The Silver Spurs sense of humor just isn’t the same these days. The spirit group still likes to playfully give each other a hard time but the tone isn’t what it was before they guys lost a close friend.
On Oct. 16, Coppell High School experienced a loss that hit close to home for the cross country team and Silver Spurs. Senior Jonah Blackwell committed suicide a few weeks ago at a park in Carrollton.
“The Silver Spurs have all been a lot more careful with what we say to each other,” senior member Brendan Richelet said. “Jonah taught us that you never know what someone might be going through, and you don’t want to say or do something that could be that last little push that leads to drastic measures. We’ve tried supporting each other more and lifting each other up more.”
It came as a shock to all when the news spread, especially to his friends and teammates who always knew Blackwell as a happy-go-lucky kid who always wore a smile. However, the experience and devastating loss the cross country team and the silver spurs all shared brought them closer together and made them stronger as a unit.
Blackwell made many students, friends and teammates realize how special life really is, and in the end, it brought everyone to realize that they are blessed with all of the people they are surrounded with every day.
“I was close to Jonah,” sophomore cross country teammate and friend Noah Freedman said. “His life as well as his loss has made a huge impact on my life. I’ve grown so much closer to my team since the incident and I’ve started being thankful every day for all of the wonderful people around me as well as all of the other little things I’m blessed with.”
The Cross Country coach Roxanne Farris has been supportive of her runners and understanding of what they are going through.
“Every member of the team has been grieving differently,” Farris said. “After it happened, many of the kids put on a smile and tried to get things back to normal.
Cross country runners wore an orange ribbon during their final meets to honor Jonah. Some even wore orange shoes, socks and hats to always have a little piece of him when they run. This also serves as a reminder to run for him every day and never forget the amazing person he was.
“We run for him now,” Freedman said. “Every step is for Jonah to honor him and make him proud of our team.”
Senior Alex Riggs is a former cross country runner who was very close with Blackwell.
“It brought us all closer, especially the cross country team,” Riggs said. “Everyone who was close to him has relied on each other so much to get through this and I can already tell it has made us so much stronger.
Blackwell’s memory, spirit and smile will never fade in the cross country team and Silver Spur’s hearts.
