![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)
The ball flies through the sky as thousands of spectators watch, eagerly waiting to see if the receiver catches it. Finally, the ball lands in the player’s arms, and the crowd breaks out into cheers. The announcer says “touchdown, Cedar Park” as the student section goes crazy, jumping up and down.
Cedar Park beat Rouse 35-25 at the homecoming game on Oct. 4. Coach Michael Quintero, or Coach Q, said that the special teams unit played a huge part in the win. The team blocked a Rouse punt in the second quarter.
“[The special teams unit is] what starts the game off, every game,” Coach Q said. “You could see that they had a bit of hesitation in their kick returns, and I think we sent that message on film.”
Cedar Park had the first score with a 50-yard rushing touchdown from running back Trae Hill to begin the game. The touchdown came on the first drive and Hill said it shifted the momentum in their direction to start the game.
“I think it sparked us,” Hill said. “I feel like it gave us motivation, and it felt great.”
The football team scored two more times in the first half, off a touchdown pass from quarterback David Cooper caught by receiver Zane Claybrook and a rushing touchdown by running back Cameron Graham. The score was 21-7 going into halftime.
“We started fast which helped a lot because it kept them on edge,” Claybrook said. “They couldn’t keep up with us, and we could just get easy shots downfield.”
Outside linebacker Grant Fuller forced a fumble in the third quarter to prevent a Rouse comeback. Fuller said his experiences in practice helped him to execute this play in the game.
“It felt great,” Fuller said. “I just ran in there, lowered my shoulder, threw my arm through, and punched the ball out. I did it in practice and then did it in the game.”
Notable performances included Hill, who finished the game with 100 rushing yards, and quarterback David Cooper who had 117 passing yards, 60 rushing yards, and a rushing touchdown. Claybrook ended the night with two receiving touchdowns, the latter occurring in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach for Rouse.
“It was a great team win,” Claybrook said. “I couldn’t do it without David [Cooper]. He gives me good balls all the time.”
The game took place at Gupton Stadium. Even though it was Cedar Park’s homecoming game, both teams play at Gupton as their home stadium.
“They came in there thinking they were going to win,” said Fuller. “[They thought] it was their house, but it’s not. It’s our house.”
At halftime, seniors Mercy Forrister and Hadrian Hurn were crowned homecoming queen and king, respectively. Spectators for the game, court crowning and performances began to show up over an hour before the start of the game. Hill said the energy in the stadium was much higher than usual.
“[Continuing the season], we need to match the energy from that game,” Hill said. “Next week, just recreate the energy, lift everyone up, and just hit back strong.”
Cedar Park will face Eastview, a district opponent, next Friday. Currently Cedar Park is 3-2 overall, and 2-0 in district play, tied with Leander for first in the district. Eastview is 1-1 in district play. Coach Q said he isn’t focused on the district championship though. Instead he’s choosing to focus on improving one game at a time.
“We’re just trying to stack good days together,” Coach Q said. “We’re not looking ahead, not looking behind us. We’re just taking care of the day that we’re on now and getting better every day.”
