![After placing second in their respective LDEs at the Capital District contest in early November, freshman Jesus Jaramillo-Gallegos and freshman Wyatt Pickett will compete at the Area XII LDE contest in Georgetown on Nov. 23. Jaramillo-Gallegos is competing in Greenhand Spanish Creed Speaking, while Pickett’s LDE is Greenhand Creed Speaking. “Honestly, [I’m excited for] just traveling around, maybe meeting more people,” Jaramillo-Gallegos said. “And [I’m] nervous about probably just not being able to define my weak areas. I feel like I did decent for my first time ever doing this. I just think it’s fun.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Navy-and-Yellow-Simple-Group-Project-Presentation-1200x675.png)
![Holding up T-wolves, the tour group poses for a picture in the Chinese classroom. Sophomore Lydia Ou, junior Phu Trung and senior Yushan Pan gave a tour to Taiwanese diplomat Andrea Yang on Nov. 8. “I was so excited when I heard I would get to give the tour because it’s a big deal,” Ou said. “She’s from the US embassy for Taiwan, so she’s really important. I’m so privileged [to get this opportunity] and I’m so excited.” Photo by Skyler King](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Main-Taiwan.jpg)
![Sitting at a desk past the rows of books laid out for the Book Fair, senior Kimberley Walters assists people in purchasing books and finding titles. The Book Fair is taking place Dec. 16 through Dec. 20, and is an annual event during which students and faculty have the opportunity to go and purchase books and other trinkets in the library. Kimberley said she encourages all to go to the Book Fair, even if they think they don’t like to read. “If you make reading something that is fun for you and you find the things that you like to read, it will never be a chore,” Walters said. “So [the Book Fair is] a good opportunity to find something that will respark your want to read [like] when you were a child and you went to the book fair and you loved the ‘I survived’ books. Maybe you'll find your ‘I survived’ books of your high school experience, and it'll re-spark that kind of love for reading that may have died out.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Addie-L-47-1200x800.jpg)
![Smiling at the camera, sophomore Olivia Mahlmeister and seniors Samantha Jameson, Adhit Eswaramoorthi and Justin Khadavi celebrate completing first chamber in the Congress Meet. All four students advanced to the final chamber. “Out of the 20 kids in the final chamber, we had a seventh, ninth, 11th and 13th, and they took the top four to move on to state,” AP US History and Debate teacher Josh Marsh said. “[Even though] we didn't make state this year, all four of them moving on [and] placing is phenomenal.” Photo courtesy of Josh Marsh](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2024-Regional-Congress-Team.jpg)
![Standing in front of a small audience, senior Kimberley Walters shares a social criticism poem titled “Pity the Nation” by Lawrence Felinghetti. Every month, sponsored by the poetry club, the library hosts a poetry reading. “I never thought I would be interested in [poetry readings] because I’m not the biggest poetry fan,” Walters said. “I think poetry is a very succinct way to express feelings and get a story across. Whereas lots of books have a span of a whole story, but it’s put in a lot of words. The power of poetry is that you can be so succinct within, and there’s a lot of power within the words that are used.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KIM-1200x800.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)
![Holding the Grand Nationals trophies, drum majors Helashi Wijayawardhana, Abigail Pettey and Eddy Kim pose for a photo. The BOA Grand Nationals competition took place in Indianapolis on Nov. 14-17. “My favorite thing was just looking back at the field, and I was like, ‘Oh, crap. I know all of their names, I know who all of them are’,” Wijayawardahana said. “It's just insane to me that I was able to make so many connections. [Being a drum major] taught me how to build relationships with people who I’m not really that similar to, and how to juggle a ton of things all together.”
Photo courtesy of CPHS Band SmugMug](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AJC.GrandNatsFinals-169-1200x801.jpg)
![Delicately placing the string to form the shape of a cornucopia, seniors Haley Burton and Avery Nelson create the November arrangement for the Flower of the Month Club. This club is led by Advanced Floral Design Students and provides a monthly arrangement to community members who subscribe to receive them. “I think flower of the month club is a really impactful way to show your loved ones ‘hey I really care about you,’ or even if they’re just for yourself, they’re a little pick-me-up throughout the month that [say] ‘I’m doing ok, and these flowers make my day a little bit brighter,” Nelson said. “I like giving people flowers because people value the flowers more and they value themselves more.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Ava-Holmes-3-edit.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)
![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)
![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)
Lady Timberwolves Basketball Makes History Once Again
Team Defeats Pflugerville, Wins Second District Title in Row
![The Lady Timberwolves celebrate at half court after the final buzzer. The T-Wolves finished 14-0 in district, marking their second outright district championship and solidifying themselves in school history. "There was a lot of hype behind that game,” senior forward Pujita Shukla said. “I think it was the perfect [home] game to end my career as a senior on. I am going to remember that game forever.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/pflugerville_megan-599-2-900x600.jpg)
The Lady Timberwolves celebrate at half court after the final buzzer. The T-Wolves finished 14-0 in district, marking their second outright district championship and solidifying themselves in school history. “There was a lot of hype behind that game,” senior forward Pujita Shukla said. “I think it was the perfect [home] game to end my career as a senior on. I am going to remember that game forever.”
February 8, 2019
“Pflugerville- 1st, Cedar Park- 2nd.”
These words have been typed, written and taped all around the Lady Timberwolves’ locker room for weeks. In early September, the prediction of district standings was released, and sophomore guard Sarai Estupinan said that those predictions sparked the team’s determination to beat the Pflugerville Lady Panthers and win district for the second season in a row last Friday.
“That little piece of paper showed us that no one thought we were going to be on top this year,” Estupinan said. “I think it motivated us into thinking that we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
The district championship game was nothing short of expectations, junior guard Takara Holst said, and throughout the high-energy game, there were 10 charges called, over 50 free throws shot and 97 points scored between the two teams.
Holst said that even though the Lady Timberwolves were up by 20 points in the third quarter, they knew that they were nowhere close to being done. As the Lady Panthers tried to slowly chip away at the lead, Holst recalled one particular moment that, to her, signified a win for the team.
“The moment I knew we were going to win was when I saw Coach Ott walk down the bench and do his hilarious victory dance,” Holst said.
Knowing that the game would be an intense one, the team was already preparing for the matchup weeks in advance.
“Fortunately, we did not have a game earlier in the week which allowed us to focus more on Pflugerville,” Holst said. “In practice, we made sure to watch film from our previous game [against Pflugerville] to see what we could improve on, as well as putting in new plays to surprise our opponents.”
This was freshman post Shelby Hayes’s first time preparing to become a district championship contender, and she said that managing nerves before the game was the hardest aspect of preparation she faced.
“I was very nervous in practice and before the game,” Hayes said. “But one of the captains helped me calm my nerves with simple breathing exercises which really allowed me to focus in and relax.”
Nerves or not, Hayes had a total of six points, five rebounds and three charges. Hayes said that it was an amazing atmosphere to play in and that the team’s support helped her to succeed.
“No matter what, I knew my teammates had my back,” Hayes said. “I am thankful that my teammates and my coaches put trust in me to contribute to the game.”
Junior point guard Hanna Wheeler said the team wished to start a legacy for the Lady Timberwolves program ever since last year’s undefeated season, which resulted in 16-0 and the program’s first outright district championship. As the underdog in this big win, Wheeler said the team solidified themselves in Cedar Park history.
“It is no secret that a lot of people thought we were going to fall short this year to Pflugerville,” Wheeler said. “We used that as motivation to prove who Cedar Park girls basketball really is.”
Wheeler said that this championship was even more meaningful for both her and the team since it was the Lady Timberwolves’ second season in a row to go undefeated.
“We proved that our championship last year wasn’t luck,” Wheeler said. “We established a lasting legacy for Cedar Park.”
Senior forward, Pujita Shukla, said that the game against Pflugerville was one to remember, as it was her last game in the Timberdome.
“There was a lot of hype behind that game,” Shukla said. “I think it was the perfect [home] game to end my career as a senior on. I am going to remember that game forever.”
Shukla said that the high intensity of the game was similar to what the Lady Timberwolves will face in playoffs, making it a perfect game to get in the playoff mindset.
Nearing playoffs, Coach Ott said that he and his assistant coaches, Kami Williamson and J.R. Romero, are preparing by scouting all of the team’s potential matchups to ensure that they are adequately prepared. Ott also said that with their current players, he is confident that the Lady Timberwolves will continue to succeed.
“Realistically, for us, I feel like our team is built for a really strong run this year,” Ott said. “We have good senior leadership and experience from the regional tournament with last year’s team.”
The team will play Manor next Monday at 6:30 p.m. for the bi-district championships at Cedar Ridge High School. Updates on playoff games and locations can be found on the @CPLadyWolves twitter.
