COPPERAS COVE – Thursday, Copperas Cove High School announced the top 10 graduates in the Class of 2026.
These graduates will be recognized at Thursday evening’s Senior Achievement Night award ceremony before embarking on their lives after high school.
Each of the students below achieved their rankings by having the highest cumulative grade point averages in their class.
“Placing in the top 10 of any graduating class is no small fete, and I am incredibly proud of these students for the hard work and dedication they’ve put into their academic careers to earn this distinction,” said Superintendent Dr. Brent Hawkins. “Each one of them has already proven themselves to be among the best of the best, and I know they will all accomplish great things in their lives and represent the Bulldawgs with pride and dignity.”
The 2026 Valedictorian in Marcus Wang.
“I put in the hard work and dedication, putting in the long hours studying,” Wang said. “I tried to do more things and new things every day, understanding that I can take what I wasn’t able to accomplish previously and apply that today and onward toward the future.”
After graduating, Wang plans to attend the University of Texas at Dallas to pursue a degree in the information technology industry.
This year’s Salutatorian is Ruhi Patel.
“I’m really excited, this is really crazy,” Patel said. “It was bumpy, at first, but I think I’ve gotten the hand of it and I’m really happy I got to experience it. I worked hard to get stuff done and pushed through my struggles.”
Patel plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin after graduating, where she will study computer science.
Courtney Addy finished as the third-ranked graduate in 2026.
“I remember coming in as a freshman and then wanting to take, like, AP and advanced classes,” Addy said. “It was a struggle, and it still is sometimes, but it’s been fun. Your efforts don’t go in vain, so all the times that you correct a test from that 80 to a 100, it all adds up and it’s not for no reason.”
After graduation, Addy is headed to Texas A&M University, where she plans to study chemical engineering.
The fourth-ranked graduate this year is Logan Jones.
“It’s been pretty steady with the push from my parents to always do good and do good in school,” Jones said. “I started out as, like, a ‘B’ kind of student in elementary school. Then, from there, my mom was always big on school work, pushing me to make sure I always do my assignments and homework, even if it meant studying late.”
After graduation in May, Jones plans to attend Texas A&M University to study animal science and pursue veterinary school.
The No. 5 graduate in 2026 is Christina Fileccia.
“I feel like all my hard work is worth it,” Fileccia said. “This is very rewarding, to be honest. It’s been very time-consuming, with all the work, and I’m in a bunch of clubs, too, so it’s been very time-consuming but very rewarding that I got to this point.”
After graduating in May, Fileccia plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin.
Jacey Campbell is the No. 6 graduate in this year’s class.
“It’s definitely been hard, I definitely challenge myself with certain classes and take harder classes,” Campbell said. “I’ve given up fun things that I want to do for school, so it’s rewarding. It doesn’t matter, really, where you start as long as you stick with it and believe in yourself, you can do it.”
Campbell plans to enroll at the University of Texas at Austin to study biology. After college, she plans to pursue veterinary school.
The No. 7 graduate in this year’s class is Diane Tantiangco.
“I’m really proud of myself,” Tantiangco said. “I’m really excited, too, because my brother was also in the top 10, so I feel like I’m carrying it on. I took all my classes, got all the hard stuff done in my earlier years.”
Tantiangco said she plans to attend the University of Texas at Arlington to pursue a career as a pharmacist.
Alyssa Eade is the eighth-ranked graduate in this year’s class.
“My senior year was really good, but I was taking really hard classes,” Eade said. “I was also worrying about my essays for college and whatnot. So, whenever I was busy, I was usually like really, really busy. Now that I am in the top 10, and I am going to be in the first 10 to walk the stage, [that stress] doesn’t really matter.”
After graduation, Eade said she is off to the University of Texas at Austin, where she plans to study communication science disorders to become a speech language pathologist.
The No. 9 graduate this year is Tyson Hart.
“It’s very exciting, definitely, but I’m also relieved because I’ve been trying in all my four years of high school trying to get in the top 10,” Hart said. “I took a bunch of AP classes, a bunch of everything to try to get in that top 10.”
Hart plans to attend Trinity University after graduation, where he will study engineering.
Lane Ledger is the 10th-ranked graduate in 2026.
“I’m so excited,” Ledger said. “I had to work for four years. I was 40th freshman or sophomore year, when they first told me, but I was like, ‘Oh, I can do way better than that,’ and worked to get up here. I was always good at school, but I never really took it seriously until I realized that I was in the top 40.”
Ledger is headed to Texas A&M University after graduation, where he plans to study animal science and pursue veterinary school.
Copperas Cove High School will celebrate these students with the rest of the 2026 graduating class at Senior Achievement Night, beginning at 6:30 p.m. inside Lea Ledger Auditorium.
The 2026 Copperas Cove High School commencement ceremony is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 22nd at Cadence Bank Center in Belton.