When the districts are announced, the room will become a frenzy of frantic phone calls and preseasons scheduling to be sure their teams get the best chance to shine.

Every two years, just as teams have began to get used to their powerhouse opponents and bitter rivalries, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) releases new district realignments based on school size and locations.

Coppell High School is returning to its former “Lewisville district” with Flower Mound, Flower Mound Marcus, Lewisville, Hebron and Denton Ryan. Coppell was a part of this district two years ago.

“The district is tough, and the region is tougher,” volleyball coach Julie Green said. “There are a lot of good teams, but that it is good for us because we will have to compete every game. Overall, it is a tougher district for all sports.”

Many of these teams have been playoff contenders in the past few years. Hebron’s volleyball team won the Class 5A state championship in 2010 and made to the regional quarterfinals in 2011, also their football team made it into one round of playoffs before the being defeated by Denton Guyer. Hebron’s’ basketball teams also made it to the regional quarterfinals in 2011.

“The new district is going to make it a lot harder for us, but we are really fortunate to have gotten this year of experience under us because it is going to be difficult,” girls basketball coach Nicole Collins said. “Hebron, Flower Mound and Lewisville are all very solid teams.”

Flower Mound Marcus also has impressive district standings as they are consistently ranked top three in most sports, including volleyball and football. The Cowgirls defeated Marcus in the 2011 regional finals.
Many have written off Lewisville as a weak component in most sports, but its boys soccer team will be strong competition for the Cowboys as both teams are ranked first in their district.

Rumors were spreading Coppell High School would be placed amongst the athletic powerhouses of McKinney Boyd, Plano and Allen. The results, though still very surprising, were different than expected and will be a challenge for CHS sports.

“District play is always difficult,” football coach Joe McBride. “Our standards and expectations are to be first in district every time, but even if we’re not, we always strive to be one of the top four teams. There are no easy teams.”

Perhaps the biggest and most surprising change in this years realignment, is the separation CHS’s long time rival, Southlake Carroll.

“Southlake is a fun rivalry, but they are more of a distraction than anything else, because the match becomes so personal,” Green said. ”I am fine with them not being in it because it allows us to focus. Every game counts regardless of the teams we are playing.”

The football coaches and players hoped to be able to continue the rivalry with a preseason matches, but as the schedule stands now the Cowboys will only get to play the Dragons if they make it to playoffs.
“I would have loved to play Southlake again this season and I wish we could, but because of scheduling and the way the districts fell we will not be playing them,” McBride said.

Even without both the Cowgirls volleyball team and the Cowboys football team will have challenging preseasons. The Cowboys preseason will consist of Longview, McKinney Boyd, Rockwall, Garland and Allen.
The Cowgirls will play Lovejoy, Richardson Pearce, McKinney Boyd and Arlington as some of their preseason matches. All of these team made impressive showings in the 2011 playoffs with Lovejoy winning the Class 3A state championship, Pearce playing in the Class 4A state championship match, McKinney Boyd playing the Cowgirls in the Class 5A state championship match and Arlington making it to the regional tournament.

“We are going up against a lot of really hard teams in our preseason, but I think it will be good for us to face hard competition before going into the district season,” junior wide receiver Henry Busch said.

Photos by Rachel Bush

For the Coppell High School baseball program, disappointment has summarized its past few seasons. With over 15 Division I recruits in the past five years, the team has failed to progress deep in the playoffs.

However, with the hiring of new coach Kendall Clark, the team has every intention of winning this year’s state championship.

“Coach Clark brings a lot to the team, especially as he won the state championship in 2008,” senior centerfielder Craig Aikin said. “He knows what it takes to get down to Round Rock and win the state championship. And that really is what our goal has always been. We do not care about just winning district, we do not care about just winning in our region, we want it all with a state championship. With Coach Clark, the entire team believes we can do that.”

As head coach at Plano West since 2006, Clark led the Wolves to the regional semifinals in 2007, a state title in 2008 and the state semifinals in 2010.

“Moving from Plano to Coppell has not been about comparisons and comparing my new team to my old one,” Clark said. “Everyday is just about taking the team on the field and leaving it better than we were when we stepped out on it. If we focus on that, we will be able to do great things this year and hopefully win it all.”

The Cowboys are hoping the hiring of Clark will lead to a more successful post season resulting in a championship.

“Coach Clark comes in this year with an already outstanding coaching record, and we plan to add to that this season,” junior pitcher and first baseman Austin Gardner said. “He already has made a huge impact this year with more purposeful practices. I am hoping that his experience in the playoffs can help us as a team reach the next step, and that is a state title.”

The players also recognize their own responsibility this year.

“A good coach can take you far, but we have individual roles to do too,” junior infielder Tyler Jones said. “To improve our playoff performance we need to not get ahead of ourselves. Everyone needs to focus on the game at hand and do their job, not attempting a home run every at bat or trying to be the hero.”

The Cowboys begin preparing for the regular season with scrimmages against schools including Prosper, Birdville, Wylie, Plano East and Grapevine.

“Last year the team may have gotten a little ahead of itself and I think it looked too forward at the big games that we would get titles for,” Jones said. “One thing we are fixing our mindsets on is focusing on one game at a time, obviously winning them all. This includes all of the preseason scrimmages.”

The team hopes treating every game like it is the most important will help them not only win more games, but also lead the district. Last year the team finished second behind Southlake Carroll, but with new and strong starters, the team is a competitor for the district title.

“This year I believe we will be really strong,” Aikin said. “Though we lost seven starting seniors from last year, we still have our pitching staff so we should be good. We match up pretty well in district. The other teams have good pitching staffs but I think that ours should be the best in our district for sure. “

Though losing valuable starting players including Adam Toth, Matthew Kaskow, Tyler Hernandez, Sam Swinton, Lawrence Hernandez and Campbell Cooper, the team has more returning varsity teammates who are filling the vacated positions with quality talent.

“Filling the shoes of someone as good as last year’s seniors is going to be really tough,” junior catcher Matt Delaney said. “Luckily for me, Campbell taught me a lot while he was here. So did the other guys. We all have been working hard to make sure we uphold the tradition teammates before us have started.”

The players said they will continue to present the same caliber of talent that CHS baseball is recognized for.

“The teams in the past years have had really high goals, but have all fallen short,” senior pitcher and first baseman Connor Foltyn said. “This year, we are returning our top starters and this is key for the playoff run. This should bring some experience into the game and give us an advantage.  We think our top starters can match up with anyone in the state and we will lean on them and their leadership to win games this season.”

One of these key players includes Aikin.

“Craig is a great player and he is great to be around,” Gardner said. “He can make the difference for our team in any game, with one swing of the bat he can change a game. As a pitcher I especially appreciate Craig because he can chase down balls in center that I have never seen caught before. He is a great player.”

The team is aware that in order to win as big as it wants, it is going to take more than just one. With both strong junior and senior classes, this year will prove to be an exciting one.

“The support we had last year really helped us push through the season,” Gardner said. “We really would appreciate a large fan base this year. They will make all the difference when it comes down to crucial games.”

[View with PicLens]

Fresh off of a state championship for the third season in a row, the Coppell Cowboys lacrosse team has begun practice, and will be playing its first game Feb. 17 against Episcopal Houston School.

Coppell Lacrosse practices at Leslie Field to prepare for their game against Episcopal Houston School on Feb. 17. Photo by Jack Ficklen.

Much like the state champion volleyball team, CLAX will be starting the season with a new coach, Alex Poole, who played college lacrosse at Maryland. Poole’s eight years of coaching experience will be complemented by former player and coach of the University of Virginia, Joe Thompson.  Thompson was the Cavaliers team captain in 2005 when they lost in the Final Four in an overtime game against eventual championship winner Johns Hopkins.

This year’s team is made up of 10 seniors, four juniors and three sophomores including second-year goalie Johnathan Ferree, who, as a freshman, stood in goal for the team’s third consecutive state championship.

Last year, the team moved up to Division I competition after previous success in Division II and took it by storm, making it all the way to the championship where they dominated competition. With the end of the 2011 season, came the end of several key seniors’ seasons, including Brandon Mullins and Tyler Landis, who are now playing college lacrosse. Senior captain Zane Zoda is confident, though.

“It is not going to be as easy as last season,” Zoda said. “But we are going to work hard and make something out of this season.”

Poole sees potential in this year’s squad.

“There is some tremendous leadership at each grade level,” Poole said.

Though not a captain, sophomore Johnathan Ferree will be leading the team’s defense and standing in goal. Ferree has been playing lacrosse for six years and has stood in goal since day one.

“Johnathan is fantastic,” Poole said. “He started as a freshman on varsity and won a Division I state championship which is almost unheard of in Texas lacrosse.”

Chase Porter, Austin Watters and Ethan Evans are senior captains who will be leading Coppell’s midfield. Zoda is the only captain on the defensive end, and junior Henry Busch will be leading Coppell’s attack line.

“We have a lot of seniors who kind of got overshadowed by last year’s seniors,” Ferree said, “Four of our captains were juniors last year who didn’t get to play much behind the seniors, and now they have stepped up and become captains.”

Lacrosse has been a consistently produced winning seasons, and with strong leadership from new coaches and new seniors, and the Cowboys hope they can continue their streak at the state tournament.

Every student has their niche – something they enjoy and makes them feel a part of something. Some students sing, produce artwork or play a sport while others choose to run 13.1 miles.

Senior Rachael Swaldi and 2011 CHS graduate Jessie Ross run the White Rock half-marathon. Photo courtesy Rachael Swaldi

The reasons students choose to run a half-marathon vary greatly. Some are merely checking it off a list of life goals, while others seek to prove to themselves that they can go the distance. No matter the reason, it all pays off in the same way: an incredible sense of accomplishment that may never be matched.

Senior Connor Wilcox did not have an extensive running history before she ran the White Rock half-marathon last December.

“My first day of training I ran two and a half miles, the farthest I had ever run at one time,” Wilcox said. “It’s good to prove to yourself that you can do anything you want to if you’re willing to put the work in.”

Wilcox chose to run the marathon because she knew she was capable of more than she thought possible. She says that even though it is a huge task, it pays off in the end.

“I was inspired to run a marathon because I knew my body could do more than my mind thought I could, and I wanted to prove myself right,” Wilcox said. “It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do but you can do it. Every day of training is so worth it when you reach the finish line.”

For others, however, the motivation for taking on such a huge task was for the sense of personal accomplishment. Senior Rachael Swaldi set a goal last year to train for a half-marathon. It made for quite a challenge since she wasn’t much of a runner before hand.

“I was never a big runner, and certainly never the fastest.” Swaldi said. “I had run a few 5Ks before, like the Turkey Trot, but never anything close to 13.1 miles. My main goal was to finish something; to set a goal, and accomplish it, while helping myself by regularly exercising.“

The hardest part of running a marathon, or in Swaldi’s case a half-marathon, may not be the running of the race itself. It takes months of training, conditioning and preparation to run such a large distance.

“The keys to successfully training for a marathon are to create a running schedule where you slowly build up to the race distance,” Swaldi said. “You have to stick to your schedule, which was a problem I encountered, and eat healthy and drink lots of water.”

Swaldi believes that it is important for students to do something like running a marathon both for the health benefits as well as the immense sense of accomplishment.

“It’s important for [students] to train and complete in marathons because it’s a great way to stay healthy,” Swaldi said. “Also, once you have completed a marathon, the feeling you get after accomplished something so monumental is overwhelming and amazing.”

For Swaldi, running the half-marathon was exceptionally rewarding.

“The sense of accomplishment was indescribable,” Swaldi said. “I was overwhelmed with happiness, excitement, and I was proud of myself for accomplishing something I never thought I would be able to.”

Mary Ann Calvio, a running coach from RunOn! in Coppell, has been running marathons and other races for several years and helps clients, including students, to train for races as well.

“We see numerous students, the majority are either doing 5K or track at their school,” Calvio said.

Calvio believes that the benefits of running endurance races, such as marathons, go far beyond the health benefits, and even more so for young people.

“Training for a marathon is not only about training the body but it’s about commitment and being disciplined to the workout schedule,” Calvio said. “If you are able to commit to the training schedule, I truly believe it teaches individuals of all ages, especially young people, how to see and value life. It is such a great feeling to know that you finish a marathon, you learn a lot about yourself and what your body is capable of.”

Calvio thinks training to run an endurance race is not just a matter of running a lot and increasing one’s stamina. It is maintaining the internal drive to complete the task at hand and not giving up.

“Every runner that has ran a marathon will tell you that you will always have a training run that you question yourself, ‘what am I doing?” Calvio said.

Calvio also sees in each individual that everyone has a different motivator for running.

“Each individual is different, what drives one person is totally opposite to the next one,” Calvio said. “Many people do it as a way to stay healthy and lose weight. Some do it to raise money for a love one that has a sickness. Other people see it a challenge or something that is in their bucket list that they want to do in life.”

Running is a catalyst for discipline and as a way to form new relationships. Many people rely on running as a stress manager, and keep running through much of their lives.

“Running means a lot of things to different people; running has taught people to be disciplined, others to learn how to manage life, training and family. Running affords you the opportunity to makes friends everywhere you go,” Calvio said. “For me, running is a part of my life and I hope to be doing for a very long time.”

Every two years, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) realigns the state’s athletic districts. This morning, Coppell was placed in District 5-5A with some familiar foes.

Distrct 5-5A
Coppell
Denton Ryan
Lewisville
Lewisville Flower Mound
Lewisville Hebron
Lewisville Marcus

Coppell is currently in District 7-5A with Southlake Carroll, Keller, Keller Fossil Ridge, Keller Central, Denton Guyer, Saginaw and Justin Northwest.

The traditional rivalry between Coppell and Southlake Carroll will not occur in district play in the new alignment. However, the school is in Region I along with Coppell and they could go head-to-head in the playoffs or non-district play. Additional realigned districts and regions can be found here.

David Busby, Nick jordan, Jake Larson and Sam Rice committed to play college football on national signing day. Photo by Ivy Hess.

By Sammy Robben
Sports Editor

For many seniors across the country, today marked the day that their high school athletic careers would end and their collegiate future would begin. Both boys and girls soccer committed, as well as four of the CHS varsity football players.

Among the football signees, were Sam Rice (SMU), David Busby (North Texas), Jake Larson (University of Texas at El Paso) and Nick Jordan (University of Texas).

The Coppell soccer program had a number of signees including Kasey Johnson (Al, Birmingham), Jackie Moreau (North Texas), Lindsey Meyer (Texas) and Cassidy Spriggs (Northeastern). The boys soccer program had Will Simmons (John Brown), Phillip Ellis (St. Edwards) and Adam Bonville (St. Edwards).

These players have had a major impact on the athletics programs here at CHS, and are sure to do so as they continue to their college teams.