Photo by Phil Grove
Washington's Austin Sperl is the next senior in our Salute to Seniors series. Sperl just finished up his final season at Washington High School. Read about his experience in high school track and cross country below! Stay tuned throughout the summer as we salute more of the graduating seniors that competed in their careers. Want to submit your own questionnaire? Click here!
What was your most memorable race/competition?
The most memorable race I was in has to be the 2015 WPIAL cross country single A championship. I had raced pretty decently and came in 22nd place. I thought for sure that I was going to states since the year before 25 runners made the cut. I went back to check the results and saw that only 21 runners were going to states this year. I was devastated. I worked so hard that year to fall short by one place. It's not a good memory but it's one that will last a lifetime.
Where did you face your biggest competition?
At the Slippery Rock invitational for sure. For the races, they combined all three classifications to run together so I was up against a lot of the top runners in each classification. I didn't run well that day but I still got a medal so I can't complain.
Out of all of your high school accomplishments, which stands out the most?
How far I've come. I joined cross country in high school originally to just stay in shape. I was a short, chubby kid who did not have much athletic ability. My freshman PR ended up being a 24:34. Not very good. I decided my sophomore year that I wanted to go to states in either cross country or track and began to train extremely hard. I finished my senior year with a PR of 17:05 at my county coaches meet. It still is hard for me to believe that I've improved this much in only 4 years of running. I don't think too many people can say they improved their best time from freshman to senior year by 7:29.
If you could do it all over again, what would you change about your athletic career in high school?
I would get serious into running my freshman year. I didn't get serious until the summer before my junior year. Who knows how much better I could have been if I had gotten serious sooner?
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
The most difficult obstacle was my lack of athletic ability at the beginning of my freshman year. I had to work so hard just to be an average runner. It took many miles and pairs of running shoes for me to become the runner I am today. The other obstacle would be track injuries. I was injured at the end of my freshman and sophomore track seasons and in the off seasons of my junior and senior years. These numerous injuries made me dislike track. My times in cross country never converted to my times in track as I was just an average runner. I think this had to be all the injuries that set me back.
What will you miss the most?
I'm going to miss my team for sure. I've had some great memories with a lot of those people on both the boys and girls teams. I'm really going to miss spending my Saturdays at invitationals with them this upcoming fall.
Do you have any advice for younger athletes?
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. If you work hard enough to achieve something, you can do it. I know that no one expected me to be as good of a runner as I am today because they saw my ability my freshman year. I didn't let that hold me back and I gave everything I had to running. If you don't think that your times are good, work hard to change that. Just keep on running and eventually you'll hit your times.
How have your coaches influenced your performances and your life goals overall?
I'd like to thank my cross country coach, Jessica Ott, for these last four years. Coming from a small school, we were worried if we would even have enough for a team. She was the coach who made running fun for me. She didn't care if we weren't the best team in the state. She wanted each member of the team to do their best. This pushed me to do the best I could in running and I had fun with it. I know that in life it's not always about being THE best, it's about doing YOUR best.
What are your college plans?
I will be attending Penn State University, the University Park campus. I am majoring in Engineering and will be joining the Club XC team. Although my times aren't good enough for the actual Penn State XC team, I know Club XC will be competitive and an exciting experience. We Are.
Shout-Outs?
Shout out to my former teammate and great friend Ben Heim. It's hard to believe that someone can run an 800 in 1:55 in AA yet still not medal. You have a bright future ahead of you. I know this next year you will be doing amazing thing and I will be following your seasons the entire way.