The Coppell Cross Country Invitational was hosted at Coppell West middle school on Saturday, September 14.  Thirty nine teams from across the metroplex came out to compete on this 5K course that wound through a landscape that was peppered with sunflowers and reminiscent of Texas prairie.  The Coppell Invitational returned to the schedule three years ago.  However, this is only the second time for the Invitational to take place in Coppell.  Head Coach Nick Benton is thrilled with how the event has grown.       

The Cowgirls’ team placed 2^nd overall in the Elite Varsity Girls division with the top five runners absent from the lineup.  Freshman Waverly Hassman led the girls she finished 5^th overall with a time of 20:40.2.  Bernice David (11^th, 21:40), Rebeca Centeno (16^th, 21:57), Isabella Iseley, and Payton Mundhenk scored for the cowgirls this week.     

The Cowboys’ competed in the Elite Varsity Boys division with their top six runners absent from the lineup.  The boys placed 5^th overall.  Senior Parker Hicks led the cowboys, he finished 15^th with a time of 18:00.0.  Raymundo Aguirre (16^th, 18:08), Kavin Chengavarayan (22^nd, 18:24), Andrew Crichton, and William Heatherington rounded out the point scorers for Coppell. 

Coppell also secured 2^nd place overall in the Varsity Girls division.  Sophomore Isabelle Ortizoga was the first to cross the finish for Coppell; she was 10^th overall with a time of 23:08.  Next in for Coppell were Montserrat Tresidder (13^th, 23:19), Callie Kutz (16^th, 23:27), Elizabeth Grace Walker, and Daniela Chavarria.   The Coppell girls placed 3^rd overall in the JV division.  Junior Emma Sherrer led Coppell; she was 3^rd overall with a time of 23:53.  Megan Peltier (18^th, 25:01), Brooke Shortino (23^rd, 25:35), Tavishka Arora and Mika Jarrell were team point scorers this week. 

The boys clinched 1^st place overall in the Varsity division, as well as the JV division.  Coppell got a 7^th place finish from Freshman Andrew Mullen, he ran across the line at 18:34.  Right behind him were teammates Andrew Nester (9^th, 18:36), Dylan Newsome (17^th, 18:54), Diego Acosta, and Jeevan Janeev.  In the JV division, Coppell won with an impressive team score of 34.  Freshman Blaine Warner led Coppell; he was 2^nd overall with a time of 19:00.  Alfred Fairchild (4^th, 19:13), Shaylan Patel (5^th, 19:16), Mustafa Alrawi, and Cameron Churchill-Dowd were the top finishers for Coppell. 

“Our athletes ran hard and had a great showing,” said Coach Benton.  He is especially thankful for all the volunteers that gave their time helping out and supporting the Coppell Cross Country program.  Saturday, September 21 the team will be competing in two different locations.  The top 7 from both the girls’ and boys’ teams have been invited to compete in the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic Sweepstakes race in Norco, California with top teams from across the country.  Meanwhile the rest of the Cross Country team will be competing in the Falcon Fast Invitational at Trinity Springs middle school in Keller.