![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)
From Timberwolf To Bobcat
Senior Receives D1 Basketball Scholarship To Texas State
Holding up the Texas State University logo, Senior Nicole Leff accepts her scholarship to play basketball at the Univeristy. “Don’t compare yourself to others,” Leff said. “If you focus on yourself you’ll be rewarded for the work you put in because at the end of the day your rankings or write ups or anything doesn’t matter if you can’t show up on the court.”
May 6, 2020
In the midst of a chaotic senior year, one person in particular has been given an opportunity of a lifetime to attend a state university on a full ride scholarship to pursue her passion for basketball.
Playing basketball since she was in fifth grade, senior Nicole Leff has chosen to carry on her love for the sport by attending Texas State University, and committing to play for their Bobcat basketball team after being offered a full scholarship by her position coach, Coach Nathan Teymer.
“I was in shock but extremely thankful,” Leff said. “I saw all the dedication I have put in [in] the past years come to life. When I first started playing basketball, I never imagined playing collegiately, but as I began to grow as a player, Texas State was definitely one of my top choices.”
Working towards a scholarship is no easy feat, and Leff said she had to give up so much to keep playing basketball, and that she rarely got to live a normal high school life while doing so.
“I gave up a lot of things to keep playing basketball,” Leff said. “I didn’t always get to be a normal high school student, I had to prioritize basketball over so many things. I’ve been around sports my entire life so even though I gave up a lot, I can’t imagine not pursuing a career where sports aren’t involved.”
Leff has been a member of the girls varsity team all four years of her high school experience. Being a member of a team who made school history in playoffs with records of 33-4 in the 2019-2020 school year, Leff said that even though she has known most of the team her whole life, when they get new members there are rarely any noticeable changes.
“Every year is new in its own way,” Leff said. “We practice so much together as a team there is not a different feeling when new people are added to varsity because they know the expectations coach Ott has of us, and if they are on varsity then they have met that expectation.”
The moment Leff received her scholarship, she was undecided on whether or not she would accept, but with all of her hard work and dreams, she eventually accepted.
“I got my scholarship at a home visit which was extremely exciting,” Leff said. “I didn’t accept it right away, but Texas State was a school I always dreamed of attending and playing the sport I love. I chose Texas State mainly because of the coaches and team. There is a true family-like atmosphere with the team. Also, the gorgeous campus is a huge plus.”
Even if she decides not to keep playing basketball as a career, Leff said she would continue to pursue a job in the sports industry.
“I think it would be cool to become a sports agent,” Leff said. “Sports are constantly around you and business interests me a lot so it is the perfect combination [for me.]”
Leff said she has gained many things out of her time playing basketball as well, such as a sense of family, competition and accomplishment.
“My teammates are a huge inspiration to me because I have grown up with a lot of them,” Leff said. “To know they always support me and are there to help is the most motivating thing to me. While playing with them the competition aspect is insane, when you play you become a dog in the court, the effort you give is what you recieve.”
