Plano East incoming senior Bilal Habib earned fifth place at 106 pounds at the Class 6A state wrestling tournament. Photo by Niall Morga Media

By David Wolman

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Plano East remained one of the premier athletic programs in Plano ISD during the 2025-26 school year. 

The Murphy Monitor is proud to introduce the third installment of a three-part series celebrating the best teams, athletes, moments and performances from this past school year. The categories and winners for the second annual C&S Media High School Sports Awards were chosen by sports editor David Wolman, with winners being published over three weeks.

Part 1 (July 16) included the Biggest Story, Breakthrough Moment, Newcomer of the Year and Best Team

Part 2 (July 23) highlighted the Best Game, Best Finish, Biggest Upset and Multi-Sport Athlete of the Year. 

Part 3 (July 30) wraps up the series with Coach of the Year, Most Improved Athlete, Best Male Athlete and Best Female Athlete.

These are the winners of the third installment of the series. 

Co-Coach of the Year: Cristy Cooley, girls’ soccer, and Robert Reed, cross country

Cooley and Reed have enjoyed plenty of success during their time at Plano East and this past school year proved to one of their best collectively.

Reed coached the Lady Panthers to their first district title in cross country since 2017, while Cooley helped guide Plano East to its first appearance in the third round of the playoffs in girls’ soccer since 2008.

One year after Plano East ended a long playoff drought that dated back more than a decade, Cooley watched her Lady Panthers conjure their first extended postseason under her watch. Plano East shut out Hebron 1-0 in bi-district, cruised to a 7-1 win over Arlington Martin at Kimbrough Stadium in the area round. In the Region I-6A Division I semifinals, Plano East saw a late rally come up just short in a 3-2 loss to eventual Class 6A Division I state runner-up Keller. 

As for Reed, he oversaw a much-improved cross country team. The Lady Panthers improved from sixth place in District 6-6A in 2024 to first place in 2025. Plano East and Prosper tied for first in the final team standings, but the Lady Panthers won the tiebreaker. Plano East also qualified one boy runner, Levi Rowe, for regionals after he captured sixth overall in 16:11.

Reed also coached a state qualifier in track and field, Caitlyn Tran.  

Co-Most Improved Athlete: Caitlyn Tran and Malachi Terry, track and field

In a program that has numerous state qualifiers and champions over the years, Tran and Terry became the latest Panthers to qualify for state.

Tran’s journey to Austin was of the record-breaking variety. 

The SMU signee became the first Lady Panther to ever finish the girls’ 100-meter hurdles in less than 14 seconds, and she broke the school record three times this year. 

For as well as Tran was running, getting through to state wasn’t any easy task, especially with the top three hurdlers in Region I-6A residing in the same district. Tran persevered, capturing second place at regionals with a time of 13.94 seconds. At state, she placed fifth in 13.9 seconds.

Terry, a New Jersey Institute of Technology signee, also left his mark, twice breaking the school record in the boys’ 200-meter dash.

He was focused once the postseason began and rode that momentum to a state berth. During the regional meet, he earned an automatic state qualification after he captured second place in a time of 21.06. At state, he took eighth with a 21.05.

Best Male Athlete: Bilal Habib, wrestling

Getting to the point of becoming a regional champion required Habib, an incoming senior, to overcome previous heartbreak.

Habib came up one win short of qualifying for the state tournament in each of the two previous seasons. Despite falling just short during his freshman season, he was encouraged by how far he advanced. After losing again in the consolation semifinals as a sophomore, Habib was frustrated but determined to work harder.

That heartbreak was turned into joy this year.

Habib went 4-0 to capture first place at 106 pounds at the Region II-6A meet and earned a spot on the medal stand at the state meet at the Berry Center in Cypress after capturing fifth overall. 

Best Female Athlete: Arianna Robinson, girls’ basketball

Whether it was competing for Plano East or representing the United States U17 women’s basketball team internationally, Robinson continues to show she is one of the nation’s top high school prospects in the Class of 2028.

Earlier this month, Robinson helped lead the Americans to gold in the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) U17 World Cup in Brno, Czechia. She scored 14 points in an 82-73 victory over Spain in the championship game. It was the second straight year she helped Team USA win a FIBA tournament, having placed first in the 16U World Cup in 2025.

Robinson’s championship pedigree was noticed on the high school level.

This past winter, Robinson, a 4-star prospect who holds more than 20 college offers, helped lead Plano East to an undefeated district championship.

Named the MVP of District 6-6A, Robinson averaged 26.4 points per game, became the school’s all-time leading scorer and set Plano East’s single-game scoring record with 40 points in a 67-53 road win at McKinney on Jan. 6.

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