![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 district swim meet on Jan. 26 was one of the team’s toughest competitions yet. Despite the immense numbers and extraordinary talents of rival swimmers from five other schools, many of the T-Wolves came out strong, and were able to advance to regionals, placing second overall.
“It was a really fun experience,” freshman Joelle Marchiani said. “Everyone was cheering so loud I could pick out some of my teammates voices while I was swimming.”
The district champions from the team were:
- Freshman Kinsee Tumlinson (200 medley relay, 100 breaststroke)
- Freshman Kathryn Fitzgerald (200 medley relay, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, and 400 freestyle relay)
- Freshman Taylor Abbott (200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, and 400 freestyle relay)
- Freshman Elena Ivanova (200 IM, 400 freestyle relay, 100 breaststroke)
- Freshman Victor Wu (200 IM, 200 freestyle relay, 100 breaststroke, 400 freestyle relay)
- Freshman Joelle Marchiani (500 freestyle)
- Sophomore Lauren Schuh (200 medley relay, 100 backstroke)
- Sophomore Jacqueline King (200 medley relay, 200 IM, 100 breaststroke)
- Sophomore Ryan Scott (200 medley relay, 100 backstroke)
- Sophomore William Beall (200 medley relay, 200 IM, 500 freestyle)
- Sophomore Daniel Grant (200 medley relay, 200 IM, 100 backstroke)
- Sophomore Caroline Kessler (200 freestyle)
- Sophomore John Tolander (50 freestyle)
- Junior Matt Sananikone (200 medley Relay, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay)
- Junior Amanda Wu (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 100 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay)
- Junior Sheena Wang (50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay)
- Senior Samuel Turner (100 butterfly, 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke, 400 freestyle relay)
“I’m really excited but nervous for regionals,” junior Matt Sananikone said. “My goal is to get the best time in the 100 butterfly and the best time in the relay.”
The regional meet will take place north of Houston in Magnolia on Feb. 8and 9, where swimmers will compete in an effort to qualify for State.
