![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)
Sprinting to State
Boys, Girls Varsity Cross Country Advances to State
Boys and girls cross country team won regional’s on Oct. 22, giving them a spot to compete at state. “We’ve been training hard all summer and the school year to get ready for state,” Roach said. “My goal and the overall team goal is to do our job and we know that if everyone does their job, we’ll get the outcome that we want for state.”
October 31, 2018
On Oct. 22, the boys and girls varsity cross country team won regional champions in Huntsville, TX, solidifying them a spot at state. This Saturday, the team will compete for a state title in Round Rock at Old Settlers Park.
At the regional meet, the girls’ total time was faster than the second place team by nearly five minutes. The boys team won first, beating the second place team by 49 seconds. This will be junior Owen Daugherty’s second year going to state.
“Winning regionals for the second time in a row this year was a really satisfying feeling,” Daugherty said. “The end of the race is always the most intense and all that was running through my head was ‘don’t let your teammates down.’”
Daugherty said that advancing to state was a very humbling and eye-opening experience.
“We recognize being able to go as a team is a direct result of all of the work we put in, so we soak it in as much as possible,” Daugherty said. “We’re all grateful for the opportunity to race against such good competition.”
Both varsity teams and JV teams won district Oct. 12, with Daughtery and senior Sophia Roach each scoring the highest in their division, winning the district title for boys and girls.
This is Roach’s third time making it to state with her team, and after she graduates this year, she will be joining the cross country team at Northern Arizona University. Being the last time she will compete at state, Roach said that she hopes they finish with a bang.
“We’ve been training hard all summer and the school year to get ready for state,” Roach said. “My goal and the overall team goal is to do our job and we know that if everyone does their job, we’ll get the outcome that we want for state.”
The cross country team will continue to practice six days a week, starting at 6:30 a.m., and take Sundays to train on their own. For Junior Nate Maki, who has never gone to state before, he said that it is an honor to be a part of this team going to state.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to finally be able to compete with and be a part of such a hardworking team,” Maki said. “The realization alone that I’m actually running at state gives me butterflies in my stomach with the biggest adrenaline rush, but it’s what the team and I have worked for and I can’t wait to give it my all on the course.”
