Despite some foreboding weather rolling in, and with more in the forecast, the Cougar Cross Country team took on their Coppell rivals on Wednesday evening in the Coppell Zone Meet. Even though Andy Brown West was WET, the action was on fire as all three schools brought their best to compete.
One highlight of the meet was the performance of the Lady Cougars 7th grade teams in both the A and B divisions. In the A race, North placed 6 runners in the first 8 positions; including Jaehee Lee (Champion), Finleigh Sanders-Burk (2nd), Laurel Storey (3rd), Tarusi Aphale (5th), and Allison Lewis (6th). This dominant performance easily locked up the Zone Championship for North. Not to be outdone, the North B team also dominated the race by placing 11 runners in the top 13; led by Taylor Meschner taking first place.
In the 8th grade races, the ladies from North continued their undefeated season with another championship performance. In the A team race, Delanee Mullen led the Cougars to the line finishing in 2nd place overall; followed by Addison Hamm (3rd) and Morgan Proctor (5th). And to top it all off, North's entire A team squad all finished in the Top 10 to seal the deal! And much like the 7th grade team, the 8th grade B race was also dominated by the Lady Cougars with Rin Kikuchi (2nd), Harper Thompson (3rd), and Amy Chi (4th) showing the way around the course.
On the boys side, North was looking to avenge previous defeats to both East and West in this Zone Meet. When the 7th grade team took the line, they knew they had pushed East last week and came up just short. So how would this week go? And once again, East and West had some strong runners push to the front, but the East Broncos ended up holding off the Cougars once again. Despite placing six A team runners in the top 13 overall, including Subaru Tokita, Tomas Morales, Emiliano Noyola-Garcia, and Dylan Alanso, North was left looking ahead to one last chance to beat East in next week's final meet of the season. In the B division, North was led by Siddhanth Rawat (5th) and Johnathan Anderson (7th) to also finish in second place as a team.
And in the 8th grade boys' races, the Cougar runners put forth a good effort, but weren't able to overcome their CISD rivals. In the A race, North was led by a determined effort from Raaghav Muralidaran staying with the lead pack and finishing in 6th place overall. And in the B division, Pearson Brown was the Cougars top runner finishing in 5th.
Up next- North will compete once again at Andy Brown West next Wednesday to challenge for the DISTRICT title at the Meet of Champions. They will face off against the A division runners from the other 6 teams; hoping to bring home a title or two to North as they wrap up this 2023 Cross Country season. Best of luck to all the athletes!
#GoCougars
