John Cooper Sports: Dragon Cross Country Team Competes At Ramble , Dragon Football Adds Another Conference Win

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Dragon Cross Country Team Competes At Ramble , Dragon Football Adds Another Conference Win.

Results from the week of October 3.

VARSITY CROSS COUNTRY

10/8 at The 41st St. John Maverick Ramble, Spring Creek Park

Girls 2nd place - Boys 6th place

The Cooper Cross Country teams competed at the 41st Annual Maverick Ramble hosted by St. Johns High school at Spring Creek Park in Tomball on Saturday. Spring Creek will be the host course for the SPC Championship on November 5. The Cooper girls finished in second place amongst five SPC foes, while the boys finished in sixth place.

“This was a good meet for us,” Coach George Dohner said. “It’s a challenging course, but the kids did a great job. We even had a few PR’s (personal records) from a few kids.”

The girls finished in second place with Milla Signorelli leading the team with a fifth place finish and time of 20:11. Megan Day finished in 7th place, followed by Chloe Smith (13th) and Tahira King (17th). Ava Perugini and Elisa Ferber finished in 21st and 24th to round out the team scoring.

“The girls are running great right now. Milla Signorelli is running with confidence and getting better with each race. Seniors Megan Day and Chloe Smith also remain steady. I am happy to see Tahira King making huge improvements in her first year of varsity running,” Dohner said. “We are making the right progress at the right time of the year.”

The boys team finished in sixth place behind Aditya Pakal’s 17th place finish and personal best 5k time of 16:53. And, despite coming off being sick for a week, Grey Mendenhall still ran an impressive 17:13 to finish in 26th place.

“The boys ran well. I was really pleased with Aditya’s race today. He ran a really smart race and is learning how to manage his 5k race strategies. I was equally impressed with our team leader, Grey Mendenhall, who ran well even though he wasn’t at 100 percent. He is one tough kid and is going to be just fine.” Ryan Taylor and Walter Day finished in 30th and 39th, while Nathan Seamans finished in 56th place.

Cooper will compete next in Austin on Saturday, Oct. 22nd at the SPC South Zone Championship.

Girls Varsity – 2nd Place

Milla Signorelli – (5th) 20:11

Megan Day – (7th) 20:41

Chloe Smith – (13th) 21:27

Tahira King – (17th) 21:42

Ava Perugini – (21st) 21:52

Elisa Ferber – (24th) 22:37

Boys Varsity – 6th Place

Aditya Pakal – (17th) 16:53 PR

Grey Mendenhall – (26th) 17:13

Ryan Taylor – (30th) 17:29

Walter Day – (39th) 17:42

Nathan Seamans – (56th) 18:07

Jacob Bailey – (59th) 18:11

Nathan Montes – (64th) 18:20

Next up for Dragon Cross Country

October 22 at SPC South Zone Championships*, St Andrew’s Episcopal, 8 a.m.

November 5 at SPC Championships*, Spring Creek Park

VARSITY FOOTBALL

10/7 at Fort Worth Country Day* • 36-14 W

“Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” The Dragons look to break records this year and they continued that quest on a winning note Friday defeating the Falcons of Fort Worth County Day school by a score of 36-14. The Dragons saw their fair share of adversity Friday as they scored first but went into the half down 14 to 7. The Dragons were able to regroup and finish strong blanking the Falcons in the second half and putting the ball in the hands of the ever-able Dragon running back core to seal their efforts. Dean Calhoun let us all know he is something special and that all should take note. Calhoun rushed for 181 yards on just 18 carries, finding the endzone three times for touchdowns. He was a one-man wrecking ball that took control in the second half as he was fed over and over for large gains. Vaughn McKeever found his old reliable Kielar Sullivan for the other Dragon offensive touchdown as Sullivan continued his streak of touchdowns in consecutive games. No one will be surprised that the Dragon defense was again something to be seen. Giving up a little above their average on the year in the first half, adjustments were made, assignments were reminded, and the Dragons did the rest. Owen Baadsgaard and Alex Rovirosa were amazing, collecting over 20 tackles together, and Owen even took an interception to the house for a Dragon defensive touchdown. Cole Sheppard and Hayden Hammit were all over the area as well, making big hits and large stops when Cooper needed them the most. It was again a full team effort that got the job done for the Dragons and they continue their journey next week, on the road, against a former 4A SPC Houston Christian Mustang squad looking to spoil the Dragons’ season. The game will begin at 7 pm, at Mustang Field, on the campus of the Houston Christian School. –Coach Daniel Lewis

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Team MVP: Owen Baadsgaard

Offensive Player of the Game: Dean Calhoun

Defensive Player of the Game: Cole Sheppard

Special Teams MVP: Alonso Barrenechea

Scout Team: Vikaas Mohan

Next up for Dragon Football:

October 14 at Houston Christian*, 7 p.m.

October 21 vs. Trinity Valley*, 7 p.m. SENIOR NIGHT

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

10/6 vs. St. John’s* • 3-1 L

Coach Courtney Eckenrode: The Dragons had an impressive showing against a tough, physical St. Johns team. The Dragons came out on fire with a 25-17 first set win, but the Mavericks came back to win the next three sets to secure the match. Julianne Hon had an outstanding 10 service aces, 12 kills and 13 digs. Lauren Wolford led the Dragon offense with 22 assists and tallied 14 digs and 3 service aces. The Dragons are 3-2 in SPC play.

Next up for Dragon Volleyball:

October 12 at Concordia Lutheran*, 5:30 p.m.

October 14 vs. St. Stephen’s Episcopal*, 4 p.m.

October 15 vs. St. Andrew’s Episcopal*,11 a.m.

October 17 vs. FBCHA, 5:30 p.m.

October 20 vs. Episcopal High School*,5:30 p.m.

October 27 vs. St. Joseph Catholic, 5:30 p.m. DIG PINK fundraiser game

November 1 vs. Second Baptist, 5 p.m. SENIOR NIGHT

* conference