,” Reid said. “Her hard work has paid off for her. I’m not surprised. I’m really happy for her and her family. She is an awesome athlete to coach. She works hard and does whatever you ask of her. She helps out others.
“I’m happy to see her have an opportunity to compete at the next level,” Reid said. “I think she’ll be very successful because of just how hard she works.”
Copas is a two-time Regional tournament qualifier, Reid related. There was no outdoor track season in Ohio high schools in 2020, but Reid said that Copas would have been a Regional qualifier again.
“She would have been in the running last year and I believe she will be this year,” Reid said.
“In cross country, it’s been fun to watch Cloe develop,” Ryan Day said. “She started as a middle school athlete who was running cross country to get in shape for basketball, which is often what we get and I’m fine with that.
“I think what happened is, in middle school, she enjoyed it so much, that after suffering the basketball injury, she just decided to focus solely on cross country and track and it paid dividends,” Day said. “She loved it and worked hard in the off-season to reach her goals and now she’s going to be running at a Division I level in college. Cloe is our second Division I runner (Maddy Garrison runs at Marshall University).
“We’re really excited for her that her hard work has paid off,” Day said. “It’s been a joy to coach her, because she’s invested and dedicated and the results speak for themselves.
“I think the key for Cloe for next year is to get the training in that she would normally have, but, during this pandemic, that’s been a huge hurdle,” Day said. “She’s a good enough worker that, even if she can’t get all the training she needs here at school, or through her team, she’ll do it on her own.
“When summer hits, Morehead will provide her with her training regimen,” Day said. “I have no doubts that she’ll stick to whatever they give her to do to get her prepared for when she arrives on campus.”
Copas is the daughter of Craig and Molly Copas and the granddaughter of Russell and Linda Bair and the late Bill and Shirley Copas.
