With the Coppell track and field team’s first two meets canceled due to inclement weather, the team opens its 2021 season by hosting the Coppell Relays tomorrow at Buddy Echols Field, with field events and the 3200m beginning at 1 p.m. 

“Normally by now we start figuring out who our top athletes are,” Coppell coach Karl Pointer said. “We haven’t had that yet. For some of the kids it seems like a continuation of the end of last year, we lost the end of our season and now we’ve lost two meets.”

Over the week, the team has focused on long and short distance running, along with strength training in the weight room.

“The season has changed a lot and has gotten a lot shorter due to the weather and COVID-19,” Coppell senior sprinter Raphael Park said. “We couldn’t go outside with the icy roads and we weren’t able to do much [over the ten-day break]. The only thing we could do was exercise at home or run in the snow.”

Coppell will compete against Flower Mound, Hebron, Marcus, Lovejoy, Prosper, Southlake Carroll and Highland Park on Saturday.

“It’s going to be a big meet,” Pointer said. “[We’ll be able] to see where we are as a team and get some baseline times and marks. We have a lot of new faces and our expectations are high. We want to win district titles and get kids down to state.”

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