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Archive for the ‘Cheer’ Category

Two sisters, one cheer dream

Posted in Cheer, tagged Amanda Neitzel, Cheer, CHS Wolves, Hall of Fame, Maddy Neitzel on August 9, 2021| 1 Comment »

Amanda (Neitzel) Score, back when she was rockin’ the sidelines for Coupeville High School. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Big sis Maddy Neitzel prepares to get loud ‘n proud.

The cheer gene is strong in their family.

Maddy Neitzel and lil’ sis Amanda (Neitzel) Score remain two of the most-electrifying athletes to ever grace the hallways of Coupeville High School.

The duo were Wolf cheerleaders, loyal to the cause from “toe to bow,” front and center on some extremely-enthusiastic squads, and their impact lingers long after they have headed out into the real world.

Both sisters live in Arizona now, but haven’t been forgotten by Coupeville fans.

And the siblings still have Whidbey connections, as their romantic unions stretch back to their days in a CHS uniform.

Amanda, a 2017 grad, married her high school sweetheart, former Wolf baseball player Kory Score.

Meanwhile, Maddy, who earned her high school diploma in 2016, is engaged to fellow Coupeville alum T.J. Stream.

Amanda celebrates the end of her high school days with classmate Megan DePorter.

Jump back in time when the Neitzel sisters were walking the CHS hallways and patrolling the sidelines at Mickey Clark Field, and one thing remains fixed in memory.

And that is how genuinely full of light the siblings were (and, surely, still are).

Smart, strong, and very kind, the Neitzels brought high energy to their cheer game, and were capable of flying high into the heavens, or making the skies rumble with their impassioned vocal work and stunts.

All cheerleaders, whether they’re seasoned pros or green newbies, have at least a bit of that in them. Otherwise they wouldn’t have stepped up and claimed the uniform.

But Maddy and Amanda set themselves apart from the pack by having an extra measure of energy, an ability to work as part of a team while always poppin’ out from the crowd.

They didn’t intentionally try to steal the spotlight from their fellow cheerleaders, but it was always obvious there was something special about the Neitzel sisters.

Maddy and Amanda had that magical quality only a few genuinely have.

They were stars, pure and simple.

It’s why, after hundreds of Wolf cheerleaders have come and gone at CHS, the Neitzels still burn bright in our memories.

They had impact. They were truly memorable.

So today they enter the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, joining a select group of cheerleaders to earn entry into our digital shrine to excellence.

After this, the Neitzel sisters can be found hanging out at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

One word which perfectly fits two sisters.

Maddy is joined by fellow Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Famer Jazmine Franklin for an epic stare-down. (Gabe Wynn photo)

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9 for 9: Cheer loud ‘n proud

Posted in Cheer, tagged 9 for 9, Cheer, CHS Wolves, Emilee Crichton, Mica Shipley on August 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Maddy Neitzel, a high-flying Wolf cheer hero. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

This blog turns nine years old August 15, and to mark the occasion, I’m picking what I view as the best nine Wolf athletes from each active CHS sport.

To be eligible, you had to play for the Wolves between Aug. 2012-Aug. 2021, AKA the “Coupeville Sports” years.

So here we go. Each day between Aug. 2-15, a different sport and (probably) a different argument.

Cheer is a sport.

So, now that we’ve ended that discussion, who are the best nine athletes to wear the uniform during my blogging years?

That’s a really tough one, as how do you grade a sport where, most times at least, no one is scoring points?

I guess, in the end, you (with you being me) flip a coin and pick those young women who stood out for being truly loud ‘n proud, the ones whose work on the sidelines lingers the longest in the memory.

You could make a case for a lot of Wolves who aren’t on this list, but in this brief moment, here’s nine who I think could bring as much spirit as need be, regardless if Coupeville was ahead or behind.

Mica Shipley, forever chasin’ that cheer life, from little girl to college superstar.

Nicole Becker — My former co-worker at Christopher’s, a bright, personable ball o’ fire who devotes countless hours to working with Special Olympics athletes in honor of her sister.

Kiara Burdge — The first freshman cheerleader ever awarded the Wolf award, and a team leader from day one.

Kylie Burdge — Big sis could light up a stadium like few others, a brilliant young woman who soared in the classroom and on the field.

Emilee Crichton — My next-door neighbor for many years, as bright and personable as anyone you’re likely to meet.

Sylvia Hurlburt — She was born to be a star, and never let her fervent fan club down. Always front and center. Always.

Breeanna Messner — A four-sport sensation, she played volleyball and cheered during the same season, and was awesome at both.

McKenzie Meyer — So much energy and excitement crackling through every atom in her body, plus she’s a true-blue Videoville alum, which gets her extra props.

Maddy Neitzel — She touched the heavens as a flier, and brought grace and style to her sideline work, a perennially-positive cheerleader if there ever was.

Mica Shipley — A high flyer who led CHS cheer back to competition (and a 3rd place finish at state). Now she’s an NCAA D-1 cheerleader, possibly a first for Wolf alums.

Look up spirit in the dictionary and you’ll see a photo of McKenzie Meyer.

Next up: We head to the pitch to honor the best male booters.

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OHHS cheer best in the state

Posted in Cheer, tagged Cheer, Jazmin Jones, OHHS Wildcats, state title, virtual meets, WSCCA on June 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Haley Thompson, seen here on Senior Night during football season, is part of a state title-winning Oak Harbor High School competition cheer squad. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Alyssa Carlon is also part of a 15-person Wildcat squad.

Whidbey Island still rules the cheer world.

While Coupeville High School didn’t field a team during this pandemic-altered school year, its neighbors to the North did.

And spoiler alert? Oak Harbor’s cheer program, which has a long history of success, is still making new additions to the trophy case.

Competing virtually, the Wildcats claimed a state title this past weekend, earning top honors from the Washington State Cheer Coaches Association.

OHHS topped all entrants in the Traditional Non-Tumbling Medium class, with Auburn Riverside claiming second, and Bethel collecting third.

The Wildcats are led by coach Jazmin Jones, who has been in charge of the program since 2017.

Her championship squad includes:

Melany Alanis
Johanna Asencio-Morcillo
Francisca Bartlett
Amber Biller
Alyssa Carlon
Jocelyn Carlon
Cassidy Gore
Audrey Moyes
Leah Murphy
Asya Pressley
Mariah Roach
Tatyana Smith
Griffin Stein
Haley Thompson
Annaliza Toliniu

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Shipley achieves D-I college cheer dream

Posted in Cheer, Wolves in college, tagged Cheer, CHS Wolves, Eastern Washington University, Mica Shipley, NCAA D-I on April 12, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville grad Mica Shipley made her debut as an NCAA D-I college cheerleader Saturday afternoon. (Photos courtesy Shipley)

Shipley (front row, far left) with her EWU squad.

She was born for this.

Mica Shipley has been a cheerleader most of her life, winning awards and soaring high into the air.

Now, the 2020 Coupeville High School grad has reached a new level of achievement, performing for an NCAA D-I school.

After being denied a chance to perform by the pandemic, the cheer squad at Eastern Washington University finally got to go live Saturday at the regular season home finale in Cheney.

Shipley and her teammates worked the sidelines as the Eagles beat the University of Idaho 38-31.

The victory avenged an earlier loss to the Vandals, and lifts EWU to 5-1 on the season.

While she didn’t get to fly Saturday, Shipley was just thrilled with the chance to achieve at least a part of her college cheer dream.

“No stunting, but I’m glad to be out there!,” she said.

During her days at CHS, Shipley was a cheer captain for the Wolves, helping lead the program’s return to competition after nearly a decade away from the blue mats.

During her junior season, Coupeville qualified for state in its first attempt in eight years, then claimed third-place at the big dance.

The next season, Shipley and fellow captain Ashleigh Battaglia led the Wolves to nationals.

The cheer supernova, who first made headlines when she earned her way onto all-star teams at age six, also modeled for Glitter Starz.

That Illinois-based company is a national leader in custom all-star uniforms, warm-ups, and other cheer essentials.

Shipley, who is one of two Wolf athletes at D-I schools (with classmate Sean Toomey-Stout competing for a spot with the University of Washington football team) is studying nursing, with plans to become an OBGYN.

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Eternal and timeless in her kindness

Posted in Cheer, Hall o' Fame, tagged Cheer, CHS Wolves, Hall of Fame, Mekare Bowen, Videoville on December 15, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Mekare Bowen, who turns 24 today, is a special human being. (Photo courtesy Dea Bowen)

In a world of grey, she is the sunshine.

Not just a ray, but the whole sizzlin’ ball, lighting up the universe with her every action and word.

I’ve known Mekare Alora Bowen since she was born — which would be 24 years ago today — as her mom, Dea, worked with me at Videoville and Miriam’s Espresso back in the day.

From the moment Mekare popped into the world, (politely) bellowing “Let’s get this party started!!,” she has amazed me.

She is incredibly smart, not just in a “do well at school” sort of way, but where you look at her in awe, and wonder not whether she will accomplish something, but just how much she’ll accomplish.

Mekare wrote a 550-page fantasy novel, Flying Fast: Untouchable, during her teen years.

If a computer crash hadn’t eaten her work, it’s likely no one would be paying any attention to J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer right now.

Her passion for writing was captured in this quote, when she agreed to let me write about her after much tut-tutting that there were others who should be featured ahead of her.

“I have a new idea every day. I’ve had a lot lately, but I typically forget them and then they come back to me randomly,” Mekare said back in 2012.

“I love those moments actually, because it’s like somebody punched you in the face with flowers wrapped around their knuckles.

“It’s a bittersweet moment because half of you is ecstatic to have the idea back, the other half is mad that you forgot it in the first place, and the idea typically hits you again at the most inconvenient time.

“Actually, if someone were to punch me, I’d probably punch them back — without the flowers. But I think you get the picture.”

While some would spend years wailing over their tech misfortune, our Hemingway just jumped right back in, continuing to write, while also developing a subtle touch with the camera.

As younger sister Aria also grew up, she could often be found on the other end of Mekare’s lens.

A photo from a few years back, capturing sister Aria at play. (Mekare Bowen photo)

The same was true for family and friends, every animal she could find, and a thousand other subjects, animate or inanimate.

Whatever the world wanted to show, Mekare was there to capture and immortalize.

A boat slices through the sun-dappled water. (Mekare Bowen photo)

Anyone can click a camera and call themselves a photographer.

But it takes a special skill to make those images come alive, and Mekare and her equipment work in often uncanny union.

When she hit high school, moving from private to public, Miss Bowen wanted a new challenge, and so she jumped head-first into cheerleading, joining legendary 20-year coach Sylvia Arnold’s final squad.

Sylvia Arnold with Mekare Bowen. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Mekare was an immediate hit with the sideline crew, joining close friends like Julia Felici and forming a vibrant, loud ‘n proud team.

Julia Felici and her nephew Drake join Mekare to celebrate a Coupeville win. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Whether traveling to other countries to help those in need, picking up a new sport and embracing every aspect of it, or being quietly awesome without ever tooting her own horn, Miss Bowen has impressed me her whole life.

I’m sure, like all of us, she has her faults. But, if so, I have yet to see one.

There have been other Wolf athletes who have shown great skill and great kindness, finding a balance which is rare.

Breeanna Messner, Aaron Trumbull, Makana Stone, Hunter Smith, and Valen Trujillo immediately jump to mind.

But I put Mekare up on the top of this mountain peak.

She is, quite simply, the best of what Coupeville, and this world, have to offer.

Her continued success and high achievement in life, as she navigates the adult world, is a source of great happiness for me. And, I’m sure, for a lot of others.

In the grand scheme of things, induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame probably isn’t on the same level as say, winning a Nobel Peace Prize or a Pulitzer.

Both of which could easily be in Mekare’s future. Just sayin’.

But it’s what I have to offer, and so we celebrate her birthday — which should probably be a national holiday — by welcoming her into our lil’ digital shrine.

After this, if you cruise by the top of the blog and look under the Legends tab, you’ll find Mekare hanging out, along with those other five former CHS athletes I mentioned just a second ago.

It’ll say cheer next to her name, since it’s a sports hall, but we’ll all know she earned her induction for a lot more than that.

For her talent, for her grace, for her kindness, for her care to all around her, and for being, each day and every day, the kind of person I would like to be if I ever grow up.

You’re the best, Mekare. Thank you.