On April 13-14, Coppell track experienced a favorable turnout in its District 6-6A Track and Field Meet at Tom Kimbrough Stadium, hosted by Plano East Senior High School.The Coppell boys team emerged as district champions, with the girls team taking second place overall.

After two days of varying weather, Cowgirls junior Megan Judd, sophomore Sedem Buatsi, senior D’aira Green, senior Vedanti Naktode, junior Sky Schuller, sophomore Olivia Kowalski, sophomore Emma Williams, senior Izzy Ortigoza, junior Jalyn Childers, senior Kimberly Obialo, senior Kinley Wojick and sophomore Paris Harper qualified for area, offering the chance to qualify for regionals. Schuller qualified in high jump, long jump, pole vault, 100 hurdles, and 300 hurdles. Judd qualified in high jump, long jump, 4×100 relay, and 4×200 relay. All three relays, the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 qualified.

For Naktode, the results of the two-day meet were bittersweet. 

“[I was] worried that I would be too emotional, as it was potentially my last meet running, and how it would affect my performance,” Naktode said. “Although we got second, every person competed to the best of their ability and I’m super proud of all of them. It just happened to be that Flower Mound out performed us.”

Following a challenging year of losses, the Cowgirls performed their best and finished as district runner-ups with 123 points. According to Coppell girls track coach Landon Wren, the biggest challenge faced was the weather on April 13. 

“We had rain delays, lightning delays as well as high winds,”  Wren said. “Despite the weather delays, the [athletes] performed the best that they have all year.” 

While the Cowgirls finished as District 6-6A runner-ups, the Cowboys left the track as district champions. Both teams advanced to yesterday’s Class 6A Area Track and Field Meet.

Coppell sophomore Baron Tipton, senior Ryan Sewell, junior Andrew Mullen, senior Nathan Shrock, senior Braden Axe, junior Juliano Syre, freshman Mathew Maldima, junior Vedanth Bhattacharya, senior Charles Weber, senior Wesley Arnold and senior Michael Nance advanced to area in their individual events. 

Coppell senior runner Akil Daresalamwala attributed his team’s success to their mindset and confidence when stepping on the track. 

“We knew we had it in us to run faster than [Marcus] and I think running confidently helped us beat them,” Daresalamwala said. 

Last year, the Coppell boys had its five-year district championship streak snapped before regaining the title last week. Daresalamwala hoped to finish his high school career on a positive note. 

“If David Baker, Wesley Arnold and I didn’t qualify for area, it’d be our last meet; so we knew we had to show up,” Daresalamwala said.

All athletes who qualified for area participated in Thursday’s Class 6A Area Track and Field Meet which was hosted by McKinney High School at Ron Poe Stadium, McKinney High School.

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