Like most high school teenagers, McDonogh rising senior Elise Cooper is spending her summer months doing something she loves.

For the 17-year-old track star, the time away from school is all about running, and she’s getting to do it on the biggest stage.

Fresh off claiming a gold medal in the 200-meter race at the USA Track & Field Under-20 Championships on June 13, Cooper will compete in the same event at the U.S. Olympic team trials, which continue through Sunday in Eugene, Oregon.

The thought of going up against the top sprinters in the world, many of whom are her idols, might seem like a daunting task for the only high schooler who qualified for the 200.

But for Cooper, the preliminary heat set for Thursday can’t come soon enough. She rattles off a couple of the established stars she looks up to — Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas — and then considers that she’ll be competing against them.

“It will be a whole new experience for me. To think I’ll be amongst runners that I’m a fan of and there’s going to be so much talent there — it’s just really exciting,” she said. “Running at a higher level, it’s a lot of pressure being one of the younger runners out there. So it’s more nerve-racking, but I’m just going to be happy to be there and happy to have the experience no matter what happens.”

Cooper, who started running for the Owings Mills Track Club when she was 7 years old, reached the qualifying standard at the Pan American Under-20 Championships in August when she set a Maryland state record in the 200 (22.8 seconds) to earn a silver medal.

She’s coming off a sensational junior season at McDonogh. After repeating as The Baltimore Sun’s All-Metro girls indoor track and field Athlete of the Year, she went on to claim Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference titles in the 100, 200 and the 4×100 and 4×400 relays in leading the Eagles to the team title in the outdoor season.

Cooper goes into the Olympic trials looking to build on her sensational performance at the U-20 Championships, besting a gifted field of mostly college competitors.

“I think what’s unique about Elise is that moments are never too big for her because she has this ability to center herself and focus on the task at hand,” said Michael Ray, Cooper’s Owings Mills club track coach. “She believes in who she is and trusts her training to overcome the fear of losing. One of the things that keep people from realizing their potential in lots of things in life is the fear of losing.”

After taking fifth place in the 100, Cooper made an adjustment leading into the 200 that paid the huge dividends on June 13.

“I thought about my warmup and how I prepared for 100,” she said. “They held us for a while so the times weren’t as fast. So I tried to stay warm, stayed active, kept stretching and moving and doing drills. I wanted to make sure I would stay warm and ready.”

After coming across with a winning time of 23.02 seconds, Cooper enjoyed a feeling that was difficult to explain.

“I was kind of like, I can’t even process I won,” she said. “It was a really cool feeling and I heard my family in the stands and that made me so happy to have their support. I don’t know, I was kind of in disbelief to win at that level.”

After the Olympic trials, Cooper will cap her special summer at the World Athletics U-20 Championships in Lima, Peru, which is set for Aug. 27-31.