The Coppell Cross Country team competed at Marcus Coach T. Invitational on Saturday, September 2, at North Lakes Park in Denton. This meet gives Coppell XC athletes an opportunity to race with some of the best long distance running talent across Texas and Oklahoma. Head Coach Wren said he was looking forward to seeing the athletes compete on the course where the team will run the district meet, especially as the layout of the course changed this year.
The Elite Varsity Boys Team secured 3rd position behind Deer Creek High School and Canyon. They were led by Henry Henze (17th overall, 15:40.3) and Samarth Dubey (18th overall, 15:40.7). Rohit Kalpathy (39th, 16:10), Pranav Vegiraju (50th, 16:22) and Grant O’ Neal (57th, 16:28) were also top scorers for Coppell.
The Elite Varsity Girls Team was led by Mallory Sherrer, who placed 24th overall and ran the 5K course in 19 minutes and 11 seconds. Next in for Coppell were Maya Easterwood (20:18), Rachel Arrington (20:49), Lauren Bennett (21:36) and Bess Williams (21:41). Coach Wren said he’s seeing some great strides made by many of the girls.
The Open Varsity Boys also came in 3rd with Cole Stehly placing 7th overall with a time of 16 minutes and 57 seconds. He was followed by Srivanth Rudrangi (19th, 17:16) and Aiden George (27th, 17:27). Jase Wilson (32nd, 17:31) and Dillon Khera (38th, 17:39) also scored for Coppell.
In the Open Varsity Girls event, Jeana Scheurich (21:59), Hanna Noyola (22:09), Ashlyn Wilbanks (22:57), Ishitha Mallidi (23:05) and Avery Fishman (23:18) were top scorers. Coach Wren said that the girls train with a positive attitude, and he is confident that they will continue to make progress.
The Elite JV Boys secured the 2nd spot for Coppell with Bartosz Wendland leading the pack by coming in 5th and finishing the race in 18 minutes and 16 seconds. He was followed by Hugh Harris (12th, 18:48), Rodrigo Abrego (20th, 19:07), Henry Hayden (27th, 19:19) and Ansh Patel (31st, 19:23). Coach Wren commented that the boys ran well overall.
In the Elite JV Girls event, Coppell placed 14th overall. The top scorers for Coppell were Katie Kroft (24:06), Ava Pusateri (24:32), Raina Patel (24:53), Navya Avvaru (25:41) and Saakshi Barve (26:18).
Coppell ranked 4th In the Open JV Boys 3200 event. Sandre Houdier (10th, 13:19), Farhan Mohammed (12th, 13:28), Lucas Ortigoza (24th, 14:14), Cannon Stehly (25th, 14:23) and Aaron Joseph (26th, 15:03) were scorers for Coppell.
Coach Wren said that moving forward, he would like to see a more consistent performance from some of the athletes and that he is confident that if the team continued training with diligence, consistency would follow. Coach added, “I like where we are as a team right now. We are learning a lot about ourselves every week.”