![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)
Cedar Park’s best and brightest came together on April 18 to face off in the annual talent show sponsored by the Wolfcast. Freshman band member Charlie Hooper came out on top. Senior Raquel Stansbury took second after performing an original song while senior Katie Seesselberg rounded out the top three with a dance solo to “Titanium.”
The diverse range of acts, from singing, dancing, instrument playing, blind folded instrument playing and even stand up comedy posed a challenge to judges AP Biology teacher Brent Grissom, AP English teacher Michelle Iskra and AP Environmental Science teacher Dr. Shannon McPherson.
When it was all said and done, talent show participant and Cedar Park’s resident comedian senior Ben Harral was impressed with the results.
“I respect every person who placed so much,” Harral said.
Second time co-host David Looney was equally excited about the winners.
“Of all the years I’ve done the talent show, this year I was the most pleased with the results,” Looney said.
He and The Wolfcast were especially excited to see Hooper win.
“A lot of us in broadcast were rooting for Charlie,” Looney said. “I thought it was cool a freshmen won because that has never happened before. “
As for the winner himself, who has played violin for the past year six years, was genuinely surprised.
“It was pretty cool,” Hooper said. “I didn’t feel like I was going to win.”
He did have some stiff competition, according to Harral.
“There were so many just legitimately talented kids who performed phenomenally,” Harral said.
One of those kids, second place winner Stansbury wowed the audience with not only her performing skills but also her songwriting.
“I won something, so that was exciting,” Stansbury said. “And winning money reminded me was like getting money from my first gig.”
Stansbury has decided to continue pursuing music. And Hooper, who plays the clarinet and piano along with being an accomplished violinist, plans on defending his title next year.
“I definitely want to be in the talent show again next year,” Hooper said.[imagebrowser id=38]
