Breeanna Messner, Coupeville High School’s only four-sport athlete. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
Nick “The Big Hurt” Streubel (Nanette Streubel photo)
Madeline Strasburg (Shelli Trumbull photos)
McKayla Bailey
Breeanna Messner was the hardest-working athlete at Coupeville High School this year.
Unlike the olden days (say, the ’80s and ’90s), when virtually everyone played three sports, only 18 Wolves played for three sports teams in 2012-2013.
Heading that list was Messner, the only three-sport athlete to also be on the CHS cheer squad, which meant she juggled two teams in the fall. A key contributor for every one of her teams, the junior proved you can be good at a lot of things (old school style) as opposed to fanatically playing just one sport (new school style).
At a small school like Coupeville, you wish more athletes would make that all-year commitment.
But, proving 2013 is a lot different than 1983, only TWO seniors played three sports, and not a single male athlete completed what used to be viewed as the “standard” season — football, basketball, baseball.
While there are legitimate reasons some couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do so (injuries, academic issues, no desire to play basketball, Coupeville’s only winter sport), we have come here today to hail those who did put out the effort, season after season.
With an eye to the future, the fact 13 of the 18 athletes were freshmen or sophomores speaks well for a possible resurgence of what was once taken for granted — the multi-sport athlete. Or it just means they haven’t burnt out yet.
The 2012-2013 Iron Men and Women of CHS:
Seniors:
Caleb Valko (football, basketball, track)
Bessie Walstad (volleyball, basketball, softball)
Juniors:
Ben Etzell (tennis, basketball, baseball)
Breeanna Messner (volleyball, cheer, basketball, softball)
Nick Streubel (football, basketball, track)
Sophomores:
McKayla Bailey (soccer, basketball, softball)
Aaron Curtin (tennis, basketball, baseball)
Hailey Hammer (volleyball, basketball, softball)
Oscar Liquidano (football, basketball, soccer)
Carson Risner (football, basketball, track)
Madeline Strasburg (volleyball, basketball, softball)
Monica Vidoni (volleyball, basketball, softball)
Freshmen:
McKenzie Bailey (volleyball, basketball, tennis)
Miranda Engle (volleyball, basketball, tennis)
Jared Helmstadter (tennis, basketball, track)
Dalton Martin (football, basketball, track)
Samantha Martin (volleyball, basketball, tennis)
Makana Stone (soccer, basketball, track)
P.S. — If Coupeville considered cheer a sport (which it should, but doesn’t), six girls would join the three-sport club:
Sydney Aparicio (cheer, volleyball, softball)
Lauren Escalle (cheer, volleyball, basketball)
Amanda Fabrizi (cheer, volleyball, basketball)
Julia Felici (cheer, basketball, softball)
Jai’Lysa Hoskins (cheer, basketball, track)
Iris Ryckaert (cheer, volleyball, tennis)
