Wins for Dragon football and volleyball; cross country looks good in conference preview run

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Here's a roundup of John Cooper School Dragon sports the week of Oct. 9.

VARSITY FOOTBALL

• 10/13 vs Casady School* • 34-31 WIN
• Season Record: 4-2
• SPC 3A Record: 2-2

"What a great night for the Dragons and The John Cooper School football program," said Coach Brent Landrum. "To beat a program like Oklahoma City Casady shows how far this young program has come. I am so proud of this team. We held the lead for most of the game but had some things not go our way late and we lost the lead. The boys never hung their heads. They never quit. They just kept fighting. They showed incredible character throughout the entire game. The defense had two critical stops in the fourth quarter that gave the offense the ball back with the chance to take the lead back. I am so happy that the boys on this team get to enjoy this victory."

Next up for Dragon Football

• October 20 vs. Oakridge School*, 7 p.m. SENIOR NIGHT
• October 27 at Fort Worth Country Day, 7 p.m.
• November 3 at Greenhill, 7 p.m.

Stats

• Evan Minarovic was 26-45 for 479 yards, 5 TDs, and 1 INT
• Logan Leax had 10 catches for 167 yards and 2 TDs
• Thomas Elkhoury had 6 catches for 128 yards and 1 TD
• Matt Krehbiel had 3 catches for 76 yards
• Ryan Reid had 2 catches for 53 yards and 1 TD
• Evan Minarovic had 12 carries for 15 yards
• Cameron Reed had 10 tackles
• Andrew Saibara had 7 tackles
• Eric Grosser had 6 tackles
• Mason Chimenti had 5 tackles

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

• 10/14 at Trinity Valley Invitational
• Girls 3rd place
• Boys’ 5th place

The Cross Country teams headed north for a Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) preview race at the Trinity Valley Invitational at the Athletic Performance Ranch in Ft. Worth on October 14. The Cooper teams fared well in the primarily SPC field of teams, finishing in third place on the girls’ side and fifth on the boys’.

“This was a good learning opportunity for us, as this will be where the championship meet will be held in November,” said George Dohner, head cross country coach for Cooper. “The kids learned a lot from this week. Although a tough course, there are many areas to make strategic moves.”

With two runners possibly out for the season, the girls’ team had some young runners really step up and run well. Cooper put six runners in the top 20 giving them a third place finish, only three points behind Greenhill.

Sophomore Madison Breaux was the top Cooper finisher in 9th place with a personal best 21:08. She was followed by Sidney Cartwright’s 10th place finish and Paige Cromely’s 11th place finish. The other scorers for Cooper came from freshman Katie Drake’s 15th place finish, along with Uche Oguchi and Avriana Lisembee, who finished in 19th and 20th place.

“This was a great meet for us as we picked up a few more spots on a some SPC teams,” said Dohner. “Our kids keep making progress as we move closer to the SPC Championships.”

The boy’s team managed a 5th place finish without their top runner. Junior Eli Araya led the team with a 10th place finish. “Araya went out a little fast in the early stages of the race but managed to maintain his position amongst some of the best runners in the SPC,” said Dohner.

Brian Ross was the next scorer in 27th place followed by Will McDermott (35th), Erik Burns (38th) and Cadan Hanson(49th). Cooper’s Andrew Mahler and Dylan Rudisill also ran great races finishing in 50th and 52nd place.

“Cooper had three runners record personal bests on the tough SPC course which gives us hope for a big jump in November,” said Dohner. “We couldn’t be more proud of the team’s progress. They have been working hard and are right on track to do make an impressive showing at our SPC Championships on November 11.”

Next up for Cooper will be the SPC South Zone Championships in Austin, TX. The meet will be held at St. Andrews Episcopal on October 28th.

Next up for Dragon Cross Country

• Oct. 28 SPC South Zone at St. Andrew’s Episcopal, 8 a.m.
• Nov. 11 SPC Championships in Fort Worth

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

• 10/10 vs Kinkaid* • WIN
• 10/12 at Houston Christian* • LOSS
• Season record: 17-4
• SPC Zone Play: 1-2

"The team went 1-1 this week beating Kinkaid in three and losing to Houston Christian in three," said coach Ray Hedden. "The team played complete team volleyball against Kinkaid with Kara O’Neal leading offensively and Anna Claire Adam leading defensively. We just didn't bring our A game against Houston Christian and we will need to refocus for St. John's on Tuesday."

Next up for Dragon Volleyball

• October 17 at St. John’s*, 6 p.m.
• October 19 vs. Concordia Lutheran, 6 p.m. DIG PINK

UPCOMING VARSITY SPORTS ACTION AT HOME:

• Thursday, October 19 at 6 p.m. Varsity Volleyball vs. Concordia Lutheran DIG PINK
• Friday, October 20 at 6 p.m. Varsity Football vs. Oakridge School* SENIOR NIGHT

*conference