Personal bests and wins on the road: Great week for John Cooper School Dragons

THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- The John Cooper School is hitting its stride in cross country, volleyball and football. Here are the latest updates:

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY: Personal bests for Dragon runners at Nike South Sept. 30

Girls’ Side: The girls team finished in 5th place in the varsity race led by sophomore Madison Breaux’s 12th place finish with a personal best 5k time of 21:14. Next was freshman Katie Drake’s 18th place finish with a personal best of 21:42. The rest of the scorers were Uche Oguche (21st), Avriana Lisembee (45th) , and Mary Bannon (78th).

"On the girl’s side, we ran without three of our top runners due to injuries and illness," Coach George Dohner said. "Without those runners, the team still managed to finish in 5th place from 18 teams. We had some girls step up and run really well."

Boys’ Side: The varsity boys team, running without their first two runners, all ran personal bests, finishing in 14thplace. Top scorers were led by Brian Ross (49th) who knocked 20 seconds off his personal best 5k time running 18:01. Ross was followed by freshman Will McDermott’s(62nd) 18:17 time. Cadan Hanson finished in 71st place and was followed by Erik Burns and Andrew Mahler. “

Two members of the boys team ran in the Elite Division and ran really well in the highly talented pool of runners. Junior, Mitchell Shannon ran a personal best 17:06 while Junior Eli Araya ran 17:21.

"We are so proud of the boys and their results," Coach Dohner said. "Any time a full team PRs, it shows that we are making progress each week."

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL: Dragons gather two more straight-set wins as they prepare for SPC competion

Win Sept. 27 vs. Incarnate Word Academy; 25-15, 25-14, 15-15

Win Sept. 28 at Awty Interational; 25-15, 25-8, 25-2

Peyton Tague led the team with 12 kills as Lauren Harkness gathered 22 assists in her first start at setter for the year," said Coach Ray Hedden. "Lisa Alexander led the team with five aces in a match where she served for over 15 points in a single set. The team played well in defense and had a good energy as we ramp up for SPC play next week against Episcopal."

Season record is 16-2. Next up for Dragon Volleyball:

• October 5 at Episcopal High School*, 6 p.m.
• October 10 vs. Kinkaid*, 6 p.m.
• October 12 at Houston Christian*, 6 p.m.
• October 17 at St. John’s*, 6 p.m.
• October 19 vs. Concordia Lutheran, 6 p.m. DIG PINK

VARSITY FOOTBALL

Win Sept. 30 at St. Andrew's Episcopal; 44-14

Game highlights:

• Evan Minarovic rushed seven times for 81 yards and two rushing TDs.
• Evan Minarovic was 25 for 37 for 342 yards and four passing TDs.
• Thomas Elkhoury had 9 catches for 143 yards.
• Matt Krehbiel had 5 catches for 109 and 1 TD.
• Andrew Saibara had 4 catches for 24 yards and two TDs.
• Logan Leax had 3 catches for 26 yards.
• Matt Krehbiel had 7 tackles.
• Eric Grosser had six tackles.
• Andrew Saibara had six tackles.

"Last night was a complete team victory," said Coach Brent Landrum. "The boys played well offensively, defensively and on special teams. We were a little sloppy with turnovers, but thankfully we were able to overcome them. We face a very talented Fort Worth Trinity Valley team this coming Friday in Fort Worth. It will take another great team effort to win. I am confident this team will give it all they have."

Season is currently 3-1. SPC 3A record is 1-1. Next up for Dragon football:

• October 6 at Trinity Valley School*, 7 p.m.
• October 13 vs. Casady School* at the University of North Texas Apogee Stadium
• October 20 vs. Oakridge School*, 7 p.m. SENIOR NIGHT

UPCOMING SPORTS ACTION AT HOME

• Tuesday, October 10 - 5:30 p.m. Varsity Volleyball vs. Kinkaid*
• Thursday, October 19 - 6 p.m. Varsity Volleyball vs. Concordia Lutheran, 6 p.m. DIG PINK
• Friday, October 20 - 6 p.m. Varsity Football vs. Oakridge School*, 7 p.m. SENIOR NIGHT

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