![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)
Corner Kicks to Butterfly Kicks
Injuries on the Soccer Field Led to Success in the Pool for Senior Swim Captain
Pushing himself through the water, senior Kyle Blount swims the 100m Butterfly at Regionals at Texas A&M on Jan. 31. Blount used to be a soccer player, but changed his sport to swim after an injury. “I am so glad I chose to swim after I couldn’t play soccer,” Blount said. “The swim community is such a tight-knit place and it is really easy to make friends. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
May 13, 2020
Beginning high school, senior swim team captain Kyle Blount had a plan of playing soccer. He had a good first season, until his plans changed after his doctor told him that he could no longer play soccer.
Blount played as a right back on the boys soccer team, but during the beginning of sophomore year, Blount was told that he has labral hip tears, which causes problems with hip movement and pain, and was not advised to keep playing.
“I still had a few options,” Blount said. “I could take steroids and play for two more years before I would have to quit, but that would cause arthritis around 25, which is not a good option. The doctors also said I could continue playing soccer, but with that I would develop arthritis at 20.”
Blount decided that he needed to stop playing sports that included running and that put pressure on his hips and try something new.
“I was disappointed in the moment,” Blount said. “But I was just playing for the high school for fun, and I started to not like my club coaches. I realized I was kind of done with soccer, despite my situation.”
Some of Blount’s friends joked with him that he needed to try swimming because he could no longer play soccer. Blount said that he decided he might as well give it a try.
“Changing sports from soccer to swimming was hard,” Blount said. “I would basically have to sprint everything just to keep up with the intervals.”
Blount joined the Lost Creek Aquatics club swim team to help him develop more skills and technique, along with improving his times.
“I remember crashing into the wall and hitting the lane line often,” Blount said. “I didn’t know how to dive and my goggles would fall off at all of the meets.”
Blount attends an average of 10 practices a week, between club and high school practices, preparing him to improve at upcoming meets.
“I went to state as part of the relays,” Blount said. “I swam the fly in the 200 meter medley relay and the third leg in the 200 freestyle relay.”
Blount made quite the transition from playing soccer to learning the strokes to competitively swim. He also qualified and went to regionals all three years that he swam for CPHS.
Blount will be attending Texas A&M next year studying Engineering. Blount had considered swimming in college, but decided against it.
“I am so glad I chose to swim after I couldn’t play soccer,” Blount said. “The swim community is such a tight-knit place and it is really easy to make friends. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
