Interview with Marquette High School sophomore Noah Kauppila at the 2012 University City Charlie Beck Invitational, Saturday, April 7. In his second meet of the season, Kauppila had a great day at U City where he joined the growing list of Missouri sophomores to break the 4:20 barrier for 1600 meters. Kauppila won the 1600 in 4:18.68 and pulled teammate Adam Roderique to a 4:26.58, giving the Mustangs 18 team points. Other recent Missouri sophomores to go sub 4:20: Amos Bartelsmeyer 4:17-2011 MICDS, Daniel Everett 4:14-2009 Westminster Christian, Caleb Hoover 4:15-2009, College Heights Christian. Kauppila followed the 4:18 up with a 2:01.13 to place 3rd in the 800 to edge 800 all-state teammate Jeff Orf by 1/100th of a second. The pair added 11 team points for the Mustangs who finished 3rd overall with 71.2 points. Kauppila has had a fantastic start to his high school career. An excellent freshman cross country season ended with a slightly disappointing finish at the 2010 Class 4 state meet before an impressive race at the Footlocker cross country midwest regional. Kauppila capped the 2011 track season with what may be the fastest 3200 ever for a Missouri freshman. Kaupilla finished 7th with a 9:25.71 in one of the fastest state 3200's ever, with six boys under 9:20. Drew White's 9:16 in the Class 3 race made it seven total for the meet. Kauppila kept rolling in the 2011 cross country season. He captured the Class 4 District 2 title helping the Mustangs to the team title. A week later Kauppila won the Sectional 1 crown as Marquette edged Eureka for the race title for the second straight week. Three seniors were the only ones to beat Kauppila to the tape at the 2011 Missouri Class 4 State cross country meet. Kauppila was 4th covering the Oak Hills course in 16:15 on a cold and windy day in Jefferson City. The Mustangs finished 9th as a team scoring 190 points. Three weeks later Kauppila almost made his way into the national spotlight. The sophomore placed 14th at the Foot Locker Midwest Cross Country Championships, just missing a trip to nationals by 4 spots and 10 seconds. If he can stay healthy, Kauppila appears to be in good position to join Jefferson City's Joe Kirby as the only Missouri boy to qualify for Foot Locker Nationals multiple times.
