GAMES
RANKINGS
Dragon Cross Country Teams Are Invitational Champs
Results from the Week of September 21st
VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY
9/26 at Providence Classical
Boys 1st •• Girls 1st
The Cooper Cross Country teams competed at the Providence Classical HS Invitational on Saturday. With the best running weather of the season to date, both boys' and girls' teams performed exceptionally well, bringing home the championship trophies once again.
Leading the boys was senior Will McDermott, who finished in first place on a tough grassy course, with a season-best of 16:28. "We know Will has more in the tank," Head Coach George Dohner said. "Will finished more than 30 seconds ahead of the other competitors, which makes it hard to run your race without anyone pushing you."
The rest of the boys' team ran to their fitness level with six of the 12 varsity runners posting PRs (personal records). Junior Vishnu Swaminathan broke the 17-minute mark for the first time, finishing 2nd at 16:59. Senior Zac Winton finished in fourth place at 17:19. Junior Drew Wilkerson and freshman Grey Mendenhall rounded out the team scoring in 13th and 15th place. "The boys had a great week of training and we were really excited to see the boys perform at a level we knew they were capable of," Dohner said.
The girls' team also finished in first place, narrowly edging out Pasadena Memorial by only 13 points. Senior Katie Drake lead the team with a fourth-place finish followed by sophomore Megan Day in fifth. Junior Rebecca Melin is continuing to make improvements and finished in ninth place. A surprising spark came from freshman Ava Perugini running her first 5k race. Perugini finished in 11th place posting an impressive 22:41. "We are so happy to see Ava out there running. She is our only freshman running moving up from our Middle School team. She is certainly going to help us down the road," Dohner said. Junior Amber Navarra ran her best race of the season to round out the scorers in in 14th and was following by Chloe Smith in 15th. Cooper had six medalist in the Top 15 which was a good showing for the team.
Boys – 1st Place Team Champion
Will McDermott – 1st place (16:28) photo: JCSmcdermott.jpg
Vishnu Swaminathan – 2nd Place (16:59 - PR)
Zac Winton – 4th Place (17:19 - PR)
Drew Wilkerson - 13th Place (18:05)
Grey Mendenhall – 15th Place (18:07 - PR)
Girls Varsity – 1st Place Team Champion
Katie Drake – 4th Place (21:06) photo: JCSdrake.jpg
Megan Day – 5th Place (21:11)
Rebecca Melin – 9th Place (22:24)
Ava Perugini – 11th Place (22:41 – PR)
Amber Navarra – 14th Place (23:22)
Chloe Smith – 15th Place (23:24)
Sofia Gilroy – 17th Place (23:50 - PR)
Next up for Dragon Cross Country:
Oct. 3 hosts Cooper Dragon Invitational, Burroughs Park, 8 a.m.
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL
9/21 vs. Cypress Christian • 3-0 W
9/22 at Northland Christian • 3-0 W
9/24 at Rosehill Christian
no results
9/25-26 at FAST TOURNAMENT
no results
Next up for Dragon Volleyball:
Sept. 29 vs. Incarnate Word, 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 30 vs. Conroe High School, 6 p.m. SENIOR NIGHT
VARSITY FOOTBALL
Next up for Dragon Football:
Oct. 2 vs. Lutheran South, 7 p.m. SENIOR NIGHT
Photo by VYPE Media's Bradley Collier.
UIL Realignment Introduces New DFW School, Affects Rivalries & More
Thousands of Texas communities were affected by the 2020-2022 UIL Realignment, and Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex high schools were among them. Check out five things to know about Monday's football announcement.
No. 1 Out-of-Town Guests: San Angelo Central may not be on area teams' district schedules anymore, but that's not preventing other out-of-towners from matching up with local squads in late regular season games during the 2020 and 2021 football seasons. We start in 10-6A, with Tyler Lee charging from East Texas to play Dallas Skyline, Mesquite ISD (Mesquite, Mesquite Horn and North Mesquite) and Rockwall ISD (Rockwall and Rockwall-Heath). The neighboring 11-6A will feature Waco schools' (Waco and Waco Midway) trips to Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lake Ridge, Mansfield and Waxahachie in league play. Other notable out-of-market opponents are Abilene Cooper in 3-5A Division I, John Tyler and Longview in 7-5A Division I and Waco University in 5-5A Division II.
No. 2 Allen & Plano Part Ways: Allen and Plano are separated by 7.2 miles, so it's not a surprise that their high schools were longtime competitors in the same UIL football district. But, that will change for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Allen will team up with Aubrey Braswell, Denton Guyer, Little Elm, McKinney, McKinney Boyd and Prosper in 5-6A, while Plano ISD schools (Plano, Plano East and Plano West) have planned battles with Coppell, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Flower Mound Marcus and Hebron in 6-6A action. If you're wondering about the future of the Allen/Plano East rivalry, it's expected to be played as the teams' season opener the next two years.
No. 3 Private Power Faces New Tests: Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas is one of the two UIL private school members and has found vast success in the league since it joined in the early 2000s. The Rangers are coming off an impressive 2019 playoff run to the UIL 6A Division II Region II Final, but have new challenges for the 2020 and 2021 seasons. As a member of 9-6A the last two years, they played Allen, McKinney, McKinney Boyd, Plano, Plano East, Plano West and Prosper. Now, they will make the move to 7-6A and battle Irving ISD (Irving, Irving MacArthur, Irving Nimitz) and Richardson ISD (Lake Highlands, Richardson, Richardson Berkner and Richardson Pearce).
No. 4 New Kid On The Block: Collin County has grown enough to give another one of its communities a high school. The Rock Hill Blue Hawks will kickoff their varsity sports district competition against fellow 7-5A Division II members Denison, Frisco, Frisco Lebanon Trail, Frisco Liberty, Frisco Memorial, Lake Dallas, Lucas Lovejoy and Princeton.
No. 5 Get Your Maps Ready: Denton and Denton Ryan will move from Region I to Region II in 5A Division I and Duncanville saw a similar transition from 6A Region I to 6A Region II, so they will have different playoff paths for the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
For more sports coverage, follow Thomas (@Texan8thGen) and VYPE (@VYPEDFW) on Twitter.
Looking to get more involved? Check out ShopVYPE for fresh gear that supports local schools and the VYPE U Ambassador Program. To sign up for the VYPE U Program, apply at VYPEU.com.