Clarinda's Roop seeks one more big jump to finish 4-sport career
A successful track and field career has highlighted Kaiden Roop’s four-sport run at Clarinda.
Roop has also been involved in football, basketball and baseball for the Cardinals.
Clarinda senior Kaiden Roop has been involved in football, basketball, track and field and baseball during his four-sport career.
Roop continues our run of eight area four-sport seniors featured during the break between the winter and spring sports seasons.
When looking at Roop, one definitely has to include the field in track and field. While he’s been a star sprinter for the Cardinals throughout his career, his top event has been the long jump. His success on the track and in the field has given him multiple opportunities to compete at Drake Stadium, where the state meet and the Drake Relays take place each year.
Clarinda's Kaiden Roop leaps into the long jump pit Thursday, May 22, at the State Track and Field Championships. Roop said competing at Drake Stadium has helped make track and field his favorite sport.
“The atmosphere at Drake is unbeatable,” Roop said. “Whenever you’re running and you’re hearing the announcer and you hear the crowd, or you look up and see everybody in the crowd. It’s just amazing.”
His love for the sport is not just about the state meet either for Roop. He said head coach Chad Blank and his staff make practice fun every day and that, and the large number of teammates he gets to share it with, make track and field a great experience, having fun and putting in the work to improve.
He adds that the mental side of the sport is another big reason track and field is his top choice saying that it’s you competing against yourself. He said that has helped him improve as an athlete and as a person.
The goals are high for Roop in his senior season.
“We have good sprinters again,” Roop said. “We have guys that can run the 100, 200 and 400 and then Isaiah (Stogdill) in the 800 and I think all of that can really help us. With the jumps this year, my goal is to win state. Last year, I didn’t jump well at state and if I would have jumped even my usual, I would have got second.”
Roop’s second favorite sport is football, which is an interesting choice because he didn’t go out as a sophomore, mainly because he didn’t enjoy it during his freshman season. He said he came back out as a junior and loved it.
Clarinda senior Kaiden Roop carries the ball after intercepting a pass during a home game last season. Roop said football was his second favorite sport during his four-sport career.
“I filled in at receiver and corner last minute because of an injury and I really enjoyed it,” Roop said. “We were good senior year but lost in the first round, that was a big hit for us.”
Roop said there are a lot of coaches that have been instrumental to his success, from youth football coaches to his middle school and high school coaches. He mentions Conner Hanafan, head football coach and weight room coordinator, as well as Blank, for his work in making each athlete better at every sport. Roop said that “we wouldn’t be where we are without any of our coaches,”
Roop says playing in a sport every season has taught him quite a bit, including leadership.
“You got a lot of guys relying on you a lot of the time,” Roop said. “Because they know your experience with the sport or your experience with leading other roles of other sports. It’s a lot but it has taught me a lot as well.”
Roop is currently involved in an internship with an HVAC program with the goal of becoming an electrician.
Related
4-Sport Senior Kaiden Roop, Clarinda, has played football, basketball, track and field and baseball during his high school career.
