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Archive for the ‘Hall o’ Fame’ Category

Vondrak a talented athlete, better human being

Posted in Hall o' Fame, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on June 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Maddie Vondrak, a (humble) superstar. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Be humble and kind.

In everything I have seen and heard over the past five years, Maddie Vondrak has, quietly and without a lot of chest-thumping, been the very-best of what a prep athlete can be.

On the volleyball court, she has been a thumper and a destroyer, capable of inflicting grave damage when she elevates and sprays spikes in all directions.

From middle school to high school, JV to varsity, Vondrak excelled in displaying her spiker skills.

But there are a lot of people who have a certain amount of ability, a certain amount of being able to get their limbs to work in the athletic spotlight.

Vondrak soars above the crowd for her joy, for the sheer delight she took in every successful play accomplished by both herself and her teammates.

Few Wolves have celebrated with such unabashed glee, soaking up every high point and marinating in the moment.

Arms waving, feet stomping, smile bouncing off one gym wall to the other (even in a time of Covid masks), Vondrak extracted every bit of fun she could from her time as a spiker.

Celebrating her teammates accomplishments with as much glee as her own.

Time will move on, life will take in her other directions, but when she looks back, Maddie will know she gave everything she had.

She embraced everything about her sport, and I hope she always smiles when she reflects on all she and her teammates accomplished.

Vondrak has been part of some very-successful Wolf volleyball squads, and, as she blossomed as a player, the program reached new heights along with her.

But her impact goes far beyond what she did while chasing the bouncing white ball.

Early in her prep career, Vondrak was injured and unable to play in several matches.

Instead of moping around, she seized the moment, volunteering to assist JV coach Chris Smith with his post-game reports to the press.

“And then I told Coach Smith to relax … I got this!”

Her recaps were pure bursts of joy, as Vondrak went out of her way to say something unique and positive about each of her teammates, from the starters to the bench.

It’s rare for coaches to find a way to praise every player — though some certainly try — but even rarer for someone who is still a teen at the time to be able to step outside themselves and fully appreciate the contributions of their fellow athletes.

Vondrak also showed a talent for photography, snapping pics of her classmates as shown in this article:

Maddie Vondrak has her eye (and camera) on you!! | Coupeville Sports

A lot of people fire up cameras at games, but Vondrak has a rare eye, an ability to capture an intimacy with her subjects which doesn’t always come through with other photographers.

Maddie with big sis Peytin. 

Coupeville got lucky when it didn’t lose Maddie midway through her high school days.

Her father’s Naval career took a detour, with a promotion pulling him away from NAS Whidbey and off to California, but his daughter arranged to stay behind and finish with her CHS classmates.

That meant a Senior Night for volleyball and graduation, a chance to complete her journey alongside the other Class of 2021 students she shared classrooms and gym floors with.

Vondrak came in to high school as a Wolf, and she exited as a Wolf, and, no matter where she goes in life, she will always be a Wolf.

Her intelligence and drive, her joy and kindness, her quiet strength, will carry her far. Of that I have no doubt.

Wherever she goes, and whatever she does, in the years to come, Maddie will leave a huge mark on this world.

And when she does, we will look back at her Coupeville days, nod and smile, and say, “There was never a doubt.”

Inducting her into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame is an easy decision.

After this, when you stroll past the top of the blog, Vondrak will be up there, hanging out under the Legends tab.

She deserves all the praise, all the recognition, even if she will likely deflect it to those around her.

Maddie is a talented volleyball player, but a better human being.

The former let her make an impact in the relatively small world of Cow Town sports.

The latter means she helps make our universe a happier and healthier place, which matters far more.

You’re an amazing young woman, Miss Vondrak, on your way to even-bigger accomplishments, and that’s something we can all agree on.

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Unbowed, undefeated, unmatched

Posted in Hall o' Fame, Softball, tagged , , , , on June 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Izzy Wells was dynamic in the pitcher’s circle, and at the plate, leading Coupeville to a 12-0 record in a pandemic-altered season. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

They survived, and they thrived.

Thanks to the pandemic, the 2021 Coupeville High School softball season was played out of order, was shortened, and came with no chance to advance to the playoffs.

But it was played, which was a win in itself after the 2020 campaign was cancelled during the early days of Covid.

And once on the field, this group of Wolves put together a season which can stand among the very-best the CHS diamond program has produced in its nearly 50-year history.

Returning to the Northwest 2B/1B League after an extended absence, Coupeville quickly let everyone know the path to a conference crown would run through Cow Town.

Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan had a roster which was dotted with a few holdovers from 2019 — when Coupeville advanced to the state 1A tourney.

But many of his players were essentially “redshirt” sophomores — girls who had been denied a freshman season by Covid — and newcomers to the program.

It didn’t matter, as veterans and newbies meshed almost flawlessly, with Coupeville running the table at 12-0.

The Wolves outscored their NWL foes 154-41, while trailing only one time all season.

And that was CHS being nice, as it could have trafficked in much-bigger blowouts in many of those games, but chose to show respect and not hang 50 runs on anyone.

Kylie Van Velkinburgh was one of many Wolves to swing a big bat.

McGranahan had a lineup which hit for power and precision from top to bottom, led by seniors Mollie Bailey and Chelsea Prescott.

In the field, the Wolves played often-inspired defense, while junior hurler Izzy Wells dominated opposing hitters.

As a freshman, the fireball-chucking pitcher carried Coupeville to a 1A North Sound Conference league title and the aforementioned trip to state.

After missing season #2 for reasons out of her control, Wells emerged as an even-more confident strikeout queen as a junior, one who was taller, stronger, and yet just as calmly serene behind her mask.

Or two masks in this case, as she and her teammates wore Covid-resistant coverings under their customary “don’t let a softball bust my nasal cavity wide open” metal face masks.

There are many reasons why the 2021 Wolf softball team deserves to be remembered as one of the best, in any sport, to wear the red and black.

This team, which went 24 players deep, faced down obstacles never seen in previous years, from face masks and social distancing, to the constant fear of their season being prematurely ended as other schools suffered failed Covid tests.

Through it all, they never lost their spirit, and never wavered in their pursuit of excellence.

They accepted life as it came at them, and for a few hours each game, went out and gave themselves, their families, their coaches, and their fans a reason to believe that there could still be good things in the middle of a pandemic.

To a woman, these Wolf softball sluggers excelled on and off the field, and did it with admirable attitudes even as the world around them seemed to crash down on a daily basis.

Mollie Bailey, having a heartfelt conversation with her #1 fan, led CHS in several offensive categories.

No CHS team in any sport, male or female, has ever finished an undefeated season with as many wins as this squad did.

There were great Wolf softball teams before the 2021 edition, and there will likely be some very-good ones playing on the prairie in the coming years.

But when we look back, this year’s team is one which will stand the test of time, one which will be remembered and hailed always.

So today we induct the 2021 CHS softball team — six coaches and 24 players — into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

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

They earned it, every step of the way.

 

The 2021 CHS softball team:

 

Coaches:

Lark Gustafson
Aaron Lucero
Kevin McGranahan
Justine McGranahan
Katrina McGranahan
Ron Wright

 

Players:

Mollie Bailey
Elisa Caroppo
Karyme Castro
Coral Caveness
Jackie Contreras
Gwen Gustafson
Ivy Leedy
Lily Leedy
Allie Lucero
Maya Lucero
Lacy McCraw-Shirron
Heidi Meyers
Allison Nastali
Melanie Navarro
Maya Nottingham
River Ozturk
Sofia Peters
Chelsea Prescott
Jill Prince
Audrianna Shaw
Mckenna Somes
Kylie Van Velkinburgh
Izzy Wells
Bella Whalen

Seniors Chelsea Prescott (9), Bailey (13), and Coral Caveness (1), state tourney veterans, led by example.

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A man of many talents

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on February 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Big goals, big celebrations for Sebastian Davis. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

He could seemingly do it all.

Athletics, academics, or activities — if Sebastian Davis put his mind to it, he could accomplish great things.

All while making it look easy-peasy from the outside, and without making others around him feel like they were accomplishing less.

That’s a rare talent, to be overwhelmingly successful while never coming across as a glory hound.

Sebastian cycled through just about every sport at some time during his run through Coupeville schools, but there are two where he made a truly enduring impact.

On the soccer pitch, he burst onto the scene as a fully-formed, goal-scoring beast, an electrifying complement to established stars such as Abraham Leyva and Zane Bundy.

His standout season, at least in terms of stats, came during his junior campaign, when he punched in six goals for the Wolves, second-best on the squad.

Most of Sebastian’s pitch tallies were of the impressive type, as evidenced in the photo above.

He had a knack for flying in from the side, plucking the ball away from a rival player, then using a lil’ razzle-dazzle to baffle the goaltender.

The ball would go one way, the netminder the other, and, up in the CHS press box, close friend Sebastian Wurzrainer would get to softly bellow, “GOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL.”

It was a good set-up.

But as much as he turbo-charged things on the soccer field, Sebastian had his best run on the tennis court.

Davis and Loren Nelson enjoy the fruits of their labors at a tennis banquet. (Wendy McCormick photo)

He made the postseason every year, for four years running, captured a league singles titles, and sits on Wolf coach Ken Stange’s list of the best-ever players he’s coached in Coupeville.

“Sebastian, despite almost always having a lead role in the fall theater production, always found a way to be the star on both the court and the stage,” Stange said.

“What’s more, his did it while maintaining a ridiculously high academic standard.”

The long-time coach was most impressed with how Sebastian collected his wins.

“He didn’t have the big serve and forehand that most singles players desired,” Stange said. “But he did have amazing drive and passion for the game.

“He kept focus, ran every ball down, and played every shot like it was the shot that could win the match. That kind of attitude inspired others to reach similar heights.”

Davis and teammates (left to right) Connor McCormick, Joey Lippo, and William Nelson bagged many a tennis award. (Ken Stange photo)

As Stange noted, sports were far from the only stage on which Sebastian excelled.

He was a scholar of great note, won a ton of medals in Science Olympiad competitions, and was the leading man of choice for the CHS theater troupe.

Sebastian was the Cary Grant of Coupeville, bringing a puckish charm to his many roles on the stage, all while balancing learning his lines with his many other activities.

After high school, he went on to another well-lit stage, studying Earth and Space Sciences and Aeronautics and Astronautics at the University of Washington, where he graduated in 2020.

Today, in an event which should have happened a long time ago, we welcome Sebastian to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, inducting him into our hallowed digital shrine for his excellence as an athlete and student.

After this, you’ll find him hanging out under the Legends tab at the top of the blog.

He is proof that small towns can produce big superstars, and that those same superstars can achieve epic heights while remaining down to Earth.

Sebastian Davis — a winner in every way.

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“Badass” Bernhardt the light in the world

Posted in Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on December 31, 2020| 2 Comments »

SarahRose Bernhardt, the very definition of “a truly lovely human being.” (All photos poached from her Facebook account)

SarahRose Bernhardt is special.

Always has been, always will be.

It takes a special talent to light up every room you enter, to make others feel good about themselves, to achieve and inspire without asking for credit.

But that is SarahRose.

We live in a world which has grown harsher in the past few years.

Or, at the very least, one in which people are much more inclined to be abrasive to each other, to demean and ridicule.

There are days where it feels like there is little hope of kindness reclaiming the public mood.

Which is why SarahRose is like a light at the edge of the world, buffeted like the rest of us, but not willing to give up the fight.

In the same year that the Coupeville High School grad and her fiancée, David, returned to find their home burning to the ground, she has endured, and she has prospered.

As a new year dawns, SarahRose is not sitting back. She has moved to the front of the crowd, pursuing a medical calling at the height of a worldwide pandemic.

In the pictures she and her proud parents have posted, we see a young woman who pulls on fire gear, hefts a saw half the size of her body, and moves into action.

“Badass” Bernhardt (far right), ready to battle whatever comes her way.

We see a brilliant student, a talented dancer — an actress and cheerleader during her high school days — who, clad in PPE from head to toe, brings healthcare right to the front doors of those in need.

Working for Dispatch Health out of Seattle, SarahRose is, like the others she works with, a reassuring face in a troubled time.

That she would make this decision, to be part of the solution at a moment of crisis, is not surprising to me.

While I don’t think I’ve seen her in person since back in the Videoville days, SarahRose, like her parents and siblings, was always something special.

She graduated from CHS in 2004, after being a member of the Hi Q Academic Quiz Bowl team, serving as a school board rep, participating in the Learning Partner program, and being a group leader for Honor Society.

Not content to stop there, SarahRose was also a tutor, an active volunteer in the community, and a team leader for the Wolf cheer squad.

Graduation from the University of Washington, after a similar string of accomplishments, arrived in 2008.

In her post-school days, she used her love of dance to inspire countless people through her work at places such as Barre3 Bellevue and Daybreaker Seattle.

And now, a frontline worker in a troubled time, a continuing ray of hope in all she achieves, and how she reaches those goals.

A day at the beach with her fiancée and the doggos.

As I said before, SarahRose has never been one for beating her chest, screaming out why she rules (even if she does), and expecting folks to get in line and bow to her.

Too bad, cause we’re going to do the latter part right now.

That’s because we’re capping 2020 by inducting SarahRose Bernhardt into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

Since it’s technically a digital shrine to athletic achievement, she’ll be listed as a cheerleader, even if she’s really going in for that and a billion other things.

After this, if you wander past the top of the blog and look under the Legends tab, that’s where you’ll find her hanging out.

At least on-line.

In real life, SarahRose will be found where need arises, where her skills and hard work will accomplish much, where she can leave behind an impact on the world she moves through.

She is a badass, and she is the light, and she makes her hometown proud, every day.

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Eternal and timeless in her kindness

Posted in Cheer, Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , 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.

Hangin’ out with mom Dea. (Beth Kuchynka photo)

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