Pacelli senior Kirsten Koopal found her running stride when the world stopped and now she’s taking her commitment to the next level. Koopal has committed to run cross country and track and field at Division II Southwest Minnesota State University, which is located in Marshall, Minn. Koopal will re ceive an athletic scholarship at SMSU. It’s been a long journey for Koopal, who advanced to the Class A state meet in 2021 after having run in a makeshift coach’s meet when the state meet was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Honestly, I think COVID helped my running,” Koopal said. “It was something you could do anytime. My family would run or ride bike with me when I was training. I had that goal of getting to state and I knew I had all that extra time of not doing anything that I could use to get better.” Koopal’s recruitment from SMSU began this fall and after visiting the school and meeting with the coaches, she knew it was where she wanted to go. Koopal is enthusiastic about competing at a higher level next season. “It’s super exciting to have this opportunity. It’s something that I’ve always wanted, but I didn’t know for sure which sport I would want to go if it would be running or basketball,” Koopal said.  “As I started making the decision, running was sticking out more.” Koopal finished as a 1,000-point scorer for Lyle-Pacelli in basketball, and it will be odd for her not to be on a basketball court next winter. But she’s certainly not putting the sport completely behind her. “It is tough to give up basketball. When I was younger, my goal was to play college basketball, but running became more and more prominent,” Koopal said. “I’ll still watch games, I’ll go to my brother’s games when I can, and I’ll play for fun. I haven’t necessarily given it up, it just won’t be as dominant as it was in my life before.” Koopal has a pair of big running role models in Pacelli grads Kayla Christopherson, who runs at South Dakota State University, and Rory Bickler, who runs at Clarkson College. “It was huge to have them as role models when I was little,” Koopal said. “I ran with Kayla when I was in sixth grade and I didn’t even know what cross country was when I started. She was just such a fun person to be around and she made running fun. Rory was such a genuine and nice person and she had this love for running. We all had success in our running careers and they’ve both thrived in college, which is amazing to see.” As she moves forward, Koopal is still looking back to thank those leaders who helped her along the way. “I would like to thank all of my coaches, including Jim Parlin, Ryan Bickler and Dan Miller, as well as all of the volunteers that we’ve had,” she said. “I’d also like to thank my basketball coaches for helping me be a strong athlete.” SMSU finished 14th in the Northern Sun Championships this past fall. The post Pacelli’s Koopal commits to run at Southwest Minnesota State University appeared first on Austin Daily Herald. ...read more read less