The Coppell Cowboys and Cowgirls cross-country teams competed at the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival on Saturday, September 13, facing hot weather and a tough course at Myers Park in McKinney. The challenging conditions made the meet a true test of endurance and provided a valuable opportunity for many of Coppell’s younger runners to gain experience. Despite the heat and hills, several athletes turned in strong performances and showed steady growth with District just weeks away.

Cowboys Highlights

• Varsity Boys Elite – Tanish Neelapu led the way with a strong time of 16:30, finishing 36th overall.
• Varsity Boys Open – Rodrigo Abrego ran his first race of the year and placed 34th in a crowded field.
• JV Elite Boys – Coppell earned 4th place overall, led by standout performances from Rigved Nehere, Abishek Suresh, and Farhan Mohammed.
• JV Boys – Nolan Reeder paced Coppell with a 28th-place individual finish, helping the team to a 6th-place result.

Cowgirls Highlights

• Varsity Girls Elite – Finleigh Sanders was Coppell’s top finisher, placing 56th in 20:26.
• JV Girls – Shrriya Bedse and Vanini Agarwal were Coppell’s top runners in their division.

Coach’s Perspective

Coach Wren reflected, “This was the toughest course to date that we have run. We learned a lot about ourselves. We have a better feel for the importance of training and having a good race plan. The course also challenged us to work on having a tougher mental mindset.

With only two meets left before District, it’s important that we continue to become stronger and smarter runners. I look forward to seeing how our JV runners handle the Lewisville course this week and how the Varsity runners compete against some of the best teams in the state at the Nike meet in College Station.”

Looking Ahead

Next up, Coppell will race at the Lewisville XC meet, where the JV teams will test themselves on a new course. Varsity will then take on some of the toughest competition in Texas at the Nike South Invitational in College Station.

Until next time, Coppell Cross Country will keep pushing forward!

Photo credit: Adrian Holguin

Contact Information
For more details or to support Coppell High School’s Cross-Country team, please contact:
Patricia Chi
chi.patricia@gmail.com
(469) 831-3709