Varsitys (Part III): Awarding this year's best in Coppell athletics; Top team, male athlete, female athlete recognized

During the 2021-22 school year, Coppell showcased no shortage of notable individual and team athletic achievements, so it’s only appropriate to put the last year of local sports into an award-winning perspective. In the coming weeks, the city’s top athletes, teams and games will be recognized among nine different awards.

With that said, Star Local Media presents the 10th edition of The Varsitys.

Best Male Athlete

Andrew Mullen, cross country

When Mullen ran in the state meet as a sophomore, he showed that he was the future of the program. Running on a senior-laden team that included current Texas Tech sophomore Evan Caswell and John’s Hopkins sophomore Rith Bhattacharyya, Mullen helped the Cowboys to earn fifth place in the team standings in the 2020 Class 6A state meet after he ran to 25^th overall.

Fast-forward to last fall, and Mullen continued his ascent up the state rankings. After earning second place at the District 6-6A meet and seventh at the Region I-6A meet, he ran to seventh place at the 6A state meet to cap off a tremendous junior season.

All of this comes after Mullen was an alternate for the Cowboys at the 2019 state meet. And while he cheered on his teammates in Round Rock, there is no better feeling for a cross country runner to be on the course. That was all of the motivation that he needed moving forward in his high school career. 

Honorable mention to TJ Pompey, who was named the MVP of 6-6A after he helped to lead the Coppell baseball team to the No. 1 seed in the conference and a second straight appearance in the regional semifinals.

Best female athlete

Skyler Schuller, track and field

Breaking records is nothing new for Schuller.

While her future is in the heptathlon, her focus during the spring high school season is to improve on her performance in each of the events that she competes in.

Schuller owns the best performances in school history in the high jump, 100-meter hurdles and pole vault. Last August, she broke the AAU Junior Olympic national record in the pole vault by clearing a height of 13-11 1/4.

That set the stage for what was a historic 2022 season for Schuller.

One of the most anticipated matchups at this year’s state track and field championships was the girls pole vault. Schuller and Tomball’s Molly Haywood owned two of the top 10 heights in the nation this year, and what they did at the state meet only added to their list of accomplishments.

On her final attempt, Schuller cleared 14 feet to break the UIL state-meet record, but then Haywood cleared the same height on her last attempt. Haywood cleared 14-3 and won the state championship after Schuller was unable to record a successful attempt at that height. Schuller earned second place for the second year in a row. 

Best team

Girls basketball

What a turnaround for the Cowgirls.

Coppell earned a share of the 6-6A title, was a regional quarterfinalist and went 37-2 – a finish that occurred just one year after the Cowgirls finished  13-13 overall and 5-9 in 6-6A, an improvement of eight conference wins. The 37 wins is a program single-season record.

The turnaround started behind the scenes. Assistant coach Willis Tran led a strength and conditioning program that helped the Cowgirls to become bigger, stronger and faster. Coppell used its conditioning to its advantage this season, as the Cowgirls wore down opposing teams in the second half of games.

The game that best showed Coppell’s improvement was a 46-40 win over Plano East on Feb. 7, which snapped a 28-game district winning streak for the Lady Panthers. Revenge was served sweet on that night by Coppell, whose only loss during the regular season came at the hands of East.

And with Coppell’s success came rewards.

Jules LaMendola garnered 6-6A MVP and a spot on the Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state team after the Indiana commit averaged 16.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game. 

LaMendola was one of seven selections on the all-district team, and head coach Ryan Murphy was named the 6-6A coach of the year.