Coppell’s Cross Country team commenced its 2023 season at The Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational on Saturday, August 19 by running a 5K course. The Varsity Boys started the season with a 1^st place team finish. Senior Henry Henze led the team to victory with a 2^nd place overall finish with a time of 15 minutes and 21 seconds. Senior Samarth Dubey had a strong 6^th place finish overall with a time of 15 minutes and 34 seconds. Next in was junior Pranav Vegiraju who placed 14^th overall (15:58). Grant O’Neal (17^th, 16:11) and Ansh Singhal (21^st, 16:15) rounded off the top 5 finishers for the team.

The Varsity Girls placed 9^th overall. Junior Mallory Sherrer was the top runner for Coppell girls with a finish time of 19 minutes and 18 seconds and placed 18^th overall. Next in was Rachel Arrington who placed 38^th (20:38). Lucy Martinson (44^th, 20:44), Lauren Bennett (58^th, 21:21) and Bess Williams (65^th, 21:49) also scored for Coppell.

JV Girls secured a 3^rd place finish. Freshman Maya Easterwood came 2^nd and ran her race in 20 minutes and 28 seconds. Next in was Freshman Avery Fishman (17^th, 22:48 ). Ishitha Mallidi (18^th, 22:50) Mehak Gandotra (26^th, 23:11) and Alexa Turati (27^th, 23:20) were also top scorers for Coppell JV Girls.

JV Boys also secured a 1^st place finish. Junior Jayden Benjamin (16:58) Jase Wilson (17:16) and Dillon Khera (17:34) grabbed the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd positions for Coppell. Krish Sirpal (6^th, 17:43) and sophomore Hugh Harris (12^th, 18:17) were also top scorers for the JV Boys’ team.

Head Coach Wren was satisfied with the team’s performance: ‘After graduating 5 of our top 7 runners from last year's boys team, I was looking forward to seeing who would step up early in the season. I was most pleased with our #3 through #5 runners, Pranav Vegiraju, Grant O'Neal, and Ansh Singhal, their efforts allowed us to win the meet for the third straight year. Junior Varsity boys also won their events at this location for a third consecutive year, he added. Regarding the girls he said, ‘with the combination of returning varsity runners and newcomers, the girls' team posted some good early season times. Mallory Sherrer ran a strong race and improved on her time from last year at the same meet. JV Girls finished in 3^rd place, which is a great way to start the season. I was especially proud of the girls that ran their first race in high school. Overall, the kids performed well after training extremely hard this summer,’ he concluded.