![Broadcast, yearbook and newspaper combined for 66 Interscholastic League Press Conference awards this year. Yearbook won 43, newspaper won 14 and broadcast took home nine. “I think [the ILPC awards] are a great way to give the kids some acknowledgement for all of their hard work,” newspaper and yearbook adviser Paige Hert said. “They typically spend the year covering everyone else’s big moments, so it’s really cool for them to be celebrated so many times and in so many different ways.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/edited-ILPC.jpg)
![Looking down at his racket, junior Hasun Nguyen hits the green tennis ball. Hasun has played tennis since he was 9 years old, and he is on the varsity team. "I feel like it’s not really appreciated in America as much, but [tennis] is a really competitive and mentally challenging sport,” Nguyen said. “I’m really level-headed and can keep my cool during a match, and that helps me play a bit better under pressure.” Photo by Kyra Cox](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/hasun.jpg)
![Bringing her arm over her head and taking a quick breath, junior Lauren Lucas swims the final laps of the 500 freestyle at the regionals swimming competition on date. Lucas broke the school’s 18-year-old record for the 500 freestyle at regionals and again at state with a time of 4:58.63. “I’d had my eye on that 500 record since my freshman year, so I was really excited to see if I could get it at regionals or districts,” Lucas said. “ State is always a really fun experience and medaling for the first time was really great. It was a very very tight race, [so] I was a bit surprised [that I medaled]. [There were] a lot of fast girls at the meet in general, [and] it was like a dogfight back and forth, back and forth.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kaydence-2.7-23-edit-2.jpg)
![As her hair blows in the wind, senior Brianna Grandow runs the varsity girls 5K at the cross country district meet last Thursday. Grandow finished fourth in the event and led the varsity girls to regionals with a third place placement as a team. “I’m very excited [to go to regionals],” Grandow said. “I’m excited to race in Corpus Christi, and we get to go to the beach, so that’s really awesome.” Photo by Addison Bruce](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brianna.jpg)
Mastering his Craft
Sophomore Drumline Member Overcomes Odds
Photo Courtesy of CPHS Band SmugMug
Hitting the drum, sophomore Chris Masters performs at halftime during the football game against San Angelo. Masters plans to be the drum captain next season. “I want to be drum captain because past drum captains have taught me a lot about not only drumming, but life in itself,” Masters said.
November 20, 2019
In the spring of 2018, current sophomore Chris Masters stood behind a large crowd of people in the Cedar Park band hall, waiting to see the placements for the coming marching season. Masters had been working nonstop on his technique and his craft, and it all led up to the day he made the snare line as a freshman.
Making the snare line as a freshman is not easy. Hours of dedicated practice go into preparing, and as simple as it sounds, being younger than other band members can affect the final audition scores.
“I didn’t really care what other people thought about me auditioning for snare,” Masters said. “It got to a point where I was so self-concerned with my playing that the only thing that mattered was what I was doing, and not what everyone else was doing.”
Masters has a very strong musical background as he has been making music on a laptop since he was young. His knowledge of music aids his success in band.
“When I was younger I learned a lot of tips and tricks about chord progressions and the build of different chords,” Masters said. “Now that I’m in high school, it’s really easy for me to catch onto music because it is easier for me to read.”
Masters uses any time that he has off from band to continue to improve his mechanics in regards to drumming. Every single day, he practices in hopes of auditioning for the Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, based out of San Antonio.
“This year I want to try out for Crossmen,” Masters said. “I don’t want to try out for a spot. Since I’m young, I want to go to a few audition camps to get more experience in an audition environment before I completely devote myself to a drum corps audition.”
Masters plans to be the drum captain in the Cedar Park band as soon as the 2020 season, which would give him the spot for not only the 2020 season, but the 2021 season as well. With two years left, Masters said that he wants to make an impact on everyone that he gets the opportunity to drum with.
“I want to be drum captain because past drum captains have taught me a lot about not only drumming, but life in itself,” Masters said. “Filling the role that the past drum captains have created for this line is very important to me and I want to carry on the legacy that the ones before me have created over the years.”
![The fire department came to the school after students were evacuated when smoke started coming from the ceiling of a classroom. All students and staff are safe. “All of my friends left their stuff too, so we couldn’t contact our parents, and it was stressful,” senior Brynn Fowler said. “It was scary because I didn’t know [what was going on], and I couldn’t find anyone because it was a big crowd.” Photo by Anthony Garcia](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/firetruck-300x200.jpg)
