Beyond the Boxscore: Cooper Sprints to Head of Pack

As Ferrell Cooper took the baton for the final leg of the 4-x-400-meter relay on Thursday, the West Deptford High School senior was neck-and-neck with his Haddonfield counterpart. One hundred yards later he had a three-stride lead. One hundred yards after that the finish was never in doubt.

Cooper blazed out to a big lead and never looked back giving the Eagles a much needed first-place finish in what became a 70-70 tie with Haddonfield. In the process, he showed the type of force he has become for the Eagles.

Before the season even started West Deptford boys' track head coach Mark Dixon described Cooper, a captain, as the team’s best overall athlete. Watching him dominate the competition on the track could make one believe Cooper simply has a natural athleticism that has always been present.

However, as Dixon recalls, it wasn’t always easy for Cooper.

“Right now he is probably 6-3 and as a freshman he was around 6-2. At about 130 pounds it’s a spindly stick-looking kid,” Dixon said with a laugh. “Watching him, you knew he had talent but you had to convince him. He didn’t think he had that kind of talent. You had to tell him that it would come and to not get frustrated with himself. He wanted to win things right away and he just wasn’t ready.”

So Cooper kept working and working. As he put in the laps on the track and some work in the gym, his body started to fill out and his results started to rise up to his potential.

“Over the last four years he has just worked really hard and got himself strong,” Dixon said. “In practice he gets upset if he doesn’t finish everything we do in first. When we do our warm-ups he’s got to be first and that’s the way it has to be if you want to get to that level.”

Cooper credited his progress to the runners that wore green and white before him and showed him the ropes. Because he was surrounded by other talented runners, he explained, he had to continually push himself to keep up.

“Every year I had somebody there that was always a little faster than me so that pushed me to become faster and faster,” said Cooper. “Finally, I am the fastest on the team so I guess it’s my time to shine.”

Cooper does have a vocal presence as a captain, but leads mostly be example. He is one of the top 400 and 400 hurdle runners in the Colonial Conference and provides the team with key points every time out.

Again, he credited his predecessors.

“I lead by example because I had a great senior class last year and the years before that and I guess they passed down those kind of things that make a good runner,” Cooper said.

The Eagles are coming off of a 8-3 season and are looking to continue in their winning ways despite having less depth than usual. For that to happen, standout athletes such as Cooper will need to continue to carry a big load each and every meet. Now that Cooper has grown into his tall frame Dixon is confident that he is more than capable of carrying his share of the burden.

Said Dixon: “Now he has gone from that spindly freshman to somebody who is really going to compete for a South Jersey title if not a state title.”