The Coppell Cross Country team took to the hills and creeks in Bakersfield Park in the closest meet to the school this year. Results showed steady improvement in a physical meet with teams coming from as far as El Paso to compete alongside district stalwarts Flower Mound and Hebron.
Junior Carson Vickroy led an improving boys team with a new personal record of 16:10. Vickroy finished 2nd, behind nationally ranked senior Robert Domanic, from Hebron High School. The second place finish in the meet was the highest finish for a Coppell male runner since at least the state qualifying teams of 2007. Senior Mikey Gonzalez also logged a personal record with a time of 17:50, and the team as a whole has improved their cumulative time from 1:26:41 to 1:25:27 in the 2 weeks since the 5k season began.
The girls also finished 3rd overall, led by seniors Katie Sandfort, Jenna Hernandez, and Alyssa Shelton, who finished 10th, 11th, and 14th respectively. Shelton and Alyssa Moino both grabbed personal records in the 5k distance, as did junior Stephanie Bilka. Coppell’s girls improved their cumulative time from 1:42:44 to 1:41:16 between the flat course at the Marcus 1 meet and the challenging Bakersfield Park venue.
The JV girls were led to a 3rd place finish by Sophomore Paskalina Bourbon, who finished 10th, and Sarina Naik, who finished 13th overall. The JV boys were paced by Justin Armenta in 18:12, and sophomore Mark Jeska, who ran 18:30. Each of the boys cut 30 seconds from their season opening times at Marcus 1. Amy Wessenberg and Cassidy Packer improved by 3 and 2 minutes, respectively, from their last 5k times, with Packer being edged out of the last medal spot by teammate Laura Taylor.
After taking a week off for homecoming festivities, the team will be back in action September 29th as they square off again with district foes at the Colony Cougar Classic.
For information and sponsorship opportunities for the Coppell Cross Country team, please see www.quadc.shutterfly.com