Sports Editor

Last season, the Cowboys advanced to the third round of playoffs before losing to Arlington in a 31-29 heartbreaker. Still smarting from the loss, the Cowboys hope to capitalize on its returning talent to make an even further playoff push this season.

Yesterday, the team had its annual spring game to showcase its progress before the season. The first squad offense played against the first squad defense, and the second squad offense played against the second squad defense.

The purpose of the spring game is to give fans a glimpse of the team’s new talent. While not as strongly attended as regular season Coppell games, there was still a sizeable crowd by the time the game got underway.

Many were there to see Coppell’s new quarterback, junior Joe Minden, who got little playing time last season. His presence—or lack thereof—on the field will dictate Coppell’s play in the regular season.

So far, it seems Minden is an able candidate to replace last year’s quarterback, Hayden Hawk. He seems like a strong leader, focused on team chemistry above all else, and has the building blocks (size, speed) of a great passer.

His play last evening was more mixed. Even though he was wearing a different-colored jersey (which signified he could only be hit above the waist, to avoid injury), Minden was jumpy in the pocket, often dropping back too far or throwing off his back foot. Much of this can be attributed to jitters—the pressure associated with first-string quarterbacking is a very real consideration—but the coaching staff will need to build Minden’s confidence before season’s beginning.

Minden will have plenty of help from his teammates in this. The entire offensive line from last year’s team is returning. Last season, the offensive line was the team’s Achilles Heel. No longer.

“Last season gave the O line a lot more confidence, which will help with the run and pass game,” Minden said. “They’re tough and mature, and know what it takes to play of Varsity.”

Coppell’s star running back, junior Cam McDaniel, is also returning. McDaniel will be a valuable asset to the team, both in his powerful running ability (a lifesaver as Minden gets accustomed to his role as a passer) and not inconsiderable leadership skills.

The last of the team’s returning talent isn’t a player at all: head coach Joe McBride is finally settled at CHS. Expect to see the full force of his coaching talent at work this season, because he can spend less time forging relationships and expectations (the goal of any first-year coach) and more for on-field strategy.

“You have to respect what [McBride] did last year,” McDaniel said. “Our run in playoffs last season was one of the greatest achievements in Coppell’s history. We understand that, but we have to build on that.”

In order to build on last year’s successes, the team will need to mesh as a unit, and pull its own weight.

“Last year’s team was great, but it’s gone now,” McDaniel said. “It’s up to us to carry on the legacy.”

                “I was disappointed because I felt like we had an opportunity to win both games in the series,” senior captain and left fielder Zane Feemster said. “Not many people gave us a chance this year so I am proud we made a run.”

                The Cowboys swept Grapevine in the bi-district playoffs to vindicate last season’s lost to the Mustangs.  In both games the Cowboys had clutch hitting and great pitching, especially from junior pitcher Sam Swinton who gave up only two hits in Game 2.

                “We just had some clutch hits in the first series against Grapevine that helped us win,” senior third baseman Parker Hutchins said. “We still had some timely hitting in the South Grand Prairie series but when we needed it the clutch hits didn’t happen.”

                The Cowboys accomplished the most during the team’s district campaign where they finished second behind Flower Mound.  In the parity filled District 6-5A, the Cowboys were not viewed as a team that could compete with the likes of Flower Mound, Southlake Carroll and Flower Mound Marcus.

                “Our team was predicted to finish fourth in the district and lose in the first round,” Swinton said. “I think we did pretty well this season and beat the critics expectations.”

                Before district play however, the team was looking for wins and an identity.  The Cowboys were playing talented teams and although they were not winning games, the team figured out that the strong suit of the 2010 Cowboys would be offense.

                “Early in the year we would lose close games to good teams because we were making small mistakes every game,” Hutchins said. “We did a good job identifying those mistakes and resolving them when district came around.”

                The Cowboys certainly had some entertaining ball games this year.  When the team played Flower Mound at home, a quick start for both teams resulted in 32 total runs between the teams by the end of the game.  Another memorable game came against the Southlake Carroll Dragons, whom Coppell beat at Southlake 9-4 to further secure the Cowboys playoff fate.  This important win also gave the Cowboys a tiebreaker over the Dragons, which enabled them to finish second in district.

                The re-districting for next year will no doubt affect the Cowboys baseball team.

                “The team we have to really watch out for is Southlake,” junior captain and shortstop Adam Toth said. “Southlake vs. Coppell in baseball will have a chance to be a pretty big rivalry.”

                Although the Cowboys were unable to escape the second round of the playoffs, the team returns seven starters and has a great opportunity to win district and make a deep playoff run.  Toth recently went on an unofficial visit to the University of Texas for baseball, so the talent and leadership Toth exhibits will be key to next years Cowboys state chances.

                “The taste of losing hopefully will spark a fire in next year’s team and the players who were a part of this year,” Feemster said. “Only one team can win state a year, but I don’t see any reason why Coppell can’t be that team.”

Staff Writer

Photo by Frances Ruiz

The 2009 Cowboys baseball team was unable to live up to their expectations of being ranked first overall in the state last season, as they were eliminated from the state playoffs after the first round.

One year later, Coppell was able to do what they could not the year before in beating Grapevine in the first round of the postseason to move on to round two.

Coppell won the best of three series in two games, with the clinching game coming on Friday night at Grapevine 2-0. Junior starting pitcher Sam Swinton was exceptional in his first career playoff start on varsity, going all seven innings without allowing a run.

Coppell beat Grapevine 9-6 on Thursday night in Game 1 as well, making a third and deciding game unnecessary for the Cowboys to move on. Had a third game been needed, Coppell would have had home field advantage.

The Cowboys were able to earn two commanding wins on the road in the series, making their series win all the more impressive.

Coppell will play South Grand Prairie next week in their second round matchup.

All-State Junior Midfielder Nate Hruby, 12, takes a shot over three Plano West players.

After a great weekend and being named Regional Champions, Coppell boys lacrosse team is now heading for their chance for a back to back state champions this coming weekend May 8 to May 9.

On May 1, the Cowboys played the Highland Park DII team and easily won 12-2. After being ahead 10-1 in the first half, Cowboys mainly played defense in the second in order to keep a high lead over the Scotts. Goals were made by juniore Trent Dennington, Preston Allison, Tyler Landis and Nate Hruby.

After beating the Scotts, Coppell played Plano West on May 2 for the regional finals. The score was 10-5 with goals made by juniors

Juniors Preston Allison, left, Goalie Conner Yingling, right, and Defenseman Brandon Mullins, back, celebrate after winning the North District II championship against Plano West May 2. .

Dennington, Allison, Landis, Alec Lucas and Senior Hayden Hawk. While the score was not as bad as against the Scotts, the Cowboys guaranteed them a shot to defend their State title in the following weekend of May 8-9.

As of today, location, time and opponents have yet to be determined but semifinals will be played on May 8 in Dallas, Tx. Check this website later in the week for accurate information.

Sports Editor

Last Saturday, the nationally-ranked Coppell softball team took on Keller Fossil Ridge in the first round of playoffs at Byron Nelson High School. The Cowgirls won the matchup 10-0.

Despite the easy victory, the Cowgirls took little for granted during the game. They came out determined to improve their hitting, which has been hot and cold all season long.

“We had to step it up at the plate,” senior infielder Peyton Moseley said. “We needed to play as a team and win as a team.”

This goal was especially difficult because Keller’s pitcher sent a few new looks their way.

“We really had to adjust to their different pitching,” Moseley said.

The Cowgirls made the necessary adjustments quickly, though, and ran away with the ballgame.

Senior shortstop Marisa Malazzo, a signee with the University of Kansas, was an especially potent offensive weapon for the Cowgirls. Malazzo was 3-for-4 at the plate; she had an inside-the-park homerun and four RBIs to her credit on the night.

Coppell’s defense—its best asset on the season—was also on display. Senior pitcher Laura Ramos, herself a signee at the University of Texas at El Paso, struck out eight and only allowed two hits on the night, none for scores.

“Laura Ramos and [senior] Rachel Forshaw did a great job as a pitcher-catcher combo,” head softball coach Katie Krug said.

The Cowgirls, ranked second in the state, will advance to the second round of play against Plano High School. The game will be played May 8.

The Coppell and Flower Mound softball teams both entered Friday nights game with one district loss and looking for a district title.

In the first matchup of these two state ranked teams Flower Mound rallied with two outs in the seventh to take a 2-1 win. This time though with the district crown on the line the Cowgirls were the ones needing a rally in the seventh inning. The cowgirls went to bat in the seventh down by a run, but following back to back singles by Alicia Van Winkle and Lindsay Zabojnik, Marisa Malazzo hit a two run triple to give the Cowgirls the 4-3 win.

The win wraps up a strong regular season for the cowgirls and gives them the number one seed out of district 6-5A as they look forward to the playoffs. Coppell (29-2, 9-1) are currently the fifth-ranked team in the state and 21 in the latest USA Today national rankings. The other local teams ranked nationally that should provide the Cowgirls the most trouble in the playoffs are Frisco Wakeland at seven and Keller at ten.

Staff Writer

Jinny Kim is moving on to regionals, but her play was not enough to lead the Cowgirls to a district title

The 2010 season ended in a disappointing fashion for the Coppell girls golf team, as it finished fifth in the district tournament and failed to grasp a berth to regionals.

The District 6-5A Tournament took place on April 14-15 at Bridlewood course and 10 teams competed in it. The six schools sent their A-teams to the tournament  and the B teams from Southlake Carroll, Hebron, Marcus, and Coppell also attended. Southlake Carroll’s A team won the tournament overall, with Marcus finishing second.

Coppell had gone into the tournament with their eyes on qualifying for the regional tournament as a team, but it was unable to claim one of the top two necessary spots to earn berth.  

Golf coach Kirk Richardson remains happy with the season, although the district tournament did not end with the results he had hoped for.

“I was hoping for us to obviously get first in district and have the team qualify to go to regionals,” Richardson said. “[The biggest issue was] us being young. We usually did well in the first nine holes, and we were either leading or tied for the lead both days. We fell apart on the back nine.”

Although the season is over for most of the Cowgirl golfers, Coppell will have one representative at the Class 5A Region I Tournament on April 21-22 in Lubbock in senior Jinny Kim. Kim is one of the top two performers in the district tournament among those that did not play on a qualifying team.

Kim led Coppell by shooting a 73 on the first day and 75 on the second day, good for three over for the tournament. She finished third overall amongst district competition, only behind Carly Reagans of Marcus and Brianna Murray of Southlake Carroll.

“This being my senior year, I had wanted to do well and go to regionals,” Kim said. “I thought that we would do better as a team, though. We have a really hard district and we didn’t play as well as we needed to.”

Despite falling short of a trip to Lubbock, the Cowgirls have reason to be encouraged by their chances to contend next year. Junior Lauren Murphy, freshman Tiffany Breitenwischer and sophomore Aja Zarrehparvar all had strong seasons as varsity golfers this year, and several players excelling this season on junior varsity will be moved up next season.

The new blood, along with the individual successes of the returning varsity players, has the Cowgirls excited for 2011.

“I was happy with all of our individual scores, and I just wish that we did better [in the standings],” Murphy said. “I expect Lexi [Kearney] and Tori Cliff will come up to varsity next year and hopefully be able to contribute right away.”

Gallery by Tyler Morris
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On the night of April 5, the Coppell lacrosse team played St. Francis Xavier High School from the Alberta providence in Canada and won 14-3.

Like the past seven games, Coppell dominated the other team. Goals were made by Hayden Hawk, Preston Allison, Tyler Landis, Nate Hruby, and Trent Dennington.

For the past two years, Coppell has had a chance to play teams from Canada for different competition. St. Francis schedule a week in Texas to play lacrosse teams for practice and tough competition. The Canadians are schedule to play Jesuit on Thursday April 8 and Plano West on Friday April 9.

As Coppell lacrosse keeps dominating their opponents, there are still five more games until playoffs begin. Coppell plays their third district game this Friday against Plano West at Parish High School.

Come support Coppell lacrosse as they make their way to an undefeated season.

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This win leaves the Cowboys with a record of 5-0, with wins against Southlake, Episcopal Houston, Kingwood and Plano East.

“I thought we played well, our defense stepped up and dominated most of the game and executed our clears well” senior Hayden Hawk said. “Offensively we played well in the first half and were able to exploit their weaknesses. It’s nice to pick up another win against a D1 team to keep our momentum rolling.”

The Cowboys will take on St. Francis Xavier Monday, April 5, in hopes of making a 6-0  record.

“I think if we play to our potential, we can determine how far we go this season,” Hawk said.

To keep up with the Coppell Varsity Lacrosse team and their season, click here.

Photos by Tyler Morris

The Coppell Cowgirls dream of repeating as state 5-A champs ended Tuesday night in Hebron.  The girls lost 2-1 to McKinney Boyd in regulation in a very hard fought game.  McKinney Boyd is the top team in the state and are a staggering 25-0-3.

The Cowgirls only goal was a header scored by Stanford signee Chioma Obogagu to light the scoreboard up first.  The Lady Broncos Emily Reid, who is an Oklahoma commit, came down after a botched Coppell corner kick and made an amazing goal that left Coppell fans and teammates staggered.  At halftime the game was tied at 1-1 and still the Cowgirls believed that they could win.

“Everyone on the field felt like we could get [the lead] back soon,” senior defender Spayne Avant said. “We just tried to fight throughout the game.”

Coppell had multiple chances in the second half to take the lead against the best team they had played this year.  However, the Cowgirls could not capitalize and eventually ended up giving up the game winning goal with less than fifteen minutes left in the game.  The Cowgirls could not score in the final minutes and eventually lost.  The team had higher expectations for this season but unfortunately they fell short.

“It was a disappointing way to finish the year and I wish we could’ve played better in the game,” junior captain Danielle Herubin said. “Either way we would’ve met them during the postseason and they just played better to win.”

However disappointing this finish is, the Cowgirls were undefeated in district play and for the most part lived up to their pre-season hype of being the number one ranked team in the nation.  The team will have many bright spots returning next year, including Herubin, junior Bear Bass, Obogagu, and sophomore Lindsey Meyer.  With this talented core of productive players, the Cowgirls should be able to build off of this challenge and be title contenders next season as well.  For the Cowgirls to be successful they will need to have short memories of their game against McKinney Boyd.

“I am still shocked that we lost,” Herubin said. “We need to honor our seniors during the offseason and work extremely hard to get back to playing our best.”

For Coppell seniors, their state championship last season will be their everlasting memory of high school soccer, but not winning their senior year is a tough pill to swallow.  For many seniors continuing to play at the next level in college, the bad taste left in their mouth should motivate them to work hard in the summer and prepare for a productive freshman year.

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