The few, the strong, the committed!!

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The few, the strong, the committed!!

March 9, 2016 by David Svien

Jared Helmstadter, the only Class of 2016 athlete to play a sport in all 12 seasons of his prep career. (John Fisken photos)

Jared Helmstadter, the only CHS Class of 2016 athlete to play a sport in all 12 seasons of his prep career. (John Fisken photos)

Row 1 (l to r): Tiffany Briscoe, Lindsey Laxton, Gabe Eck, Nicole Lester. Row 2: Hunter Smith, Allison Wenzel, Lindsey Roberts, Ty Eck. Row 3: Lauren Grove, Cameron Toomey-Stout, Jordan Ford, Kyla Briscoe. Row 4: Hunter Downes, Lauren Rose, Sarah Wright, James Vidoni.

It takes dedication to be a three-sport athlete in high school, and a little luck.

Injuries, drivers ed, club sports, specialization, an unwillingness to play basketball (the only winter sport Coupeville High School offers) — there are a lot of things which can keep the modern athlete from living out what used to be routine.

So, we want to take a moment to honor the 17 Wolves (nine girls, eight boys) who kept the flame lit in 2015-2016.

Cause they may be a dying breed.

Of the four years Coupeville Sports has existed, that number is the smallest we’ve seen.

After we had 18 in 2012-2013, we topped out at 23 the next year, then slid to 20 and now 17.

But, maybe we’re jumping too fast to conclusions, because the core of the three-sport athlete group is young and appears to be deeply committed.

There are six freshmen and seven sophomores on the list.

Also, if you take the 9th graders out of the equation, nine of the 11 are repeat three-sport athletes.

Only two are seniors, which ties ’12-’13 and ’13-’14, while being down from a high of five 12th graders who went out strongly last year.

Jared Helmstadter exits on top, the only member of the Class of 2016 to have played a sport in all 12 seasons of his high school career.

Meanwhile, fellow senior Jordan Ford, having just arrived on the scene, went 3-for-3 in his one year at CHS.

The complete (I believe) list of Wolf three-sport athletes in 2015-2016:

*R* = repeated from 2014-2015

Kyla Briscoe (volleyball, basketball, track) *R*
Tiffany Briscoe (volleyball, basketball, softball) *R*
Hunter Downes (football, basketball, track)
Gabe Eck (football, basketball, track)
Ty Eck (football, basketball, baseball)
Jordan Ford (football, basketball, track)
Lauren Grove (soccer, basketball, track) *R*
Jared Helmstadter (tennis, basketball, track) *R*
Lindsey Laxton (soccer, basketball, softball)
Nicole Lester (volleyball, basketball, softball)
Lindsey Roberts (soccer, basketball, track)
Lauren Rose (volleyball, basketball, softball) *R*
Hunter Smith (football, basketball, baseball) *R*
Cameron Toomey-Stout (football, basketball, baseball) *R*
James Vidoni (football, basketball, baseball) *R*
Allison Wenzel (volleyball, basketball, track) *R*
Sarah Wright (volleyball, basketball, softball)