Invitational becomes a Mud Run
Sara Mobley (photograpy: Chris Mobley)
The best race strategy for the Southlake Cross Country Invitational at Bob Jones Park in Southlake on Saturday, September 8 was simply “avoid falling down”. Heavy rain came just as the Elite Varsity Girls race started. This additional rain along with already saturated soil quickly evolved into a swampy 5K course. Only three of the eight scheduled divisions were able to compete before the meet was cancelled due to flooding.
The Cowgirls’ took second place in the Elite Varsity Girls division behind a very strong Flower Mound team. Shelby Spoor led the girls with a 9th place finish overall at 19:34. Morgan Colon (17th, 19:56), Chloe Hassman (19th, 20:03.5) Natalie Fleming (20th, 20:03.9), and Maddie Hulcy (31st, 20:16.2) were the top five Elite Varsity runners for Coppell.
Results in the Boys Varsity Elite division, were inaccurate for Coppell. Evan Caswell was the top runner for Coppell and Marcos Bohn was the 5th runner in for Coppell however their race chips did not register. The race chips for Jackson Walker (35th, 17:48.2), Nathaniel Leach (43rd, 17:57.9), Justin Chow (67th, 18:18.9), and Rith Bhattacharyya (18:54) recorded finishes for Coppell but this is not the minimum number of five required for a team score.
Coppell girls placed 3rd in the Open Varsity division. Freshman Rebecca Centeno was the top finisher in 14th place overall and a time of 22:45. Jimena Benavides (23:42), Catherine McKethan (24:11), Elizabeth Miller (24:14) and Grace Turman (24:20) rounded out the point scorers for Coppell.
Head Coach Nick Benton felt the boys and girls both performed well considering the weather and course conditions. “Each week the athletes are improving and that is what is important at this point in the season,” Benton said. “We will continue to work on the little things and focus on being the best we can be.”
Saturday, September 15 the Coppell Cross Country team will once again be competing in two different locations. The top 7 girls have been invited to the Woodbridge Cross Country Classic in Irvine, CA where they will have the opportunity to compete with other 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 matching up against other Region 1 contenders.