The Big Bad (Coupeville) Wolf gets star billing on the 1956 CHS yearbook cover. (Jack Sell photos/yearbook courtesy Sandy Roberts)
Sandy Roberts, grandfather of current Wolf three-sport star Lindsey Roberts, back when he was a bright-eyed 14-year-old freshman.
The 1955 CHS cheer squad was thin on numbers, but strong on lung power.
Wolf hoops star Jack Elzinga. If I was alive and covering sports back then, I would have nicknamed him “The Zinger.”
Principal, teacher, coach, class advisor — Mert Waller, father of current Whidbey News-Times Sports Editor Jim Waller, did it all in those days.
If you wanted a song, and not a cheer, this trio were who you called.
After a four-year absence, the Wolves returned to the gridiron (and whomped Oak Harbor).
Certain years in Coupeville High School sports history stand out.
Try 1969-1970, which gave us the greatest show on Earth — or at least in Cow Town — as Jeff Stone tickled the twines for an astonishing 644 points in one season as the high-scoring Wolves became the first Whidbey Island basketball team to win a district title.
Or take a gander at 2001-2002, when the CHS girls went to state in volleyball, basketball and softball, bringing home banners in the latter two sports.
That softball run, with four wins in five games at the state tourney, losing only to eventual champ Adna, was the closest any Coupeville squad has come to winning a team state title.
But today we’re here to talk about 1955-1956.
And why is that?
Cause, thanks to Sandy Roberts, who was a bright-eyed freshman that year, I’m holding a pristine yearbook in my hand.
Roberts would go on to be an athlete and a scholar, a successful coach and a papa whose two sons and (so far) three of his grandchildren would all star for his alma mater.
These days, he’s a few years older, yet still just as bright-eyed.
Thanks to him, I now know the graduating class of ’56 was 26 students deep (14 girls, 12 boys) and helped spur a pretty decent sports year for the Wolves.
It began on the gridiron, where Coupeville returned to football after a four-year absence.
Playing under coach Mert Waller, the Wolves made their return an auspicious one, throttling Oak Harbor 24-0 behind senior QB Jerry Zylstra.
It was back to reality after that, as CHS dropped its final four games, though all were fairly close.
The Wolves fell 13-7 to Langley, 14-13 to Everett, 13-0 to Marysville and 18-6 in a rematch with pesky Langley.
All that was forgotten about as fall turned into winter, though, as Coupeville’s basketball squad roared out of the gate and never looked back.
With Waller unleashing a lineup led by senior Jack Elzinga, who topped the Wolves in scoring for a second-straight year, CHS blitzed through the regular season to a 14-3 tune.
That included a pair of wins over Oak Harbor (50-41 and 66-49) and Langley (41-33 and 46-38), and, more importantly, a sweep of La Conner (75-68 and 41-39).
While the Braves slipped away with the Northwest Tri-County League title by a whisker, Coupeville was the only conference team to hand them a loss.
Coming off their second-place league showing, the Wolves opened the district tourney with wins over Monroe (61-46) and Darrington (61-57), but were upended 65-54 by Twin City in the semis.
Coupeville then closed with a razor-thin 54-51 loss to La Conner, settling for second place.
The Wolves had come close to a district title, but, as history now tells us, were still 14 years away from making Whidbey Island history.
Somewhere a four-year-old Jeff Stone was biding his time, whispering “Soon, soon…”
Spring brought boys tennis and baseball, with the netters finishing 5-3 under the coaching of Jack Berry.
The Wolves won two of three matches against Oak Harbor, continuing a year of domination over their Northern rivals, but Friday Harbor nipped CHS for the league title.
On the diamond, Waller’s warriors had four batters top .314 at the plate (Meryl Gordon legged out five triples, while Harold Buckner smashed five doubles) to spark a 10-5 season.
This time around, the Wolves took three of four against Oak Harbor.
With ’56 being pre-Title IX, Coupeville girls did get a taste of sports, but just a taste.
There was cheer and the G.A.A. (Girls’ Athletic Association) also brought together 21 Wolves, led by President Norma Sinema and Vice President Janice Libbey, for Friday night competition in basketball, volleyball and baseball.
Those young women would one day see their daughters and granddaughters get the chance to compete in a way they were denied, but they were trailblazers for the time.
The members of the G.A.A.:
Patricia Clark
Vicky Criscuola
Barbara Hadaway
Dolores Harper
Judy Huffman
Kathy Johnson
Rocky Johnson
Hannelore Langanka
Peggy Lanphere
Janice Libbey
Arlie Lynch
Gladys Mackey
Pat Maurer
Marilu Pierce
Betty Jo Schreiber
Reva Scott
Susan Sherman
Sally Shrum
Norma Sinema
Beverly Vaughan
Marcia Vercoe
Thanks to the yearbook, I also have pristine stats for two of the four main sports, so numbers for basketball and baseball:
Baseball:
| Player |
AB |
Hits |
Runs |
2B |
3B |
HR |
Avg. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Harold Buckner |
57 |
20 |
16 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
.351 |
| Bob Lanphere |
60 |
21 |
14 |
1 |
2 |
|
.350 |
| Jerry Zylstra |
53 |
18 |
16 |
2 |
|
|
.340 |
| Meryl Gordon |
51 |
16 |
14 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
.314 |
| Len Buckner |
49 |
13 |
9 |
|
1 |
1 |
.265 |
| John Moskeland |
54 |
12 |
10 |
3 |
|
|
.222 |
| Denny Zylstra |
45 |
10 |
6 |
2 |
|
|
.222 |
| Dick Yake |
45 |
7 |
5 |
1 |
|
|
.156 |
| Pat Clark |
33 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
.091 |
| Gary Hammons |
19 |
1 |
5 |
|
|
|
.052 |
| Peter Whelan |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
.000 |
| Bill Grasser |
1 |
|
1 |
|
|
|
.000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TOTALS |
467 |
121 |
105 |
16 |
10 |
3 |
.259 |
Basketball:
| Player |
Games |
FG |
FT |
Fouls |
Points |
Avg. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Pat Clark |
21 |
58 |
71 |
61 |
187 |
8.9 |
| Blaine Ghormley |
20 |
63 |
41 |
46 |
167 |
8.4 |
| Jack Elzinga |
21 |
123 |
63 |
67 |
309 |
14.7 |
| Harold Buckner |
21 |
67 |
37 |
31 |
171 |
8.1 |
| Jerry Zylstra |
21 |
59 |
72 |
43 |
190 |
9.1 |
| Doug Speers |
19 |
9 |
15 |
19 |
33 |
1.7 |
| John Moskeland |
13 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
8 |
0.6 |
| Len Buckner |
13 |
7 |
2 |
4 |
16 |
1.2 |
| Denny Zylstra |
8 |
6 |
4 |
3 |
16 |
2.0 |
| Gary Hammons |
10 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
1.1 |
| Meryl Gordon |
6 |
|
1 |
2 |
1 |
0.2 |
| Mike Criscoula |
4 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
| Gene Jaeger |
5 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
| David Vaughan |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TOTALS |
21 |
399 |
311 |
285 |
1109 |
52.8 |
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