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New year, old favorites!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged Chris Tumblin, CHS Wolves, Cole Payne, Dave Engle, Hall of Fame, Living Hope Foursquare Church, Morgan Payne on January 1, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Chris Tumblin (top left, in shades) is joined by (clockwise) Dolores and Dave Engle and Cole and Morgan Payne.

Let the fireworks explode.

We’re kicking off 2017 with a robust group of inductees as we welcome the 80th class into the Coupeville Sports Hall of Fame.

Two brothers who were quiet warriors through good times and bad, the unofficial mom and dad of Wolf Nation and the only local coach to have won a state title all come together for this landmark New Years Day induction.

So, with that, we welcome Dolores and Dave Engle, Morgan and Cole Payne and Chris “Rumblin” Tumblin to our little digital wonderland.

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

We’re kicking things off with the Engles, who are among the most faithful, and good-natured, Wolf fans in all the land.

If there’s a fundraiser, the duo are there to support it.

If there’s a game, they will be in the stands, especially if one of their many children or grandchildren are involved.

And yet, it’s pretty safe to say that Dolores and Dave view everyone in town as their unofficial family, and treat everyone with a rare kindness, whether related by blood or not.

Over the course of Coupeville Sports 52-month run, they have been as supportive of my work as anyone, and their quiet words of praise, always delivered with a smile, have meant a great deal to me.

Especially since it has come from two people who I have a great deal of respect for myself.

The idea of inducting Dave Engle sprang from former CHS football coach Tony Maggio, but I knew Dave needed to go in alongside his wife.

It is truly a thrill to honor Mr. and Mrs. Engle, for all that they have done for our school and town and for simply putting a smile on all of our faces every day.

Joining them in the Hall are the Payne brothers, who, as much as any athletes I have covered, exemplify putting hard work, dedication and love of team ahead of personal accomplishment.

Morgan was a standout basketball and baseball player, a blue collar guy on the hard-court and a hit machine with a slick glove on the diamond.

He was a key member of the 2010 Central Whidbey Little League junior baseball squad that won a state title (under the guidance of Tumblin) and went on to craft a stellar high school career.

The elder Payne brother didn’t waste much time talking when it was time to play, but his actions spoke loud enough to be heard all across the prairie.

Of all his many accomplishments, my favorite will always be the day he dashed home from second, sliding through a wall of half-frozen mud to lift CHS to a wild, come-from-behind extra innings win over Nooksack Valley.

That afternoon was the most brutal affair I have endured on the prairie (and yes, I was stupidly wearing shorts…), full of howling wind, cold, slicing rain and an improbable 9-8 Wolf win.

As Morgan slid past the tag and whacked his hand on the plate, it signaled more than a victory.

It meant the seven fans still in attendance after four ungodly hours of frozen Hell were free, free at last, thank God almighty. Morgan Payne — my hero, always.

His younger brother was more talkative (at least in public), a slick-talkin’, fast-walkin’, big-game-winnin’ supernova who overcame 22,089 injuries to shine as a football, tennis and baseball star.

Cole was a missile on the gridiron, launching himself airborne in a mad quest to separate ball carrier from ball, and it was that wild man attitude that may have cost him a chunk of his prep career.

He was a superb hoops player who never got to play for CHS, as frequent football injuries conspired to prevent him from pulling on a basketball jersey.

Payne made up for it by bringing his A-game to the diamond, where he capped his career by earning 1A Olympic League MVP honors last spring.

It was a fitting tribute to the slugging catcher who led Coupeville to its first baseball league crown since 1990.

Our final inductee, Tumblin, is already in the Hall as a contributor, for a superb string of quotes. Today, though, he gets the big call-up, honored for his work as a baseball coach.

Many know him for his years as Willie Smith’s right hand man in the dugout at CHS, but it’s hard to top being a state champ.

Pulling together a rag-tag bunch of youngsters (OK, they were actually pretty talented and formed the core of Coupeville baseball for years to come), Tumblin shocked the little league world in 2010.

While many of Central Whidbey’s foes drew from much larger regions, allowing them to have true all-star teams, the prairie diamond men never flinched, pulling off one come-from-behind win after another.

Through it all, the man who kept the future Wolves on point was the laid-back EMT with the sly wit, a man who knew when to praise and when to prod his young charges.

Whether Central Whidbey was stumblin’ or rumblin’ that year, they couldn’t have had a better coach than Tumblin.

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Three for the record books!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged Allyson Barker, CHS Wolves, Dalton Martin, Hall of Fame, Jordan Lamb on December 25, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Jordan Lamb (top, left) is joined by fellow Hall o’ Fame inductees Dalton Martin and Allyson Barker.

They were a terrific trio.

Despite competing during different time frames, the three athletes who make up the 79th class inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame share a lot of similarities.

All three were superb in the heat of competition and better people outside the lines, and all three have left a lasting legacy at CHS.

So, let’s welcome today’s honorees — Allyson Barker, Jordan Lamb and Dalton Martin — as they join their brethren here in these hallowed digital hallways.

After this, you’ll find the three of them camped out at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

Today, though, the spotlight shines brightly on them as we look back at their teenage accomplishments.

First up is Barker, who, 19 years after graduation, still remains the most accomplished triple jumper the school has ever seen.

Her record of 35 feet, five and a half inches, set when she was a sophomore in ’95, hasn’t been touched by a Wolf girl since.

Only two other CHS girls — Natasha Bamberger (the 1600 and 3200 in 1984) and Jennie Cross (the shot put and discus in 1990) have held their records longer than Barker, and her mark doesn’t appear to be in much danger.

Coupeville’s best in the event last year, Lauren Grove, was still six feet off of Barker’s best.

Allyson capped her stellar run in the event with an 8th place finish at the 1997 state track meet, and, even as she and her classmates heads towards their 20th reunion, her legacy looms large.

Joining her in the Hall is Lamb, who becomes the fourth member of his family to be inducted.

Sisters Erica and Taniel and lil’ bro Nathan are here to welcome Jordan, a class act on the field, in the classroom and in real life.

Using his long frame to his advantage, Lamb was a standout tennis player — part of the 2009 Wolf boys’ net squad which swept to a district team crown — and booter.

On the pitch, Jordan was a key member of the 2010 CHS boys’ soccer team that stands as the most-successful in school history.

One of five Wolves to earn All-League honors in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference that year, Lamb helped lead his team to a program-record 12 wins, including four in the playoffs.

While they fell to eventual state runner-up Overlake in a thriller, Coupeville’s playoff run, and Lamb’s play in the spotlight, still stand tall.

Like Lamb, our final inductee also exited on top.

A superb athlete who starred in every sport he picked up, Martin was slowed a bit by extensive injuries, most notably a run of concussions, but he never gave in.

While he eventually had to walk away from football, and lost a chunk of his time on the basketball court, he adapted, showing a natural flair on the tennis court, then putting an exclamation point on his career as a track and field star.

Martin, who competed as a thrower for all six of his years at CMS and CHS, built his career steadily uphill.

After claiming 5th place at state in the discus as a junior, he went out in style this past spring.

Qualifying for state in all three throwing events — shot put, discus and javelin — despite having barely hefted a javelin prior, Martin earned medals in all three of his events.

He jumped to 2nd in the discus, an event he holds the school record in, while also claiming 8th place finishes in the other two events.

That allowed him to join a very small group — Jon Chittim, Kyle King, Brian Miller, Tyler King, Makana Stone and Lindsey Roberts are the others — who have won three or more medals at the same state meet.

Martin stands alone, however, as the only Wolf (in 116 years!) to win three throwing medals in the same year.

Plus, he makes videos like this:

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Two for the money!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged Amanda Allmer, baseball, CHS Wolves, David Rochin, Hall of Fame, Willie Smith on December 18, 2016| 1 Comment »

David Rochin

Amanda Allmer (far left). (Photo courtesy Jon Crimmins)

There are good players, great players and then ones who really dominate.

The two superstars who form the 78th class inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame both firmly fall into that latter category.

Amanda Allmer only had one year at CHS, while David Rochin had two, but both left a sizable impact, and are fondly remembered by their coach, Willie Smith, who is taking the dais today to welcome them into the Hall.

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

First though, let’s take a few moments to bask in the afterglow of their vaunted prep careers.

Allmer joined CHS classmate Marnie Bartelson in traveling up to Oak Harbor to play for the Wildcats at a time before Coupeville had its own soccer program.

Anchoring the team in goal, she helped lead OHHS to a league title and a 4th place finish at the 1994 state tourney, then came back to CHS for basketball season, which is where Smith became the happiest coach in all the land at the news of her arrival.

Amanda Allmer, the only true center I ever had play for me and it was in my first year.

Great transfer from Juanita, parents bought, or had owned, the restaurant at the ferry and moved here her senior year.

As a first year coach, having a senior, who was not only extremely talented, but one of the finest leaders I ever had, was a godsend.

She was an extremely hard worker who never quit no matter what the score was.

She was an inside presence that allowed Zenovia Barron, Jen Canfield and Mika Hosek to operate on the perimeter; without Amanda in the middle the development of those three kids takes a lot longer.

She was a great role model for all of our future stars that played with her: in addition to those three we had Ann Pettit, Jen Eelkema and Vanessa Bodley, who all watched her toughness and ended up playing as hard as she did.

She was pretty unstoppable in the middle, and that was when we played in the Cascade Conference in some of the hey-days of the programs.

Sultan, Lakewood, and King’s were perennial league champs and had very strong programs and Amanda was an easy First-Team pick during that time.

As tough as she was on the court, she was as nice and respectful off of it; a great student, superb leader, and even better person.

I feel pretty fortunate to have got to coach her.

Jump forward into the early 2000s and Smith, firmly entrenched as Coupeville’s baseball coach, lucked into his second unexpected superstar.

David (daveed) Rochin (rochine): lived with one of our families here and was not a foreign exchange student as he attended both his junior and senior years.

I would say the best pure baseball player I got to coach here.

He played shortstop and pitcher for us and was unbelievable.

He had a rifle of an arm, great range, and was a great hitter (power and average) ending up hitting .455 his junior year then “dropping off” to .377 his senior year and leading the way in RBI’s and extra base hits both years.

What made him so special was he made everything look so effortless; to say he was smooth would be an understatement. It was just so fun to watch him play.

And he loved to play.

Intense but always with a smile and a quip, he combined with Justin Barnes, Ty Blouin and affable Jacob Henderson as perhaps the greatest quartet of one-liners and greatest goofs I’ve ever coached.

The four of them umpired our Little League baseball games, showing the backbone of our program’s future stars — James Smith, Casey Larson, Kyle Wilcox, Alex Evans, Zach Hauser, Jared Murdy, etc. — how fun the game could be (as well as how hard you needed to work).

The greatest moment for me, and I think for those four seniors was the first game of the year their senior year.

We had had a student transfer to South Whidbey for baseball and it just so happened that we played them first that year.

The game was close and we were up by a run or two in the top of the seventh with two outs and a runner at second; Barnes is on the mound with David at short, Ty at third, and Hendo at first.

As fate would have it, their former teammate steps up the plate; he squibbles a grounder to short and David comes in to make the play.

As he fields the ball, his feet go out from under him; the kid’s hustling down the line so instead of panicking, David simply raises to his knees and throws the kid out by two steps and we go berserk.

Of course David has a big ole grin on his face as he gets mobbed.

One of the nicest kids, perhaps best baseball player I have had, and one of the most memorable moments of my baseball coaching career.

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Big games, big hearts!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged Ashley Manker, CHS Wolves, Hall of Fame, Jared Helmstadter, Soccer, three-balls on December 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Mason Grove (bottom, left) is joined by, clockwise, Ashley (Manker) Bailey, Jared Helmstadter and Paul Mendes, the coach of the 2010 CHS boys soccer team.

There’s a little something for everyone today.

As we prepare to induct the 77th class into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, we’re hitting a lot of bases, with an emphasis on basketball and soccer.

Two athletes, one stellar team and a moment which happened less than 24 hours ago (an “instant” Hall o’ Fame induction) come together as we fling open the door to these hallowed digital halls.

So, with that, we welcome Ashley (Manker) Bailey, Jared Helmstadter, Mason Grove and the 2010 Coupeville High School boys’ soccer squad.

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

Our first inductee, Bailey, was a standout athlete in two sports, patrolling the goalie’s box on the pitch and defending the paint on the hardwood.

The best goaltender the CHS girls soccer program has had in its relatively short run, she used her height and knowledge picked up from coach/dad Gary to thoroughly frustrate opposing teams.

Put her on the hardwood, when her body would cooperate, and Bailey was a consistent scoring threat (the perfect #2 option to high-scoring teammate Megan Smith) who cleaned the glass like few other Wolves.

And when I say consistent, I mean it, as she scored in 42 of the 44 games she played as a sophomore and senior, breaking double digits 16 times.

Bailey went out battling, dropping a game-high 16 against King’s in a four-point playoff loss during her senior season in 2010, then went on to play both her sports at the collegiate level.

Our second inductee, Grove, is just starting his run. With a season of tennis tucked under one arm, the CHS freshman is now five games into his first basketball season.

And yet he may have already done something no other Wolf has ever accomplished.

As far as I can tell, Brad Sherman and Brian Fakkema, who both hit six three-pointers in a varsity game in the early 2000s, are the gold standard for long-range bombers.

Enter Grove, who nailed seven treys, including three in the fourth quarter, last night, part of a 24-point rampage that lifted the Coupeville JV to a roof-rattling 55-51 win over a South Whidbey squad that had two freshmen 6-foot-4 or taller.

Grove is listed at 5’4 on the CHS roster, but put a ball in his hands and he’s a giant. And now, an instant Hall o’ Famer.

Our third inductee, the 2010 Wolf boys’ soccer squad, stands as the best team in the history of the program.

Playing for legendary coach/original Seattle Sounder Paul Mendes, whose own induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame was maybe about #347 on his list of soccer accomplishments, the Wolves won a program-record 12 games that year.

Four of those victories came during a six-game playoff run, in which Coupeville toppled Lynden Christian, Nooksack Valley, Orting and Meridian before falling to Overlake at the state tourney.

Led by a very strong pack of seniors (including five who netted All-Conference honors — Spencer Tack, Justin Adams, Travis Curtin, Jordan Lamb and Evan Ameluxen-Coleman), the Wolves survived a brutal schedule that season.

Playing in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference, they faced King’s (4th in 1A) and ATM (which lost 1-0 to eventual 2A state champ Bellingham in the quarterfinals), while Overlake went on to finish second in 1A.

Through it all, they relied on an aggressive defense and the goal-tending of Ameluxen-Coleman to reach heights never seen before or since by a Coupeville soccer team.

Our final inductee, Helmstadter, may not have the same numbers as some of his fellow Hall o’ Famers, but he fully deserves his spot as one of the hardest workers I have witnessed in the prep sports world.

Few athletes got as much enjoyment out of their high school sports career as he did, a time when he was the only student in the CHS Class of 2016 to play all 12 seasons.

Through four years of tennis, basketball and track (which ended with a trip to state in the 4 x 400), there was never a moment when Helmstadter didn’t seize whatever opportunity was given him.

Born prematurely at 26 weeks (weighing just two pounds), he wasn’t expected to survive and has dealt with blindness in his left eye his entire life.

Some would give up early, others later. Not Jared.

A tremendously supportive teammate who gave every ounce of energy he had, Helmstadter is the person I would offer up to all young athletes as a role model.

Your high school days are going to be shorter than you think.

Enjoy whatever sports experience you get to have, never stop striving to be the best YOU can be, and walk away with a lot of memories.

Simply put, be like Jared.

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Spanning the decades!!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged Hall of Fame, Mary Sherman, Matt Shank, Robert Engle, Sarah Stuurmans on December 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Sarah Stuurmans (left) is joined by Matt Shank and Class of ’25 alumni Robert Engle and Mary Sherman.

We’re going (way) old school and (relatively) new school today.

As we welcome our 76th class to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, it’s comprised of three athletes and one coach (who was an amazing athlete herself, just not here on Whidbey) from vastly different time frames.

So, let’s swing the door open to these hallowed digital hallways and usher in Robert “Fat” Engle, Sarah Stuurmans, Mary Sherman and Matt Shank.

After this, you’ll find them up at the top of the blog under the Legends tab, hanging out with their fellow inductees.

Our first two inductees, Engle and Sherman, graduated from Coupeville High School in 1925, a time when the school’s sports teams were still referred to as the Cardinals and not the Wolves.

Sherman, who was the class Valedictorian, was a trailblazer, the captain of a CHS girls’ basketball team that played decades before Title IX evened things out a bit.

Perusing the school’s 1925 annual, The Clarion, is a look into a different time.

The only girls sports team at CHS (boys had football, basketball, baseball and track), the female hoops stars practiced three times a week and shrank from 20 players to a final 11 who are listed as letter winners.

The highlight of the season was a win over Island rival Langley, and Sherman was hailed for her work as captain, proving “very capable” of her duties.

Her classmate, Engle, was a four-sport athlete who played for three teams that won county championships his senior season.

In football, he was an imposing lineman for a squad which roughed up Oak Harbor 23-6 and 25-7, while in basketball he was the team captain as the Cards swept two games apiece from their two Island foes.

CHS appears to have won a district title, downing Index, then went on to play three games at the Northwest Tournament before moving on to spring.

Once there Coupeville won a county championship in track (Engle was a beast in the shot put) and came within a win of capturing a baseball crown and making it 4-for-4 that year.

Many decades later, our third inductee, Shank, showed up in Cow Town after his dad, Jim, was hired as Coupeville’s Superintendent.

During his time as a Wolf, Matt played football, basketball and track and his induction into the Hall is a testament to his work ethic.

While he didn’t set any records at CHS, Shank will loom large for years as the kind of athlete coaches love to point to when they talk about the value of role players.

Whether anchoring the line for the gridiron squad, fighting for rebounds down in the paint or hurling the javelin, he was a team player, first, last and always, a guy who fought the same during razor-tight wins and blowout losses.

Shank was part of the Class of 2015, but, ultimately, he was a throwback to old school athletes.

He played in a time dominated by cell phones and social media, but carried himself like the guys who played in the “old days,” more concerned with his team’s progress than his own numbers or how many times he could be photographed.

Shank’s younger siblings, Brian and Ashlie, play very much like their brother, so I kind of think it’s a family trait. And an admirable one at that.

Our final inductee today, Stuurmans, goes in to the Hall as a coach, if only because this is not Tenino Sports.

Growing up as a Hollingsworth, she was a key player (earning All-Conference honors) on dominant Tenino High School squads which made runs at state in basketball and soccer.

In a moment of kismet, she and her hoops team finished 6th in 2A at state in 2001-2002, winning their first two games to advance to the semifinals.

At the same time, in the 1A tourney? Coupeville won its first two games, also fell in the semis and also finished 6th.

After marriage to former Wolf hoops star Scott Stuurmans, Sarah pulled stints as a basketball coach for Coupeville Middle School.

While there she helped kick-start the careers of players like Mia Littlejohn, Lauren Grove, Joey Lippo and Cameron Toomey-Stout, to name just a few.

Makana Stone, arguably the best female player in town history, hails Stuurmans as being the coach who first unlocked her love of basketball.

Plus, Sarah is one of the best interview subjects ever, which always tilts the chances of getting inducted into Hall of Fames run by ink-stained “journalists.”

While a teaching position in Oak Harbor (and wanting to spend time with her family) has denied us the chance to have Stuurmans on the bench the last year or two, there’s always the hope she may return one day.

If not, she remains one of the most faithful of Wolf fans and boosters, and could probably still take to the court (after the upcoming birth of children #3 and #4, who are arriving together) and teach the current players a few lessons.

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