Cross Country teams from all across Texas gathered in Old Settlers Park on Saturday, September 28 for the opportunity to race on the 5K State XC Championship course at the McNeil Invitational in Round Rock.  The top 21 Coppell runners from both the girls’ and boys’ team were among the competitors.  Meanwhile, the JV team also competed in the Southlake II Invitational on the 5K course at Bob Jones Park.    

Coppell placed 4^th overall in the Boys Gold division at the McNeil Invitational, a lineup of 88 teams.  Evan Caswell was Coppell’s top runner, he finished 18^th with a time of 15:46.  Next in were Rith Bhattacharrya (49^th, 16:09), Colin Proctor (64^th, 16:18), Jackson Walker, and Riley Warner.  In the 6A Boys division, CHS placed 11^th overall.  Parker Hicks led the team; he finished 37^th with a time of 17:21.  Andrew Crichton (49^th, 17:30), Kavin Chengavarayan (66^th, 17:45), Andrew Mullen, and Andrew Nester scored team points for Coppell.

Coppell placed 14th place overall in the Girls Gold division, a field of 71 teams.  Shelby Spoor led Coppell with a 23^rd place finish at 18:49.  Morgan Colon (56^th, 19:21), Natalie Fleming (96^th, 19:46), Waverly Hassman, and Reezon Eke were the top finishers for Coppell.  In the 6A Girls division, CHS placed 13^th overall.  Sophomore Rebecca Centeno led the girls, she finished 57^th with a time of 21:14.  Payton Mundhenk (76^th, 21:26), Grace Turman (81^st, 21:29), Avery Hancock, and Isabella Iseley rounded out the point scorers for Coppell.

Coppell finished 5^th overall in the JV Boys division.  Freshman Samuel Martinson led the boys, he finished 21^st with a time of 18:27. Asheer Jiwani (26^th, 18:39), Blaine Warner (27^th, 18:40), Ishraj Bhandari, and Dylan Newsom also scored for Coppell.  In the JV Girls 2 mile division CHS placed 6^th overall.  Freshman Montserrat Tresidder was the top runner for Coppell with a 25^th place finish in a time of 14:44.  Next in were Taylor Peltier (28^th, 14:48), Elizabeth Grace Walker (29^th, 14:49), Callie Kutz, and Taviska Arora.

Coppell placed 1st overall in the JV Boys Open division at the Southlake II Invitational.  Freshman Cameron Churchill-Dowd finished in 1^st place with a time of 18:07.  Jeevan Janeev (2^nd, 18:59), Karthikeyan Parthipan (3^rd, 19:04), Raymundo Aguirre, and Gregory Sebuncuyan were the top finishers for Coppell.  CHS placed 6^th overall in the JV Girls Open division at Southlake.  Senior Sikyra Castle finished in 8^th place with a time of 24:34.  Mika Jarrell (12^th, 25:20), Brooke Shortino (28^th, 26:14), Shriya Srivastiva, and Mithila Vijay scored for Coppell.

The entire team will be back together for the Flower Mound Invitational at Lake Park in Lewisville on Saturday, October 5.  This is the final Invitational of the regular Cross Country season.  Coppell will start the Championship season off at the District 6-6A Championship on October 18.  Going forward Coppell will be lining up against some of the best teams in the state at the district level and the regional level.  Go Cowboys!