6A Boys Preseason Team Preview: No. 8 Coppell

Coming in at the number eight spot is our second new entrant onto this list and another Region 1 team that narrowly missed out on the state meet. The fact that we now have two Region 1 teams who missed out on the state meet but still appear in the top eight just goes to show how competitive that region is.

For several years now, Coppell has been yet another solid team out of north Dallas that consistently competes for the state meet and churns out good teams.

As was expected, this remained the case last year as Coppell had another great mixture of youth and experience. However, despite yet another solid and consistent season they just missed out on the state meet by a narrow margin of 24 points.

Despite missing out last year and losing their top two runners, Coppell is in a really good spot to make a run back to the state meet this year. This is due in part to the volume of graduating seniors leaving the teams above them, but it's also due to the favorable spot that the emergence of some young talent has put them in.

It's often said that good teams don't rebuild, they reload and that looks to be the case with Coppell this year. So, let's dive into how this Coppell team reloads this season and find out how they can make it back to Round Rock.

As mentioned, Coppell returns in 2024 coping with the loss of their top two runners, Henry Henze and Samarth Dubey. From an outside perspective, this would seem catastrophic as teams rarely lose their top two guys and end up in a better position. However, many of the teams ahead of them have lost even more talent which has allowed Coppell to find themselves slated to move up several slots.

Region 1 will likely be dominated by Southlake Carroll once again but after that, the field is much more open. Last year's second-place team McKinney Boyd lost their 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th runners which leaves them in a difficult position. Third-place team El Paso Franklin lost their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th runners which leaves them in a spot where qualification looks tough. And fourth-place team El Paso Eastwood lost their 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th runners.

When you factor in the losses to the teams ahead of them with the fact that last year's Coppell team was able to run very close together, things begin to look up for them. Consistency has always been a strength for Coppell teams and that looks to remain the case this year. And who better to lead a consistent team than a consistent runner in the form of returning junior Rohit Kalpathy?

While Kalpathy was the team's number three runner last year, this is only a surface-level observation and doesn't tell the full story. He regularly finished close behind Henze and Dubey and was one of the most consistently reliable depth runners on a solid team last year. However, this year he'll have to be more than just a depth piece but his numbers from last season and the spring indicate he's more than ready to take that next step and lead this Coppell squad into state qualification contention.

Kalpathy had a great start to his sophomore campaign as he ran a strong 16:10.20 at the competitive Marcus Coach T Invitational. He then followed this up with a very impressive 15:54.00 personal best at the stacked Lovejoy XC Fall Festival which is one of the best tests of true ability in the state. He then ran 16:21.70 the following week on another tough course at the HOKA/McNeil Invitational which helped Coppell finish third ahead of a strong Bridgeland team that finished sixth at the state meet.

Once October rolled around, Kalpathy was able to continue his consistency as he ran 16:07.20 at the Jesuit XC Classic and then followed this up with another 16:07.90 performance at the UIL 6A-District 6 championship. He had a strong race at the UIL 1A-6A Region 1 Championship where he ran 16:16.40 but ultimately fell short of qualifying as a team.

Kalpathy also made notable improvements in the spring as he came away with new personal bests of 4:34.14 in the 1600m and 9:44.85 in the 3200m. Kalpathy looks primed to dip into the 15:50s consistently this season and that'll help Coppell greatly in their quest for qualification.

Coming in right next to Kalpathy on this Coppell team is returning senior Pranav Vegiraju who looks primed for a big season where he'll function as the team's co-top runner.

Vegiraju also had a remarkably consistent 2023 season which saw him regularly run in the 16:10s and dip under the 16:00 mark to go along with it. He started his season by running his current personal best of 15:58.10 at the Waxahachie Woodhouse Invitational and would build on that with some solid performances.

He ran 16:13.40 at the Lovejoy XC Fall Festival and followed this up with another solid performance in the form of a 16:20.20 at the Jesuit XC Classic. Once the championship season came around, Vegiraju started it off well at the district meet where he ran 16:10.50 to finish ninth overall. He also had a good performance at regionals where he ran 16:21.70, but just missed out on the state meet with the rest of the team.

The real excitement for Vegiraju's upcoming season stems from what he was able to do on the track in the spring. He was able to run in the 4:20s and 9:40s consistently over 1600m and 3200m which demonstrated a big step he was able to make from the fall. He comes into this season with current personal bests of 4:25.81 over 1600m and 9:35.41, both of which build anticipation for what he's going to be able to do in the fall. I think we should see him in the 15:40s and 15:50s consistently, and he'll be a difference-maker this fall.

Outside of their top two, Coppell also returns a strong third and fourth runner in the forms of senior Grant O'Neal and junior Ansh Singhal. O'Neal comes into the season with a personal best of 16:11.40 and looks to play a crucial role in Coppell's state qualification chances this fall if he can continue to build on that. As for Singhal, he comes into the season with a personal best of 16:15.40 and will also play a critical role in this team's chances at the state meet this fall.

Coming into this season, Coppell feels like a team that should be on for a qualifying spot if they can hold it all together. They have a great 1-2 punch who come into this season with some momentum that they should be able to build on in the fall. They also return solid depth who will undoubtedly be the key to how far this team goes. That being said, their depth is experienced and they've run well at big meets on tough courses so I wouldn't bet against them.

This Coppell team would likely qualify very easily out of Region 3 and Region 4, but the tricky task of navigating Region 1 has bit several great teams on paper in recent years. I think if their depth can score the necessary points when that time of year rolls around, then this team should make it easily and finish second or third at regionals. But, if they don't score those critical points in the early midfield, they'll likely end up just missing out again.

Taking a chance on a team that missed out on the state meet the previous year is always risky, but this Coppell team feels like a fairly safe bet. They've got a talented roster with experience competing at big meets and I think the losses to the teams in front of them are really gonna help them out when the championship season comes around.

I'm not sure how much higher this Coppell team can get due to the talent in this year's field, but starting off the season at No. 8 feels like a good spot for a Coppell squad that looks primed to make it back to Round Rock.