![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
The Cedar Park Cross Country team has caused quite a stir around the country. The team was ranked number one in the nation at the start of the year. This placement was determined by the running times from several small competitions they attended across the state. With five of the best runners in the nation on their team, they hoped to compete at the Nike Cross Invitational again, and top last year’s eighth place finish.
Their season started off with a bang in their first UIL competition. They competed in the District meet at Old Settler’s Park October 26 and won first in the district, taking four of the top five positions. They continued on to the State meet, finishing third overall. Parker Stinson placed third overall runner in Boy’s Varsity. From there, the Cross country team competed at the Woodlands qualifier for the Nike Cross Invitational. This competition, one of nine being held across the country, would determine which teams would compete in the Nike Cross Invitational. Only the top two teams could continue on to Nationals. The boys placed third, one spot away from qualifying, but they were selected as one of four, wild card teams to be invited to Nationals.
The team faced some great adversities on the way to Nationals, however. During the course of the season, Bobby McIllece, senior, was injured, and three members of the team came down with the flu shortly before the National meet. Despite these setbacks they placed 11 at Nationals out of 22 teams in attendance. While this was not the result they had hoped for, the boys still had a bright outlook on the event and their placement.
“I’m a little let down because we were expecting higher all year,” said Cameron Shoppach, senior. “But eleventh in the nation is not bad, so I’m not going to complain about it.”
Although the guys were unable to achieve their goals, they did remarkably well this season. The 2009 Cedar Park Cross Country team has definitely set a standard of excellence for future runners at this school.
