In the dawn of the morning of a meet on grassy terrain, cross country runners assemble at the starting line in tandem, team camaraderie flowing from one another.
Seconds before the whistle blows, Coppell senior cross country runner Henry Henze looks around him and knows he is exactly where he is supposed to be.
Henze embarked on his cross country journey in seventh grade at Coppell Middle School West. However, rather than stopping at middle school, Henze continued the sport in ninth grade after receiving an email about it in the midst of COVID-19.
“I feel like starting cross country in middle school doesn’t count, because if you’re not doing football, you’re just doing that,” Henze said. “I didn’t try very hard, but regardless I ran. I decided to do cross country in ninth grade, because they met in the mornings and it didn’t seem dangerous to do during COVID-19.”
Not enjoying running as an activity due to its taxing nature, Henze found it hard to commit to the sport both physically and mentally during his freshman year. However in his sophomore year, he began to test the limits to see how far he could actually go in the sport.
“I realized in my sophomore year that I can actually do something with myself,” Henze said. “I realized that I was getting faster and as a team we could place in state. That’s when I started trying and the sport started getting more fun.”
A part of that breakthrough were Henze’s upperclassmen during his cross country experience. They inspired him to get out of his shell and showcase his potential.
“All the seniors helped me a lot,” Henze said. “I didn’t feel the need to do the entirety of my runs and in my freshman year I would just run to the woods, sit there and run back. But in my sophomore year, the seniors really started to hype me up and got me into the whole process of running. I definitely would not be the runner I am today if it wasn’t for them.”
One particular senior who Henze looked up to was CHS 2023 graduate and cross country runner Vedanth Bhattacharyya.
“I learned so much from him about running,” Henze said. “He was a great mentor and was like a second coach to me. When Vedant was about to leave he told me, ‘You know you’re going to have to do what I am doing now next year,’ and throughout his senior year, he prepared me to be one of the leaders.”
Bhattacharyya’s headship and guidance aided Henze in building himself as a leader for the team during his own senior year.
“He improved a lot during his junior year and has a lot of commitment to doing things right,” Bhattacharyya said. “In his freshman year, he was a good athlete, but he didn’t have the same kind of drive that he has now. I think our team not doing so well in his sophomore year changed him and was a big growth moment for Henze.”
Not being known as the most verbal person, Henze stepping into the new role of responsibility has propelled him to speak out.
“Henze is one of our best,” cross country coach Landon Wren said. “He has always been a good runner, but now he is learning how to adjust into that leadership role. We’ve got a lot of young people on the team and Henze does a good job of leading by example. He is not a super vocal guy himself, but he is always up to talking to young runners about what they need to be doing and how they could do it better and does it in a way that isn’t demeaning but rather positive.”
Henze knows what it’s like to be in the shoes of a freshman in cross country and uses that perspective to further instruct his peers to be future leaders as well.
“This past year, I have learned what it takes to be fast,” Henze said. “Using that, I’ve tried my best to help others become fast as well. It’s a realization that I have had that I need to step up and put out what I have learned to others.”
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