![The cross country team poses for the camera after finishing the district meet. The varsity boys, JV boys and JV girls all placed third and the varsity girls placed fourth. “Coach put in the right training for us for this season, so I think we will be peaking this week and the next couple of weeks,” varsity runner and junior Nathan Kukla said. “The chances of making it to state are very high, but we don’t settle for the lowest and there is always going to be that chance, so [we] race for the best.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Heidi-831-1200x900.jpg)
![Sucking in a breath of air, freshman Lily Pope competes in the 200 yard individual medley. On Oct. 25, the swim team competed in the AISD Swim Invitational. Overall, the girls team took second place and the boys team came in eleventh. “My favorite stroke is butterfly because I do the best in that stroke,” Pope said. “I feel like [butterfly] can test how [your ability] to convince yourself to keep going. The hardest part of swimming is convincing yourself to stay strong and keep pushing during a hard race [when] everything is tired.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/POPE-1200x804.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, Author Ehigbor Okosun, members of Page Turners, and other students reflect on the author's visit. “I thought the visit was great,” Senior Amia De Leon said. “It was interesting talking to her and [getting to know] her process and her thoughts and books in general. But I think the reason it went well [was that] people got to ask questions. I'm glad that she said so much in response to the questions and it wasn't just one and done. [The author’s responses] felt very articulate.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Sebastian-5-1200x800.jpg)
![Standing in front of the field at a freshman football game, cheerleader freshman Jacob Gaudreau along with teammate freshman Bella Gibson pose for a photo during halftime of game. “[Cheer has] definitely given me a much more outgoing personality,” Gaudreau said. “I used to be very introverted, so it's definitely made me more extroverted towards people.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Ingrid-204-1200x800.jpg)
![Holding a wooden pizza toy, senior Taylor Peterson plays with small children in Bucaramanga, Colombia. During the summer, Peterson traveled to Colombia to help build an elementary school that only had two classrooms but five or six grades with one teacher. “We add[ed] two more classrooms,” Peterson said. “It’s kind of hard when you have two or three grades in one classroom and you only have one teacher. It’s very hard to actually get some beneficial learning. [The extra classrooms will give the students] a better quality of education because they’ll actually have a place specific for their learning.” Photo by Taylor Peterson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Taylor-P.png)
![Swinging with his arm extended, senior Nolan Park hits the ball smoothly over the net and to the opponent’s side. Park is one of four varsity tennis captains and helped the team win district championships. “Winning district champs was a pretty awesome feeling,” Park said. “We had lost to Liberty Hill a couple of weeks before, but when we played them [again], we came out and really took care of business. We took them out and it was just a really awesome night.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kassidy-419.jpg)
![Standing proud, varsity senior athletes Rafael Escobar, Griffin Jacobs, Jakob Martin, and juniors Jackson Springer and Jack Morris pose with their newly earned medals. The varsity team finished third out of 14 teams on Sept. 25. “The team's primary goal is to win the district championship,” head coach Cody Price said. "We're confident that with our action plan in place, we can accomplish this mission. [For the next tournament], our preparation involves assessing our strengths and weaknesses, celebrating milestones and creating individual development plans." Photo courtesy of Cody Price](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/golf.jpg)
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Band Wins State Title for Third Time in a Row
Surrounded by her fellow band members, sophomore Kierstyn Born holds the UIL state championship trophy. Born played Icarus in this year’s show. She said that although she was nervous leading up to finals, afterwards she felt confident in their performance. “I was thrilled because I genuinely thought that was the best we had ever done,” Born said.
November 7, 2019
As the night closes, instruments are no longer played and flags and rifles are no longer thrown in the air. The field, filled with an array of colors, buzzes with nervousness and excitement. Schools stand in anticipation for the winner of the 2019 state marching band title. It comes down to the top two and the CPHS marching band comes out on top.
This past Monday and Tuesday, the marching band traveled to San Antonio, Texas for the UIL state marching band championships. On Monday, the band performed for the preliminary round, in which they placed second out of 34 other bands, allowing them to advance to finals on Tuesday.
The day of finals, junior drum major Julianne Savage said she was eager to encounter the band’s energy throughout the day.
“I was extremely excited to experience the energy and overwhelming passion that the band exudes in such a pressured situation,” Savage said. “Seeing how they did the small things, like walking from the buses to warm-up, with such precision and focus led to a truly moving and inspiring performance.”
After their finals performance, Savage said she was satisfied with their execution of the show.
Drum majors gather before finals performance.
“The entire band poured their hearts out and left everything they had out on the field,” Savage said. “At that point it didn’t matter what the judges said or what the results were, I knew we had given it our all and that’s all we could ask for.”
At around 5:30 p.m., the award ceremony began. When Highland Park was announced as second, band members realized that they had won another state title.
“When they announced that Highland Park got second and Cedar Park was yet to be announced, the entire band started to look at each other with excited looks and the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen,” senior marimbist Marshal Farmer said. “I felt a wave of happiness wash over me while simultaneous thinking ‘no way, we did it again?’ it was quite [an] emotional rollercoaster for me.”
For Farmer, this win was not only special to him because it was his second state win, but also because according to him, it gave more meaning to his career in band throughout his high school years.
“Being able to close my chapter with marching band with [two] state win[s] under my belt feels immensely satisfying,” Farmer said. “Knowing that these past four years with the band has led to such a meaningful victory means a lot to me. I’m going to carry this win with me for the rest of my life.”
Similarly, sophomore Kierstyn Born, who played Icarus, said that she was elated with the results.
“When they announced our placing, my mind was just screaming in excitement and price for the band,” Born said. “I burst into tears because we work[ed] so hard to be there.”
Born said the success of the band this year is not only important to the band members, but also to the community.
“I think this win is really important for the band and its community because they had a rough year the previous year and this is just proof for future reference that with hard work and motivation we can do anything we put our mind to,” Born said. “This year proved to everyone that you can fall, but it’s those who get back up and keep going that make champions.”
