Five Hills royalty make splash at Spring Ho
Special to Leader-Press
LAMPASAS, TX—Two watermelon boxes, 18 rolls of duct tape and two second place finishes. The Lampasas Spring Ho cardboard boat regatta was just one of several events in which the Copperas Cove Five Hills royalty found themselves in deep water.
Five Hills Ambassador Emily Kimball and Pre-Teen Miss Five Hills Briana Liles competed in the regatta for the second consecutive year. Kimball won second place in the 10 and older category while the duo captured another second place finish in the tandem competition.
“This year, I had more experience and my boat made it to the finish line. I was so excited to actually finish the race in my boat this year,” Kimball said. “Then, Briana and I got to team up and try again in the doubles race and that was fun despite us tipping over at the end. We still finished second place.”
Liles’ boat won the People’s Choice Award for best decorated boat.
“It floated great, but I did not realize how hard it was going to be to balance in it so I kept tipping out three times. My boat filled with water each time and we dumped it out and it still stayed floating for me to keep trying again,” Liles said.
Young Miss Five Hills Allyssa Kimball, Teen Miss Five Hills Carleigh Ross, and Ms. Five Hills Ashley Coombs represented the City of Copperas Cove in the kayak races. Allyssa Kimball was the only female in her race.
“I was nervous at first to go against all the boys, but it was a lot of fun and I was excited to finish the race. My arms were very tired afterward,” Allyssa Kimball said.
Ross had never kayaked before but was willing to represent the city in the race and try something new.
“Before the event I hadn’t known what a kayak looked like, let alone how to use it. When it was time to load into it and head to the starting line, my heart was racing,” Ross said. “Hearing the voices of my friends in the crowd cheering along the water helped me realize that no matter if I made first or last place, pushing myself to my individual best and enjoying the rush of the race was all that mattered in that moment. It turns out, I love kayaking.”
For Coombs, it was about overcoming the fear of being in the water. Her hands shook as she took the paddle and entered her kayak.
“I was terrified at first, but it really helped having my royal family there cheering me on. I’ve never even been in a kayak, much less a kayak race, so I was just hoping to finish the race and not flip over. In the end, I finished second in my heat and was only 49 seconds behind the best time,” Coombs said.
The royalty also competed in the water polo event, corn shucking contest, and the annual parade where the city float won second place out of more than 100 entries.
In royal sightings this week, the royalty will be honored by CCISD for donating more than 2,000 pounds of clothing through the 3rd Annual CCISD Laundry Day and will also attend the ribbon cutting event for CCISD’s service and training center. The titleholders will also assist in running the area Special Olympics table tennis competition.