Coupeville Sports

   Ian Barron, the one true Coupeville High School rushing king. (Photo courtesy Devyn Barron Nixon)

The CHS football record board as it stands today. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

   This 2000 letter from Tom Roehl to the Everett Herald backs the long-held belief that Barron truly holds the school records. (David Svien photo)

I’m sorry, but the record board is wrong.

When Coupeville High School recently installed glossy new boards to honor Wolf football and volleyball players from years past, it was a huge step forward for the school.

I give the coaches and those who went through the records they had, all the credit in the world.

They did the best they could with the limited records they could retrieve.

But I have to semi-officially blow up two of those records right now.

With all due respect to Josh Bayne, who was an electrifying rusher and exited as the 1A Olympic League MVP last year, you don’t own the school’s single season and career rushing marks.

Sorry.

You’re still one of the best players I have personally seen play in the past 25 years, Mr. Bayne, a back-cracker on ‘d’ and a wild man with the ball.

But, having obtained a great deal of paperwork once owned by longtime CHS football assistant coach Tom Roehl, I discovered a smoking gun today.

It’s a two-page letter from Roehl and Wolf head coach Ron Bagby to Everett Herald Prep Editor John McDonald, sent in 2000 in support of senior running back Ian Barron.

In the document, Roehl details Barron’s remarkable four-year run at CHS, and the numbers don’t lie. But they do astound.

Barron, and not Bayne, owns both the single season and career rushing records. And it’s not even close.

Bayne is listed with 2,154 yards gained in his stellar career. Which is dang impressive.

But Barron had 2,178 yards … at the halfway point of his career.

He gained 425 yards as a freshman, then put together a 1,753-yard campaign (the true school record) as a sophomore.

If he never played another down after that, he would still rightfully own the record.

But Ian did take the field again, tossing up 1,087 yards as a junior … in just three games.

A broken ankle in the second half against Chief Leschi ended his season prematurely, otherwise he would have likely scorched his sophomore mark. Can you say 2,000+ yards, cause I certainly can.

Barron came back strong as a senior, gutting out an additional 1,448 yards to run his all-time total to 4,713 yards, more than double the mark that currently owns the top slot on the board.

The CHS record boards were a long time coming. They are a great addition to keeping Wolf athletic history alive.

But they are a work in progress.

The next step in that progress — paying homage to the one true rushing king.