The Coppell Cross Country team competed in the Marcus I Invitational on Saturday, August 31 at North Lakes Park in Denton.  The Marcus I Invitational is popular because it’s one of the first 5K races of the season and draws some of the top talent from DFW as well as from around the state.

The Girls’ Varsity team placed 3^rd overall in the Elite Varsity Girls division, once again behind Flower Mound and Southlake Carroll.  Senior Shelby Spoor led the cowgirls, she finished 24^th overall with a time of 17 minutes, 55.2 seconds.  Natalie Fleming (26^th, 18:05.2), Morgan Colon (38^th, 18:20.9), Louisa Ehinger, and Chloe Hassman were the top finishers for Coppell.  Coppell girls placed 7th overall in the Open Varsity Girls division.  Freshman Payton Mundhenk led Coppell finishing in 27^th place overall with a time of 20 minutes, 54.28 seconds.  Next in for Coppell were Avery Hancock (20:58.2), Alexandria Mupo (20:59.9), Isabelle Ortigoza, and Reezon Eke.

The Varsity Boys team placed 4^th overall in the Elite Varsity Boys division behind Flower Mound, Southlake Carroll, and Marcus.  Junior Evan Caswell led the cowboys, he finished 10^th overall with a time of 15 minutes, 33.6 seconds.  Rith Bhattacharyya (25^th, 16:05.2), Jackson Walker (48^th, 16:28.4), Colin Proctor, and Sahaj Dahal rounded out the point scorers for Coppell.  The Cowboys placed 8^th overall in the Open Varsity Boys’ race.  Senior William Heatherington led the boys, he finished 44^th overall with a time of 17 minutes, 27.8 seconds.  Next in for Coppell were Parker Hicks (17:27.6), Diego Acosta (17:42), Andrew Nester, and Andrew Mullen.

The JV Girls placed 4^th overall in the Elite JV Girls division.  Sophomore Daniela Chavarria led the girls, she placed 23^rd overall with a time of 22 minutes, 30 seconds.  Montserrat Tresidder (23:05), Callie Kutz (23:16), Elizabeth Grace Walker, and Megan Peltier were the top finishers for Coppell.  The JV Boys placed 4^th overall in the Elite JV Boys division.  Senior Mustafa Alrawi led the boys, he finished 30^th overall with a time of 18 minutes, 43 seconds.  Asheer Jiwani (31^st, 18:44), Shaylan Patel (18:51), Gregory Sabuncuyan, and Jeevan Janeev rounded out the point scorers for Coppell.  In the Open JV Boys division, Coppell placed 12^th overall.  Sophomore Pranav Swarna led Coppell, he finished 57^th overall with a time of 20 minutes 55 seconds.  Next in for Coppell were Ahsan Habeeb (21:09), Mason Roach (21:24) Saketh Kalvakuntia, and Mason Whitfield.

The results from the Marcus I Invitational are a step in the right direction according to Head Coach Nick Benton.  “There is plenty to work on however it is also incredibly rewarding to watch the athletes’ progress and compete”, said Coach Benton.  Next on the schedule for Coppell is the Southlake Invitational on Saturday, September 7 at Bob Jones Park in Southlake.