KALISPELL — When you hear the name Cooper Pelc, you might think of the football player, but his talents transcend the football field and onto the track, where he set the all-class state record in the 110-meter hurdles last week.
On a weekend where the elements were battled, Cooper Pelc ran a 14.03-second time, which broke an all-class record that had stood since 2019.
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But Pelc’s goal that day was not to break records; all he wanted was the win.
“Honestly, I didn't really expect to set the all-class record,” Pelc said. “But I was feeling good that day, and all I had to do was follow all the stuff that Coach B was telling me to do, start good, finish strong, so that's what I did.”
However, once word started to spread about Pelc’s accomplishment, he could not contain his excitement.
“I crossed the finish line, and my first reaction, I was just pumped. I didn't even look at my time, honestly, until I was off the track,” Pelc said. “Then I heard over the loudspeaker that it was an unofficial state record, all-class state record, so that got my heart going a little bit, but then I found out it was an actual state record, and I mean, it just felt great.”
While Pelc spends most of his fall honing his football skills, he uses the spring track season to boost his athleticism and learn to improve himself.
“Usually it's just one or two guys in one event, so a lot of the pressure's on you,” Pelc said. “If you do good, you know, the work you put in kind of shows that, and if you do bad, you have nobody else to blame but yourself, so you can just get better.”
Another way Pelc gets better is by learning how to stay in shape and take care of his body while pushing himself to be the best in all of his sports.
“Happy, healthy, hungry, we're always feeling good for every track meet,” Pelc said. “Our coaches just push us really hard when we have hard workouts and then help us recover after. And we've got a bunch of hurdlers and sprinters who really just push each other.”
