![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)
![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)
![Smiling at the camera, the Varsity Tennis team celebrates winning districts. They played against Liberty Hill on Tuesday night and won with a final score of 10- 5. “We improved a lot even from the last game,” senior Blake Hillis said. “We lost against them the last time we played [Liberty Hill], but it was really close. It was just really important for us to win this match since it was the district finals. [When we won I felt] overwhelmingly happy, especially being there with my teammates and it being my senior year. It was just really great. It [felt] like a community.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Tennis-Districts-e1728060882260.png)
Senior Spotlight: Cristina O’Hanlon
Photo by Sierra Wiggers
May 8, 2018
With the year packed full of three college applications, nine AP exams, scholarships and plans for the future, senior year can get stressful. Being in the top of her class and involved in countless organizations, senior Cristina O’Hanlon has had to manage her large amounts of stress for the past four years.
Being third in class brings an expectation from others to maintain the position. Adding on being Spanish Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta President, National Honor Society Parliamentarian, as well as a member in the English, Science and Rho Kappa honor societies, her schedule fills quickly. Over her time in high school, O’Hanlon has changed her mindset to better manage her workload.
“I think over the past four years I’ve definitely learned how to handle stress better and keep perspective, but I’ve also never had as much on my plate as I do now, so I can still get kind of caught up in it some days,” O’Hanlon said.
O’Hanlon has found new ways of managing her stress this year.
“I’ve started prioritizing sleep which I think has helped me destress because it’s just easier to deal with whatever you’re dealing with when you’re at least semi well rested and you’re in a decent frame of mind,” O’Hanlon said.
In order to create a more stress free environment, O’Hanlon has begun growing plants.
“I started growing plants this year because I’ve heard that having plants in your surroundings is supposed to make you happier and I thought I’d try it out,” O’Hanlon said. “Taking care of other things is always kind of a good reminder to take care of yourself, which is something that can really help you remember how important it is to manage your stress when you’re busy and caught up in whatever it is you’re stressed about.”
O’Hanlon’s motivation to be academically involved is not brought on by outside pressures.
“I’d say I’m not really pressured to be academically successful in school so much as motivated by the awareness that the opportunities available to us at Cedar Park don’t exist everywhere,” O’Hanlon said. “I feel really grateful to go to a school that has so many AP classes and vocational programs and teachers who care and I just want to do my best to take these privileges and gain enough value from them to be able to turn around in the future and give back.”
She will be Attending the University of Texas at Austin for Chemical Engineering Honors this fall.
