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Archive for the ‘Hall o’ Fame’ Category

No quit, always a good fit

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on August 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Abbigail Bond and Aiden O’Neill are crowned as Coupeville High School Homecoming royalty during their senior year. (Julie Wheat photo)

This is a story about a dude whose spirit couldn’t be broken.

Even when his body tried to slam on the brakes time and again.

One of the most physically talented athletes to ever wear a Coupeville uniform, Aiden O’Neill was limited only by the injuries he had to battle through.

When he was on the football field, the basketball court, or the baseball diamond, he was a shining star, capable of piling up impressive stats and leaving lasting memories from big-time performances.

It would be easy to take pity on him, to feel sorry for the times injuries prevented him from being in the spotlight he deserved.

But Aiden never seemed to feel sorry for himself, so why should we?

Instead, we should honor the effort he put in to be healthy, to fight back time and again when others would call it quits — a trait reflected by more than one Wolf coach hailing him as the hardest worker they had on their teams.

Aiden is that rare cat who never seemed to get too high or too low — he sort of reminds me of Matthew McConaughey, boppin’ through life to his own rhythm — while excelling in all aspects of his life.

He was strong in the classroom, a key part of why he was tabbed as a Lions Club Student of the Quarter, and in the community, which helped him net the Cliff Gillies Award, a distinction handed out by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association to those who “excel in scholarship, citizenship, and participation.”

From the first moment he stepped on to the gridiron, Aiden made an impact, picking off passes for a CHS football team which went to the state playoffs during his freshman campaign.

Already making big plays way back when he was a fab frosh. (Brenna Silveira photo)

He was a ballhawk on defense, while also being quite willing to land explosive hits on any rivals foolish enough to intrude on his territory.

Put him on offense and he was a weapon, whether running with the ball or snatching passes out of the air, the end zone always his preferred destination.

Football took its impact on Aiden’s body, however, which made it so he didn’t get his full run as a basketball player.

When he was on the court — and he fought to stay in play, often working through pain and frustration — he was Mr. Smooth, slicing ‘n dicing defenses, hurtling to the hoop for buckets or popping outside to drain long-range treys.

A scrapper, Aiden had fast hands and was always in the mix for rebounds, steals, and tipped passes, helping key the Wolf fast break with his opportunistic style of play.

Teaming up with Carson Grove to bedevil a rival player. (Melanie Wolfe photo)

His time on the baseball diamond was again limited somewhat by injuries and recovery, but when he could get a bat in hand or a glove ready to go, he was often electrifying.

His nimble toes helped make Aiden a true threat every time he streaked around the basepaths, where he led the Wolves in triples and went 26 for 28 in career stolen base opportunities.

In the field, the sure-handed outfielder could, and did, chase down just about anything.

Case in point, a game from his senior season when the Wolves rallied to stun Friday Harbor 10-8 in a wild come-from-behind home victory.

Aiden saved the win with a stunning double play in the seventh and final inning, a moment immortalized by CHS assistant coach Jon Roberts:

“Aiden made a Sports Center catch! Absolutely pounded ball to deep left field, he got on his horse, chased it down and launched himself.

“Horizontally stretched out as far as he could and made the catch, came up, threw it to shortstop as a cut, who threw it to second base to tag out the advancing runner. Double play!

“I’m telling you, it was an absolute holy shit play! (Assistant coach) Morgan (Payne) knocked the scorebook out of my hand up into the air and I caught it like I was going after a touchdown catch!”

No baseball escapes his glove. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Plays like that, and the calm, measured way Aiden responded in the moment to his own brilliance are a perfect showcase for why he will be remembered long after his graduation as part of the CHS Class of 2026.

Injuries limited the number of games he played but never dimmed his shine.

He was a gamer, someone who never shrank from the spotlight, and his time in a Wolf uniform made a noticeable impact on teammates, coaches, and fans.

It’s why today we swing open the doors to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, and welcome Aiden O’Neill into our lil’ digital shrine.

After this you’ll find him up at the top of the blog under the Legends tab, holding down a spot he earned through hours of hard work and a lifetime of never taking the easy way out.

The Dude abides. (Davin Houston photo)

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Cael Wilson (finally) gets his props

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on August 10, 2026| 1 Comment »

Cael Wilson directs traffic. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

I may have Alzheimer’s…

OK, probably not, but how else do we explain my forgetful nature at times?

There I am, cruising along, looking something up in the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, and discover, to my horror, that someone I thought I had already inducted had very much not been inducted.

I am an idiot.

Cause the guy we’re talking about is one of the more accomplished Wolf athletes in the last several decades, one who had a record-setting impact across two sports at CHS.

Simply put, Cael Wilson should have been a first ballot Hall o’ Famer and not had to wait a year to get induction into my lil’ internet shrine. My apologies.

Today we correct that and add his name to the list which sits under the Legends tab at the top of the blog, with the caveat that he really should have already been there.

Cael made a noticeable impact on both the soccer pitch and the track oval during his time in Cow Town, keeping alive a family tradition kicked off by older brother Aidan, who already sits in the Hall o’ Fame for his prep exploits.

The captain leads the celebration. (Finn Price photo)

The younger of the pair is the only Wolf booter in history to score in five seasons, netting his first goal as an 8th grader playing up with the high school varsity squad.

Cael found the back of the net a team-leading seven times as a senior, giving him 13 goals for his CHS career, which ties him for #7 all-time with … Aidan.

Much like Major League Baseball father/son combo Cecil and Prince Fielder, who both clobbered exactly 319 home runs during their careers, the Wilsons apparently believe in equality.

As shown further by the fact that both Cael and Aiden each brought home five state meet medals as track and field athletes, leaving them in a tie for #6 among Wolf boys across the past 63 seasons.

Wilson defeats gravity. (Parker Hammons photo)

A true jack-of-all-trades, Cael competed in 12 different events across four springs, doing a bit of everything.

He ran one-man races (100, 200, 400, 800), did legs on both 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay units, cleared the hurdles (110 and 300), chucked the javelin, and went airborne in the high jump, pole vault, and long jump.

Along the way Cael collected 30 wins, including five league titles and four district crowns, then made repeat visits to Eastern Washington for the state championships.

While at the big dance, the multi-talented one picked up three medals in the pole vault, plus one each in the 4 x 4 and high jump.

In that latter event he made his biggest splash, earning a second-place finish at state while clearing the bar at six feet, four inches, tying a school record set by Rich (no relation) Wilson 25 years earlier.

Any way you look at it, Cael, who graduated from CHS in 2025, and is now a college track star at Benedictine College in Kansas, was one of the most-consistent athletes to ever wear the red and black.

The only slight ding against him might be his failure to play high school basketball (AKA God’s Chosen Sport), where his hops would have come in handy.

But even without him raining down three-balls, Cael put together an impressive prep career, especially as he was one of the leaders who helped guide Wolf athletics back to full-time action after the pandemic.

So today we place him where he should have already been, in the Hall o’ Fame next to his brother, and the guy whose high jump record he shares.

Sorry about the wait, Cael, and much respect.

A master at work. (Finn Price photo)

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Chase Anderson was money in the bank

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , , , on August 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Chase Anderson slashes through the defense. (Julie Wheat photo)

He blazed his own trail.

By the time he graduated from Coupeville High School this past spring, Chase Anderson had compiled one of the best four-year runs by any Wolf athlete, ever.

A rare four-sport star, he was at the forefront for football, basketball, baseball, and track and field teams, before wrapping things up by being selected as the CHS Male Athlete of the Year as a senior.

Anderson was a wiry ball of energy who piled up stats, didn’t back away from the spotlight, and took great delight (it seemed) in frustrating his opponents.

Of all the things he accomplished, my favorite moment of his speaks fully to that last trait.

During a basketball game in his freshman season, Anderson was plugged into the game by Wolf hoops coach Brad Sherman, who gave him one task — do whatever it took to slow down a South Whidbey gunner who was making life miserable for the CHS defense.

From the moment he stepped on the floor, a glint in his eyes, he draped himself all over the Falcon sharpshooter, living about one solid inch off of him at every second.

Anderson was glued to his foe, both on and off the floor, and would have followed him into the timeout huddle if allowed.

First the Falcon stopped scoring. Then he stopped shooting. And then, finally, in a truly delicious moment, he wailed at his coach, “He won’t stop breathing on me!!!”

To which Anderson smiled, ever so slightly, and then moved from being an inch away from the South Whidbey player to a half inch away, as the nearest ref tried to cover his own smile.

Long after the baskets and the touchdown passes and the stolen bases filter away, that’s the moment I’ll remember most about him.

Few competed as hard as Anderson, and virtually no one else could cheese off a rival player like he could.

It’s a special talent, and the memory will endure.

He has places to be and wants to get there quickly. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Not that Anderson didn’t pile up a lot of baskets and touchdowns and other numbers. Cause he did.

Put him on the gridiron and he could (and often did) play every position, starting with his work as the Wolf quarterback, where he could sling touchdown passes or bolt for big yardage with his nimble toes.

Anderson could run you over, or run around you, and either way, leave you firmly in his rear-view mirror as he scampered down the field.

Even if you did catch up to him, he was always hard to bring down as well, often dragging would-be tacklers several more yards, even while being gang-tackled.

He also played defense, cracking people in half with explosive tackles and picking off passes, while handling kicking and punting duties for the Wolves as well, showing off an often-explosive leg.

When winter came, all thoughts turn to hardwood heroics, and Anderson made his impact felt in multiple ways.

A four-year varsity player, Anderson broke into the rotation thanks to his ball hawking skills, his aforementioned ability to irritate/shut down shooters, and his jets, getting out and hauling in long outlet passes from Logan Downes.

After two seasons of playing alongside the top scorer in program history (Downes finished with 1,305 points), Anderson became the go-to dude, popping the nets for 339 and 344 points as a junior and senior, respectively.

He closed his CHS career with 943 points, which has him sitting #7 all-time for a Wolf boys’ program which launched way back in 1917.

Once spring bloomed on the prairie — generally evidenced by 40-degree weather and brutal prairie winds — Anderson started as a baseball star, transitioned into the world of track as a junior while dealing with injuries, then returned to finish things back on the diamond.

During his oval campaign, he competed in the 100, 200, 4 x 100, 4 x 200, and javelin, winning league and district titles in three of those five events, before bringing home two state meet medals as a relay runner.

Staring down a future strikeout victim. (Morgan White photo)

Anderson’s hardball career was slowed a bit by injuries, allowing him to only hit and pitch as a freshman and senior, while he was limited to playing in the field during a curtailed sophomore season, but he still finished with some nice numbers.

He hit .391, .440, and .362 across his three campaigns, compiling career totals of 55 hits, 10 doubles, 35 RBI, 50 runs, 21 walks, and 63 stolen bases, while only being thrown out once by a catcher.

When his body allowed Anderson to stalk the pitcher’s mound, he whiffed 73 batters across 49 innings of work.

When it didn’t, he gunned down runners from deep in the hole at shortstop, still crackin’ off big throws while coming at things from a different angle.

Put it all together — the counting stats, the fact he was always a core player in every sport from day one to his final Senior Night, and that special fanatical zeal he brought to every game — and Anderson would certainly be included in any conversation about the best athletes to every pull on a Wolf uniform.

So, it should come as little surprise that today we induct him into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, enshrining him forever at the top of the blog under the Legends tab.

Anderson is currently chasing collegiate sports dreams, trying to crack the football roster at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as a walk-on player.

Only time will tell what he may accomplish as a Moc, but he’ll always have a place in Cow Town athletic lore.

A star from day one. (Stephanie Pulliam photo)

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Glover was a rock for Wolves

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , , on July 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Camden Glover rumbles on the hardwood. (Julie Wheat photo)

“I would like to continue to be a reliable team player.”

That was Camden Glover’s stated goal as he entered his freshman year at Coupeville High School, coming off a stellar run as a middle school athlete which included several big-game performances on the hardwood.

And it was one he achieved during a four-year run in which he was as solid as they come.

Stevie’s oldest son, who has always been a protective big bro to his younger siblings, had actually already made his high school debut as an 8th grader, playing for the JV baseball squad, where he tore the leather off the ball.

But once he was a full-time high school student Glover really made his impact felt, both as a hitter and a pitcher across four varsity seasons on the diamond.

Numbers wise, he racked up 67 hits, 18 doubles, 49 RBI, 50 runs, 52 walks, and 47 stolen bases — while rarely being thrown out — while leading the squad in batting average over his final two years by nailing the ball at a .380 and .420 clip.

Throwing the high, hard cheese, and daring hitters to try. (Jackie Saia photo)

Put him on the mound, and Glover was equally as imposing, piling up 172 strikeouts in 101 innings of work on the bump.

Not only was the burly prairie native a danger to other teams whether he was flinging heat or taking swings, he was the kind of dude any coach wants at the center of their lineup.

In both good times, such as the Wolves advancing to the state tourney, or tough times, when he helped hold together a very-thin lineup, Glover carried himself the same.

He was a professional through and through, a leader by action and word, and, to those of us on the outside of the fence, seemed to be the glue which held his team together.

That was a mentality which carried over to his other high school sports, as well.

On the football field, Glover prowled the line, going both ways and anchoring things for the Wolves.

Few opponents got past him when he laid down a block, and he could be a menace on defense, often rumbling into the backfield to stuff a runner or pursue the other team’s quarterback.

Sharing a moment with fellow prairie progeny Lyal Viers (1) and Andy Penrod. (Tammy Glover photo)

Put him on a basketball court, and Glover was a truly intriguing player.

He had the size and strength to pound away in the key, muscling his way through defenders for hotly contested buckets.

But take your eye off of him for a second, and he would also pop out behind the three-point line, where he could be a deadly proficient long-range gunner, splashing home treys before the defense had fully registered what was happening.

Glover put in two really solid seasons of work at the varsity level, finishing with 351 points (and a ton of rebounds).

That has him sitting #80 all-time for a CHS boys’ basketball program which launched way back in 1917, which puts him in the top 18% of scorers among the 433 male hoops stars whose scoring exploits I have been able to chart.

With Glover having picked up his diploma this past spring, Wolf sports teams will have a big hole to fill — both in terms of the stats he piled up, and in the leadership, work ethic, and mentorship he displayed.

His younger brothers, and his cousins, are on their way, though all of them still have a few years before they’ll be at the high school level.

When they do, they’ll already have a role model to emulate, having watched Camden rip things up.

For now, we’ll take a moment to swing open the doors of the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame and welcome Tammy’s first grandson into its hallowed digital halls.

After this, you’ll find Camden Glover up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab, a young man who earned that status by bringing it every day, every play.

A younger Camden with his #1 fan. (Photo courtesy Stevie Glover)

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Lead with love, win with style

Posted in Hall o' Fame, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on July 24, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Volleyball guru Cory Whitmore plots strategy. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

His run was truly stellar.

When Cory Whitmore took the reins of the Coupeville High School volleyball program in 2016, the varsity had won seven matches across the previous two seasons combined.

In his first go-round in the CHS gym, the Wolves promptly went 11-6, kicking off a string of nine consecutive winning seasons under their spiker guru.

Whitmore led Coupeville to the state tourney in 2017, snapping a 12-year dry spell, and got back in both 2023 and 2024, with the last of those teams claiming 4th place for the first state trophy in program history.

In between, his teams posted double-digit win totals eight times, with the only outlier being the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, when the Wolves were only allowed to play nine matches total.

When he stepped down after the 2024 season, Whitmore carried a .702 winning percentage with him, having gone 106-45 while on the CHS sideline.

How does that compare to other Wolf coaches? Pretty dang good.

While records are incomplete, the other highest winning percentages I can attest to are owned by the last two CHS softball coaches, Aaron Lucero and Kevin McGranahan.

Lucero is top dog right now, off to a 39-7 start (.848) across his first two seasons, while McGranahan went 111-49 (.694) while matching Whitmore’s nine-year run.

Here’s how Whitmore’s time at Coupeville played out:

2016: 11-6
2017: 13-5 (State)
2018: 11-5
2019: 14-5
2020: 6-3 (Partial season – Covid)
2021: 11-6
2022: 10-6
2023: 12-7 (State)
2024: 18-2 (State – 4th)

That final campaign was truly one for the ages, with Coupeville winning league and district titles, remaining undefeated until the final day of the season, advancing to the state semifinals, and smashing the program’s single season win mark en route to bringing home hardware.

Under Whitmore’s guidance, the Wolves also did the previously unthinkable, toppling La Conner from its perch atop the Northwest 2B/1B League volleyball standings, handing the Braves their first conference losses in more than a decade-plus.

Still kickin’ butt and takin’ names on the court. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

But while the wins and the trophies are huge, what I will remember most about the former Wolf coach is how he got there.

From the first practice to the last banquet, Whitmore was a dream to deal with.

He was friendly, personable, able to take complicated volleyball info and break it down to where even a relative idiot such as myself could (mostly) understand the game in a different way than before.

After crowd-pleasing wins or gut-punch losses, Whitmore never shied away from taking the time to send me emails from the road as the bus bumped back home or camping out in the CHS bleachers to answer my questions.

I found him to be one of the straightest shooters to ever hold a coaching job in Cow Town, and one of the most entertaining.

During his time running the Wolf program, he immersed himself fully in it, building a very-successful youth program which brought his high school players and elementary school students together.

Whitmore made volleyball fun and exciting for the next generation, and it will pay off for years to come.

Filling the gym with smiles. (Phoenix Da Costa-Ford photo)

He also set up a coaching tree which continues to branch out, with former Wolf players such as Ashley Menges, Scout Smith, Alita Blouin, and Hope Lodell having followed in the footsteps of the man who guided them during their own playing years.

While we all would have loved for him to coach for decades, his “retirement” was well earned.

Teaching at one school (Oak Harbor) while coaching at another, while putting in the 24/7/365 level of commitment to the volleyball program he did, takes its toll.

So, seeing Whitmore looking all hale and hearty and maybe able to have a moment or two to himself these days (or be able to spend some quality time with husband Cris), makes it easier to accept.

But while he’s stepped back from the spotlight a bit, that doesn’t mean we can’t pull him back to center stage one more time — at least online.

Today we swing open the doors to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, inducting him for his coaching prowess, his work ethic, and his sunny personality. The pride of Ritzville is the complete package.

After this you’ll find him up at the top of the blog under the Legends tab — the coolest cat in the joint.

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