Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Hall o’ Fame’ Category

Legendary, every day, in every way!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Lauren Rose, baby whisperer, standout athlete, academic genius and all around remarkable young woman. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Rose comes up firing while patrolling the infield.

To know Lo is to adore her.

I have watched countless athletes play in my years as a sport writer, but Lauren Rose lands on a very, very small list as one of the best I have ever witnessed.

For her athletic ability? Absolutely. For her work ethic and commitment? Positively.

But also because she is simply one of the best human beings to ever pull on a Wolf uniform. Ever.

Lauren and twin sister Kayla are two of the most gracious, kind and caring, intelligent, personable young women I have met.

When you add in Lauren’s amazingly consistent, often inspired, athletic performances during her four-year run at Coupeville High School, and there is no doubt whatsoever she has long deserved inclusion into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

So, after I get done gushing about her in this article, you’ll find her enshrined up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

The supremely serene superstar, whether she was being hailed as Mouse, Munchkin or Keebler Elf, had the stats, the SportsCenter highlight plays, the big wins, and all the All-Conference awards.

But, most of all, she had a heart that was unmatched. She might not have been as tall as some of her teammates, but she played like a giant every dang day.

Pick a sport — volleyball, basketball or softball — and Rose delivered, steady, calm and collected, yet burning with desire to get better, work harder and fight longer.

She once snapped off 20 consecutive points on her serve in a varsity volleyball match against Chimacum, almost running a complete set by herself, and every serve was pure perfection.

Rose, who may have missed two or three serves in her entire four-year run for the CHS volleyball program, lashed winner after winner, putting a slightly different spin on each serve as she continually hit a target only she saw.

The Cowboys weren’t a bad team, and the match itself was competitive, but when Rose was twirling the ball and launching elegant missiles, they might as well have just sat down on the bench and enjoyed the show, cause they had no answers for what she was dealin’.

And that’s how she was in all her sports, whether finishing among the state leaders in assists as a nimble-fingered setter, harassing rivals to distraction on the basketball court as a ballhawk, or being uniformly superb at whatever position her softball coaches asked her to play.

Rose did a stint behind the plate as a freshman, waiting for Sarah Wright to arrive from middle school and take over the catching duties, then moved out to anchor the team at short and third in later years.

And it’s in the world of softball where The Keebler Elf delivered what I believe to be her most inspired moment.

Coupeville had a road game in Sequim rescheduled at the last second, which put Rose in an unexpected sticky situation.

As the leadoff hitter for the red-hot Wolves, she wanted to be in the lineup, and yet she also had an important SAT test she couldn’t miss.

Strong athlete, strong student, trapped in a no-win situation.

Except, she made it work.

First, Rose blitzed her way through the test, using a #2 pencil like a sword to defend her academic rep.

Then she bolted across the street, hurdled into a waiting car driven by a teammate’s parents and hauled tail for the ferry, not even stopping to change into her uniform.

“I’ll do it on the ferry!”

“Do you know how dirty ferry bathrooms are??????”

“I’ll move faster than the germs!!”

With the clock ticking against her, Rose (and her ride) made it to the field in Sequim with mere moments to spare, at which point she catapulted herself from the back seat of the still-moving auto, juggling her mitt, bat and snacks as she sprinted towards her coach, who was pacing madly, one eye on his watch, one on the ump.

“Oh, sweet lord, my heart…”

“Told you I’d make it,” Rose whispered to her coach as she flung her mitt and snacks over her shoulder, bouncing them into the dugout on a dime.

Never breaking pace, she sprinted to the plate, nodded to the ump, hefted her bat, glanced at the pitcher for a split second (or less) and promptly smacked the first pitch of the game, driving the ball to straight away center for a standup double.

Legendary.

Read Full Post »

“That kid is killin’ us!!”

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on September 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Clay Reilly may have hung up his jersey, but his legend still lives large. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Clay Reilly was a gamer.

Baseball or football or basketball (the latter in his younger days), the Coupeville High School grad was one of those rare athletes who never, ever seemed to give less than his best effort.

Every game I watched him play, Reilly went down fighting until the final out, the final second ticking off the clock, regardless of the score. And I saw the majority of the games he played at CHS.

And yes, Amanda Fabrizi’s lil’ bro (in age, at least) rocked some of the most impressive hair this side of a shampoo commercial, but it was his locked-in attitude, and not his flowing locks, that we will remember him for the most.

The 2017 grad left an indelible mark on Wolf Nation, and, for that, we induct him today into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, where he joins his sister.

After this, you can find both of them up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

Where to start with Clay? At the end, I think.

His senior season of baseball, the final sport of his prep career, ended with an agonizing playoff loss at home. It was a game he personally played very well in, but he and his teammates just couldn’t get past their private school rivals.

As many of the other Wolves stood aimlessly around the dugout, or chatted with fans and friends, Reilly walked out to the fence in the deepest part of the outfield and stood alone for a bit.

I can’t tell you what all was going through his mind at the time, and, while I could guess, I wouldn’t ask, then or now.

I understand why sports reporters stick tape recorders and notebooks in athlete’s faces moments after they’ve taken season or career-ending losses. It’s part of the job and yet it’s not fair to the reporters or the athletes.

Sometimes it’s better to just let a person have room to breathe, a moment to themselves to begin to absorb everything they’ve gone through, the highs and lows of years of sweat, hard work and dedication.

While there was obviously sadness, I hope, that in that moment, and in the time since, Reilly also dwelled on the positives of his season and career.

Of all he accomplished, of all those he inspired and impressed with his ability, his drive and his commitment.

He was a standout on the diamond, a dude with a rocket for an arm, fleet feet and a dangerous bat, and he played a key role on the first CHS baseball team to win a league title after 24 years of wandering in the wilderness.

That came during his junior season when Reilly, CJ and Hunter Smith, Cole Payne and Co. swept to the crown in the Olympic League, accomplishing something no Wolf diamond squad had achieved since 1991.

While the Coupeville football team didn’t win any league titles during his run, Reilly, who rose to be a captain by his senior season, provided Wolf coaches with multiple options.

He could run, slashing through the line. He could snag passes, pulling in bombs while being blanketed. He could size up a guy and drop his rear on the turf, wherever you played him on defense.

And, maybe most memorably, Reilly could kick the ever-lovin’ snot out of the ball.

A dangerous return man on special teams, he became Coupeville’s kicker and punter in the latter stages of his career, quickly becoming one of the deadliest booters in the entire state.

Reilly nailed 20 of 21 PAT kicks during his senior year, while racking up nearly 1,200 yards as a punter. Coming in a season where the Wolf offense struggled at times to find a rhythm, his foot was often their best way of moving the ball.

One punt, in particular, will live long in the memories of Wolf fans.

CHS had sputtered out and was pinned deep in its own half of the field, when Reilly, dodging incoming defenders, let loose with an epic kick.

It sailed high, straight and true through the lightly foggy fall evening, arcing and tumbling ever so slightly, then came down behind the would-be returner, tore off a chunk of grass and took a perfect bounce, arcing towards the end zone.

With Wolf special team players in hot pursuit, the opposing team had no chance to return it, and no willingness to backpedal and chase after the rapidly-fleeing football.

By the time a Coupeville player downed the ball, it had traveled, with kick, and well-timed bounce, some 70+ yards, and remains maybe the single most awe-inspiring kick I have seen in a high school game.

Later that same season, while on the road and camped out in a rival team’s press box, I watched Reilly launch moon shot after moon shot on his kicks, earning actual ooh’s and ah’s from an opposing coach camped out a few feet away.

“Lordy, that kid is killin’ us!!,” he wailed into his head set, and then he stopped, rubbed his forehead and sighed deeply.

It was the ultimate sign of respect for one of the ultimate competitors to ever wear a Coupeville jersey.

Your prep sports career may be over, Clay, but you will always live large in our collective memory.

Read Full Post »

Only the best!!

Posted in Cheer, Girls Soccer, Hall o' Fame, Track, tagged , , , , , , , on August 6, 2018| 1 Comment »

Mckenzie Meyer, ready to unleash sweet sounds. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Her future’s so bright, she has to wear shades.

The absolute master of the positive approach.

She was just born talented.

I have known Mckenzie Meyer since the day she popped in to the world, the first of two children born to Sarah and Frank Meyer.

That was back in the lazy, hazy glory days of being paid to watch movies (and do a little managerial work) at Videoville, a 12-year run in which I worked for Mckenzie’s grandmother, Miriam.

The newest Meyer made her video store debut at a very young age, and from the first moment she eyeballed all of us from her perch on the counter, she radiated intelligence.

And I don’t mean she just seemed smart.

I mean she seemed like she was going to cure a disease while solving world hunger while also teaching herself to read Mandarin in the two minutes of free time she had every day.

It’s a feeling which has increased every day since.

Mckenzie is too smart, and too talented, and too awe-inspiring, for one small town on a rock in the middle of the water in the Pacific Northwest to contain, but we here in Coupeville have benefited immensely from what time we have had her here.

Today, I’m inducting her into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

In the moment, that’s something (maybe not epic, but worthy of a nod at least), being enshrined inside these hallowed digital walls.

After this, you’ll find her up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

And, about two seconds after she lands up there, she’ll probably win a much-bigger, much-better award or three.

I feel fully confident that in a few years or so, being in my little, sorta fake Hall o’ Fame should still be at least the 245th biggest thing she’s done. Maybe…

Mckenzie, as much as any high school athlete or student I have seen come through Cow Town, is fated to be big. Like world famous big.

She has a personality which is a mixture of joy and wonderment, and she charges full-tilt at any and every obstacle or opportunity with a grin which wraps up the whole world in a hug.

Give her a sport, any sport, and she did well.

In cheer, she was a volcano erupting, showering everyone with school spirit. A captain who was the loudest, the proudest, and the first to pick up her teammates, those she was cheering for, and the fans.

It could be an epic win or a crushing defeat, and Mckenzie tackled things with the same glee, the same desire to make every performance the best she ever delivered.

And if lil’ bro Caleb was playing? Miss Meyer could turn the sound system up to 120, thank you very much.

Her spirit and never-say-die attitude carried over to her time on the soccer pitch, the tennis court, and the world of track and field, where she competed in a gazillion events, including holding the school record in the pole vault.

Sports, though, are but a small sliver of what makes Mckenzie the whirlwind she is.

She was a veteran of the stage, bouncing from comedy to drama as an award-worthy thespian.

A woman born to wail when you put a sax in her hand and fired up the band.

Toss her into the cutthroat world of Science Olympiad? She made Einstein sit up in his grave, just so he could bow in appreciation of her skill.

Look, I’m not impartial here.

I think Mckenzie is one of the most talented, kind, brilliant people on the face of this planet.

Seeing her grow up, holding on to the fire that burns brightly inside, while always challenging herself and achieving remarkable things, has been great.

I think the world of this young woman. Did when she was a few days old, did when she first went to school, do today, and will many years down the road.

There’s a ton of reasons to induct Mckenzie into my Hall o’ Fame.

The biggest one? She classes up the joint.

Read Full Post »

Calm, cool and classy!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , , on August 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame inductees CJ (left) and Hunter Smith, with lil’ sis, and probable future inductee, Scout. (Charlotte Young photo)

Sometimes you get lucky.

Coupeville has a history of losing great athletes in their prime thanks to family moves or other matters, from Kwamane Bowens and Jessica Riddle to Joe Whitney.

But, once in awhile, Cow Town gets to wave hello and not goodbye, hitting the jackpot when Sarah, Amy and Beth Mouw suddenly showed up, or when Jordan Ford, Amanda Allmer or Linda Cheshier popped in late in their prep careers.

The single biggest payoff, though, might have come when Chris Smith and Charlotte Young moved to Whidbey in 2014.

Both are coaches, and have gone on to work with Central Whidbey athletes, Charlotte on the little league softball diamond and Chris in high school volleyball, basketball and baseball.

But it was the fact they brought their three children, CJ, Hunter, and Scout, which really sealed the deal.

In one fell swoop, Coupeville athletics got a major injection of talent, hard work and class, and it’s been a sweet ride for local fans ever since.

While Scout is already making a name for herself, playing varsity volleyball, basketball and softball last year as a CHS sophomore, her career highlights are still being crafted.

Today, we gather to honor her older brothers, who, with their days as Wolf athletes having come to a close, gain entry into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

After this, they’ll sit up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab, where they join other stellar Wolf brother combos such as James and Ian Smith (no relation) and Kyle and Tyler King.

With CJ and Hunter, there hasn’t been much doubt since day one that they would be entering these hallowed digital hallways.

They were transcendent stars from the moment they pulled on the Wolf uniform for the first time, and they exited the same way they entered, pulling off remarkable achievements while showing the composure of a Zen master.

CJ was the first to hit, joining the CHS basketball team midway through his sophomore year.

One moment there was a newcomer in street clothes on the bench, intently watching the floor like a hawk while the stands buzzed about his possible identity. The next, he was part of the fabric of Wolf Nation.

He was always a strong basketball player, quick and committed and always about team, but he also soared on the football field, a two-way terror who caught passes and broke them up with equal skill.

It was the baseball diamond where CJ wrote the most impressive chapter of his Wolf career, however.

We had him for three full seasons in his favorite sport, and Captain Cool was the go-to guy when you needed a win, an out or a strike.

Hand him the ball, as the Wolves did when they played for their first league title in 25 years in 2016, and CJ was money in the bank.

Try to scan his face at any one moment when he was on the diamond, and it was virtually impossible to know if he was 10 runs up or trailing 1-0. There was no bend in the steel in his spine, no way to ruffle him or make him sweat.

CJ had multiple games where he soared, but the title-clincher will live on in memory forever … and in the words of this story:

Destiny called, Wolves answered!!

Hunter was in the starting lineup that day, as well, notching the first of his two league titles (he would pull his own CJ-style senior moment in 2018, pitching the Wolves past Chimacum).

It was part of maybe the most-consistent four-year run I have seen any Coupeville athlete put together.

There’s a reason the middle child landed at #1 among male athletes when I picked the best I’ve covered in the six-year run of Coupeville Sports.

Other than a couple of times when injuries forced him to the sidelines, Hunter was in the lineup and making plays every dang day he had in a Wolf uniform.

On the football field, he torched foes, hauling in passes and turning them into touchdown romps, then popping right back out to pick off a rival QB on the next set of downs.

By the time he was finished, even missing the final five games of his senior year after having his body twisted in 23 different directions while being gang-tackled at Vashon, Hunter finished with seven CHS football records, most of any Wolf gridiron star.

Put him on a basketball court, pop a ball in his hand, pray his sometimes-balky back wouldn’t conspire against him, and he was old-school magic in a new-school world.

Hunter finished #12 all-time on the Wolf boys hoops scoring list, and would have gone higher if not for his back, and his own humility, as he was never one to run the score up.

There were times, numerous times, when he curtailed his own scoring to feed a hot teammate.

If Ethan Spark was feeling it from three-point land, or Wiley Hesselgrave was poppin’ hanging jumpers, Hunter made sure they had the ball.

When I say he was old-school, like his siblings, I mean it.

Hunter played, always, like someone who grew up with coaches for parents, and, when the legends of Wolf basketball came back to the CHS gym for last year’s 101-year anniversary, you could see (and hear) their appreciation for how he played the game.

Baseball capped his career, as he smacked hits left and right, fired strikes, won a league MVP, helped lead two title-winning teams and, even the one day he got (somewhat unfairly) tossed by an ump, played the game with — and stop me if you’ve heard this before — class above all else.

That is the defining trait of CJ, Hunter, Scout, Chris, and Charlotte – class.

All five have a competitive fire that rages unabated, all approach each season with a glint in their eyes and a (slight) smile on their lips.

Talent flows through their veins, yes, but without class, talent means little.

As fans, we may appreciate talent, but we respect class. And my respect for their family is off the charts.

Read Full Post »

Killer Kat? She was all that!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, Softball, Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on May 25, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Katrina McGranahan, a killer with a soaring spirit. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Already a star, even before she stepped into the hallways at Coupeville High School.

An athlete who enjoyed every moment she was given.

Katrina McGranahan entered as a star, and exited as a legend.

The Coupeville High School senior, who celebrates her 18th birthday today, excelled at every sport she played, even the one she didn’t really enjoy.

And, while she gave up basketball shortly into her high school career, after dominating in middle school, McGranahan embraced stardom and a role as a quiet leader in both volleyball and softball.

On the court, she broke through as a freshman, making her varsity debut late in the season and flashing signs of the big-time power hitter she would become.

For the next three seasons, McGranahan was front and center, an All-Conference pick, a league MVP, an invaluable contributor on squads which won back-to-back league titles and returned to state after a 14-year absence.

Her kills at the net were delivered with precise power, her blocks with high-flying grace and her service aces with an extra bit of zing.

As good as she was on the volleyball court, it is softball which holds her heart, and the diamond is where Killer Kat has truly soared.

A dangerous hitter who combines power, an ability to hit to all fields, speed and smarts, McGranahan has been Coupeville’s most consistent weapon since day one of her freshman campaign.

When she’s at shortstop, she displays a gun for an arm and a nose for always tracking down even the hardest-hit or weirdest-hit balls.

One of the best plays I have ever witnessed on the prairie came courtesy McGranahan, who, battling epic winds, started to retreat as a pop up corkscrewed over her head.

Then the prairie breeze slammed into the ball in mid-air like a runaway freight train, the ball came to a dead stop in mid-flight, made a little scream and pitched forward, careening towards the Earth.

McGranahan spun in mid-stride, launched herself face-first into oblivion and somehow, against all odds and most of the laws of the known universe, reached the ball with the tip of her glove.

That she touched the ball was a miracle.

That she somehow speared said ball was extraordinary.

That she held onto said ball, pulling it back into her body as she slammed into the unforgiving infield dirt, and completed the play, refusing to let the ball separate itself from her glove?

That made even the impartial umpire behind her scream like a little girl who has just gotten a pony.

And, you know, with all this talk of shortstop, McGranahan rarely played there.

Because, from day one to the final moments of her prep career, she was the young woman who reached out, game after game, took the ball and strode into the pitcher’s circle, ready to face whatever came her way.

Instead of easing into the role while being an understudy as a freshman, McGranahan was thrown into the fire right away as veteran hurler McKayla Bailey rehabbed an injury.

Katrina never blinked, never hesitated. She snapped off strikes as a 9th grader and was still snapping off strikes as a 12th grader, and all that changed was who was behind the plate to catch her pitches.

Over the past six years, in all of her sports, I have witnessed her deliver big moment after big moment, capture epic wins and fight to the final moment in agonizing losses.

I have seen her smile many times as an athlete, and I have seen her cry a few times as well, and the fact there was many more smiles than tears makes me happy.

If Katrina had never played a sport, her strength, spirit, warmth and class would have still made her stand out.

But she was an athlete, one of the best I have written about, a young woman who cared deeply for her teammates, a warrior who fought for every play but had the grace to accept the outcome, good or bad.

As she moves on to play college ball, my enduring image of Killer Kat will be of her pacing in the pitcher’s circle, her fingers kneading the ball, the game on the line, and yet, amid the tension, a huge smile on her face.

She was a killer, but one who was enjoying every moment.

So, today, we wish Miss McGranahan a happy birthday (and much cake) and we officially welcome her into the company of her fellow legends, inducting her into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

After this, you’ll find her name up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

There was never a doubt she would end up here.

I knew it from the first time I watched her play in middle school, and the last six years have simply reinforced my first opinion.

Sometimes it’s nice to be right.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »