RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) junior track & field student-athlete Aaron Cooper is a triple jump specialist, and he has lived up to that title in his time with the Vaqueros. 
 
Cooper owns both the indoor and outdoor triple jump program records and his name is scattered all over the leaderboard, with four of the top 10 marks indoors and six outdoors. He owns a silver medal from the 2024 WAC Outdoor Championships and a bronze medal from the Southland Conference (SLC) Outdoor Championships. 
 
While making his case to be considered the best men's triple jumper UTRGV has ever seen, he has shown his ability to hang with the best the nation has to offer. Cooper is a two-time NCAA West First Round qualifier, making it to the regional meet last year as a sophomore and securing his second consecutive trip this season. He is one of two back-to-back qualifiers for the Vaqueros. 
 
"It means a lot. I know not a lot of people get this opportunity, so I'm extremely grateful," Cooper said. "I got third at conference, and I'm grateful for that, but that wasn't my ultimate goal. My goal was to win. I'm taking that with me as fuel to the NCAA West meet, going with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder to push me to be a top 12 finisher and go to nationals." 
 
Cooper heads to this year's regional meet ranked 31^st on the West performance list with a season-best mark of 15.48 meters. He was 29^th prior to last year's meet, where he finished 30^th. He'll compete Friday at 2:30 p.m. at E.B. Cushing Stadium in Bryan-College Station. 
 
His marks and pre-meet rankings are similar between his first and second trip, but the journey was very different. Last year, Cooper secured his spot at NCAA West with his last jump of the season. This year, he did it on his very first jump of the season – opening the year ranked fifth in the region and ninth in the nation. 
 
"It was kind of a clutch moment last year, but this year getting that mark as early as I did definitely lifted some weight off my shoulders. I was able to train harder throughout the season in preparation to peak at this meet," Cooper said. 
 
With Cooper's talent and potential, advancing to the NCAA West has become more of an expectation than a goal. And because of that, his coaches changed his offseason training to get him ready for this moment. 
 
Cooper spent a lot of time in the fall working with head coach Shareese Hicks and the sprinters along with doing his usual training with associate head coach Mike Embry and the jumpers. He did long runs and sprinter drills to help with endurance and speed. 
 
Getting accustomed to the amount of running was tough for Cooper, who was a multi-sport athlete in high school but has been solely a jumper in his collegiate career. But the bigger challenge was staying positive and keeping the right mentality while doing something new. 
 
"After every rep I'd be very tired and a little discouraged because I wasn't finishing up at the front. But I had to get that out of my head and remember that my main goal was to get my runway faster," Cooper said. "Coach Hicks definitely reminded me that it wasn't about beating these regional-qualifying sprinters in their events. It made me mentally tougher and gave me a better perspective to focus on my technique and run my own race, essentially." 
 
Intentionality was at the center of Cooper's season. While pushing himself with sprint workouts, he was also closely studying videos of his jumps to tweak his technique. Jumping is all about rhythm, Cooper said, so he tries not to mess with technique or patterns during the season. With that, he had to really focus on the small details during the fall with help from Embry and Hicks and felt they made the right adjustments to have him jumping consistently throughout the year.

From his work on the track to his focus on technique to putting in extra time in the weight room, Cooper was intentional with his process to achieve a goal of getting faster down the runway to carry that speed through the rest of his jump. He believes he accomplished that and is ready to show it at NCAA West. 
 
Having a trip to the regional meet under his belt has Cooper heading to his second go-round with more confidence. The nature of the meet, with the big-name competitors and limited number of jumps and intense "perform or go home" environment, can lead to first-time qualifiers putting too much pressure on themselves. Cooper did the opposite last year and left feeling like he let himself relax too much and therefore wasn't aggressive enough with his three attempts. 
 
He won't make that mistake this year. He knows he's prepared physically to make a legit run at a top 12 finish and a trip to the NCAA Championships. His challenging fall, his detailed season, his experience and maturity have Cooper going to College Station more focused and engaged than he has ever been. He's hoping for big things not only for himself, but his teammates, too, as they aim to represent UTRGV with pride. 
 
"My preseason taught me to control what I can control. My pre-meet preparation has to be more intentional and aggressive because a lot of my best jumps were in the finals and now I don't get that, so I have to peak during those three jumps. I'll be locked-in and prayerful about doing my best, going out there and being assertive with all three of my jumps and taking full advantage of those opportunities that I've been given," Cooper said.  

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