The first run of the season. A way to prove who has been grinding in the summer. The hot Texas sun beating down on the runners.
Fifty-five miles away from home, Coppell will be running in the Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational on Saturday. The meet at Lake View Camp starts at 7:00 a.m.
For Coppell cross country coach Landon Wren, it is a chance to prove to the school and his players how much the work over summer really means.
“He has been super supportive of us and the team over the offseason,” senior Jayden Benjamin said. “Even though we lost some of our best runners last year, the preparation for today has been great.”
Losing top runners Henry Henze and Samarth Dubey to graduation, Wren looks forward to new leaders stepping up.
“We are having new leaders step up on both sides of things,” Wren said. “On the girls side Mallory Sherrer has been stepping up and on the guy’s side we have a lot of guys stepping up being role models on the team.”
With the season starting, Coppell wants to make a statement at Waxahachie.
“We are confident in our team and our abilities,” Benjamin said. “We’ve won this meet in the past and the expectation is still to go out and give it our all.”
Coppell competes every Saturday through the District 5-6A Championship on Oct. 11. Some of the highlights include the Hoka/McNeil Invitational on Sept. 21 and the Jesuit Classic on Sept. 28.
With the teams having many runners bumped up from JV and stepping into senior shoes, summer preparation was crucial.
“We had 48 practices that were optional this summer,” Wren said. “Many of our runners showed up and we had attendance numbers in the high 30s and low 40s.”
Wren expects his team to not only get back to state individually, but to improve as a team and make a run at district and then after.
“Of course, last year’s top runners were the best we have seen,” Wren said. “That being said, I expect our depth to be more than it was last year and as a team event, we have a real shot at being really good this year.”
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