The majority of the Coppell Cross Country team opened the season under Friday night lights much closer to home. The Hebron Friday Night Hawk Invitational at McInnish Park in Carrollton also occurred on August, 24. Runners competed on a 2 mile course.
The Coppell girls’ JV team placed 3rd overall. Junior Catherine McKethan led the cowgirls with a 10th place finish in a time of 13 minutes, 49.8 seconds. Elizabeth Miller (14:08.1), Katelin Reznicek (14:18.8), Dia Atluri (14:15.1), and Avery Hancock (14:15.9) were the top five finishers for Coppell.
The Coppell boys’ JV team placed 4th overall. Senior Tyler Sewell led the way with a 13th place finish in a time of 11 minutes, 13.7 seconds. Next in for Coppell was Ishraj Bhandari (11:34.6), Diego Acosta (11:38.6), Drew Scrivner (11:42.6), and Raymundo Aguirre (11:56.9).
The Varsity Girls division was a competition between 150+ runners. Freshman Rebecca Centeno finished 24th overall with a time of 13 minutes, 14.7 seconds. Grace Turman (13:18.1), Sarah Mobley (13:27.4), Catherine Kimball (13:45.7), and Bernice David (13:51.5) all performed well for Coppell. Taylor Peltier (13:08.1) was the only Coppell runner to compete in the Girls Varsity Elite division.
The Coppell boys competed in the Boys Varsity Elite division. With the top 7 boys in the Woodlands, they lined up against varsity squads. Senior Justin Chow led Coppell with an overall finish of 31st in a time of 10 minutes, 21.2 seconds. Chris Figueroa (10:41.0), Rith Bhattacharyya (10:41.5), Riley Warner (10:51.7), and Andrew Nester (11:01.1) rounded out the point scorers for Coppell.
The next meet on the schedule is the Marcus I Invitational at North Lakes Park in Denton on Saturday, September 1. There will be a 7:00 am rolling start beginning with the Girls Varsity Elite Division. The Marcus I Invitational is a great early season meet which will prove to be another test for the Coppell team according to Head Coach Nick Benton.