Miranda Engle
Miranda Engle is a realist.
While the Coupeville High School freshman would love to make the Wolf varsity girls’ hoops squad in her first go-around, she knows the odds are stacked against her. Still, just because she knows it’s an uphill fight doesn’t mean she plans on backing down any time soon.
“Truthfully, I would like to be on varsity, but I know that is most likely not to happen,” Engle said. “Being on a team means that girls are going to be better than me and by all means if they are better than me I think they should play more than me.
“All that says to me is that I need to get better all around and give it my all, so that next year I can get just as much playing time,” she added.
A post player who first picked up basketball in the fourth grade, she has height, which is always welcome. She also has a strong family athletic tradition behind her. Siblings Erin and Dalton were standout Wolf athletes, and her parents, Michael and MaryAnn, weren’t half-bad themselves.
And yet Engle, who is coming off a strong season as a middle blocker for the Wolf JV volleyball squad, sort of backed into basketball.
“At first it was just something for me to do; I never really planned to play it in high school,” Engle said. “I was never really the active kid, but the more I understood the game the more I wanted to play it.
“I like how the game makes you think,” she added. “You can not just run into any situation and try to score, you have to see the court and know your options.”
Along with her height, Engle brings a lot of intangibles to the court, as well. Plus there’s her height, which is always nice.
“Well, I ended up being pretty tall, so I guess that could be one of my strengths,” she said with a laugh. “I think one of my non-psychical strengths could be that no matter how good or bad I am, I am always trying to stay positive and be a team player.
“Even though I am only a freshman, I feel that I could bring good energy and a splash of fun to the team,” she added. “Overall, I need to get better in my skills. I want to give everything I’ve got to the team this season.”
Off the court, Engle is a big fan of “The Avengers,” action films and country music, and cites Ken Stange’s yearbook class (“It’s cool that you get to design your own page and he completely relies on us to make the year book look great”) and Brett Smedley’s gym class (“The class is really fun and we work hard”) as her favorites. She’s become a photography buff and is putting one of her pictures into the CHS Booster Club’s Crab Feed Auction.
“My favorite thing to take pictures of is my animals,” Engle said. “Especially my two dogs, Saydee and Koda — they really do not mind the attention.”
However she does on the floor this season, Engle will always have fans in the stands (she’s related to 92.6% of the town), and she knows her siblings will be paying close attention from Montana.
“Erin has always been there for me. She is always encouraging me to do my best and to not let other people influence the way I act,” Engle said. “She has showed me how to be strong and be my own person. Sometimes it’s OK to stand out from the crowd.
“Another big influence for me is Dalton, who I am sure a lot of people have heard about. He has showed me to always work hard and never quit, no matter how hard it gets,” she added. “I hope that some day I go as far in sports as he has, all the way to college. He has also showed me that it is OK to be fun and goofy at the right times.
“I could not have asked for any better older siblings. They have both had a huge influence on me and always will.”
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