Coupeville Sports

Left to right, Nick Weatherford and brothers Gary and Steven.

Spring approaches like a javelin throw.

At first it seems far away, then, suddenly, it explodes across the sky and lands at your feet.

Well, that’s the hope. It is Whidbey, so it may rain until June, which would be a pain in the rear once practice for spring sports starts in two weeks.

With basketball barely having faded away at this point, thoughts are turning to just that — spring sports — with the first day of turnouts for track, baseball, softball, boys’ soccer, girls’ tennis and golf coming Monday, Feb. 25.

One Coupeville High School athlete already ready to go is junior Nick Weatherford, who has been counting down the days until the start of track season.

A thrower (shot put, discus, javelin) who made his debut for the Wolves as a sophomore, he came to track through peer pressure. The good kind.

“My friend last year told me that I would enjoy it and I loved it,” Weatherford said. “I like track because, although we go and compete against all the other schools in the area, we can make friends with the other athletes and we all learn from each other.

“Well, except for South Whidbey, that is!” he added with a laugh.

Weatherford, who will join fellow Wolf throwers like Nick Streubel and Caleb Valko, considers the javelin his best event.

“I’ve been working on javelin for quite a few months now, so my goal this year is tri-districts,” Weatherford said. “Getting to state would be amazing, but I’m gonna start small.”

He’s also working on his shot put throws and is the kind of athlete who realizes personal growth is a huge part of being a success.

“Every time I PR, I consider it to be a high point in my career,” Weatherford said.

A football player and devoted fan of techno music (“Music is pretty much how I stay alive”), Weatherford draws a great deal of inspiration from his family.

“Since I was very young, my father, Sam, and my mom, Amie, have been my role models and my heroes,” he said. “They have made me into the person I am today.”

And if the weather doesn’t cooperate, and we end up with a rainy, windy spring? Not a problem for a young man who enjoys chopping wood and throwing hay.

“I really enjoy just being outside in the Washington weather, whatever it may be.”