![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)
Born to Run
Senior Reflects on High School Track Career
Senior Aaron Esparza holds the district champion award. “Track really had a huge impact on my life,” Esparza said. “It was my go-to place whenever I needed it and I will never forget the amazing memories that came from winning track.”
May 29, 2019
For the first time in high school history, the boys and girls track team swept district and area all in the same year. These accomplishments were a dream come true to senior Aaron Esparza, who has been running track ever since seventh grade and has a huge passion for the sport.
Esparza said that he joined the track team because it was mandatory for playing football. He started off by only running the mile, but in eighth grade when the coaches saw the potential in him, they encouraged him to run the 4×4. Going into high school, Esparza said that he continued the sport because he saw himself developing a love for track, but also keeping his love for football alive and decided to dive into soccer. When practices, games and meets became overwhelming, Esparza ultimately chose to keep track at the top of his priorities.
“Track was my priority because of the love I had for the sport,” Esparza said. “I felt like I really had a purpose and the way I felt after running was an amazing feeling, especially when it all paid off during the races. I knew I had a lot of potential in track and thinking about everything I could accomplish made we want to keep doing it.”
Sophomore year is when things started taking off for Esparza. He focused on track and improved immensely, and when he went into the JV season and soon won the 400 for Districts, Esparza quickly got moved up to varsity to compete in the 4×4, where he ended up qualifying for Regionals.
“My accomplishments are what truly made me feel excited for what track had to offer me,” Esparza said. “Accomplishing all these things while still young made me excited for the years ahead of me. I started setting high goals for myself and wanted to beat any school records.”
Junior year was Esparza’s first full year on varsity. He placed fourth in the 400 for Districts, which led him to qualify for Area. This would have been the third year the boy and girls track teams won district champions, but due to an inconvenience, they got eliminated.
“Getting eliminated from winning district champion my junior year made me upset because that’s a trophy and title that you can’t win back,” Esparza said. “This made me want to work harder my senior year so we could get the title.”
Esparza came into senior year with a strong mentality and was ready to work harder than ever. Starting off the season strong, Esparza, along with sophomore Kiyon King and seniors Eric Shine and Alden Yi, shattered school records in the Sprint Medley Relay, placing first and winning the race. To add to the success, the boy and girls JV and varsity teams all swept Districts, winning the entire meet. Esparza placed first in the 400 and 4×4 at Districts, along with senior Alden Yi and juniors Tanner James and Peyton Chriswisser. This gave Esparza and the boys the title of district champion for both races.
“I had never been happier in my life,” Esparza said. “I finally realized that all the hard work that I’ve been putting in for years finally paid off. I couldn’t stop smiling. I called my mom twice that night to tell her everything. It all just didn’t feel real. It made me even happier seeing my whole team feeling the same way I was.”
The four boys got to advance to Area and placed third in the 4×4, and Esparza placed third in the 400, qualifying for Regionals. At Regionals, Esparza placed sixth in the 400 for his heat, fourth in the 4×4 and qualified for finals. Esparza and the boys placed seventh in finals in the 4×4, ending Esparza’s high school track career.
“Leaving Regionals was a really sad time for me,” Esparza said. “I cried at the end of the race and hugged Coach Blanton and Grenier and all my teammates and thanked them for an amazing season. Everything felt weird for the next few days because track will always have a part in my life and not doing it felt really weird.”
This upcoming summer, Esparza plans on joining a club track team and hopes to earn a scholarship out of it.
“Track really had a huge impact in my life,” Esparza said. “It was my go-to place whenever I needed it and I will never forget the amazing memories that came from running track. The bonds created in track are unbreakable. We’re all with each other for 10-14 hours on meet days and see each other every day. Even after this season, the bonds stayed. It’s a great feeling knowing you’ll always have a family to come back to no matter what.”
