Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Happy birthday’ Category

Kyla (John Fisken photos)

   Kyla Briscoe may be on crutches as she recovers from a ripped-up ankle, but she’s still a vital part of the Wolf volleyball program. (John Fisken photos)

Briscoe

Briscoe cheers on her classmates during the season-opening football game.

"Really? You're gonna take my picture ... again?" (Valen Trujillo photo)

“Really? You’re gonna take my picture … again?” (Valen Trujillo photo)

Kyla Briscoe is a walking, talking ray of sunshine.

The Coupeville High School junior, who celebrates a birthday today, is the same now as when she was, say, five years old.

She’s taller, certainly, and a far more polished athlete now than she was as a kindergartner, that’s true.

But she remains as friendly, warm, and irrepressible as she has always been, a genuinely kind and caring young woman who is fiercely loyal to her family and friends.

Kyla has a backbone of steel, which you can see as she deals with the disappointment of missing volleyball season.

Having shredded her ankle during a summer camp in Bellingham, she’s on crutches and missing out on a final chance to play alongside big sis Tiffany.

As hard as the ordeal has to be, Kyla has remained front and center with the spikers, showing up for practices and games, staying a vital part of a team for which she lettered her first two years.

The hope is she will be able to return for basketball season, rejoining a squad she helped take to state last year.

If not, if the rehab stretches on longer than anticipated, Wolf b-ball coaches David and Amy King plan to keep Briscoe just as involved as volleyball coach Cory Whitmore has done.

And why not?

Having Kyla’s energy, good humor and quiet wit around to brighten up her team’s day is huge.

Whether she’s playing or helping out, she is invaluable.

That carries over off the court, as well.

I’ve known Kyla most of her life, and she and Tiffany are as rock-solid a duo as they come.

You mess with one, you better be ready to mess with the other, as on-court foes have discovered, because they don’t back down when defending their sister.

Highly-intelligent, well-spoken (though generally soft-spoken … in public, at least), Kyla should make parents Amy and Rich very proud.

She is one of the best and brightest we have in Wolf Nation, and, as much as she’s probably blushing right now and dismissively waving away the praise, she truly deserves it.

So, from all of us, happy birthday Kyla, and may you have a speedy recovery.

There are a lot of stars, but you, Miss Briscoe, are a true superstar.

Read Full Post »

Cassidy Moody

   Birthday girl Cassidy Moody (left) makes a point with fellow Wolf track star Ja’Tarya Hoskins.

Moody

   The smartly-dressed Moody hangs out with Melia Welling at a boys’ basketball game. (John Fisken photo)

Remember the name Cassidy Moody.

Why, you ask?

Because the quicksilver Coupeville High School freshman, who celebrates a birthday today, is headed for big things.

One of the best and brightest young stars in Cow Town, athletically gifted and serene of spirit, Moody seems to glide whenever she walks by.

A strong, gifted young woman with a light scoring touch on the basketball court, where she frequently torches foes, she’s also one of the most promising young track stars in Wolf Nation.

While competing at the middle school level Moody was a jack-of-all-trades, vying in numerous events.

She was a sprinter (100, 200), stretched it out to a full lap around the oval (400), did hurdles, long jump, high jump, even found time to be a relay runner.

And she did it all extremely well, grabbing victories in both the hurdles and high jump, with the latter coming in the league championship meet during her 8th grade season.

With the graduation of CHS track titans such as Makana Stone and Sylvia Hurlburt, Wolf coach Randy King will be looking to his young guns to step up as Coupeville debuts its sparkling new track.

My money is on Moody, who has the skill and carriage of a star about to be born.

Of course, take away all the sports stuff and you’re still left with an amazing young woman, a quiet, friendly, hard-working, whip-smart asset to our community.

Whether she’s giggling with close buddy Melia Welling while working the scorer’s table or draining jumpers, Cassidy brightens up every room she’s in.

Happy birthday, Miss Moody.

Never stop being awesome.

Read Full Post »

Birthday boy James Vidoni (left), seen during a game last season. (John Fisken photo)

   Birthday boy James Vidoni (left), seen during a game last season. (John Fisken photo)

James Vidoni celebrated his birthday a few hours early.

The Coupeville High School junior, who turns 17 today, exploded to the forefront of Wolf football Saturday night, helping lead CHS to a 41-10 thrashing of dastardly South Whidbey.

Making his first varsity start, Vidoni came roaring up on the outside twice to crumple the Falcon QB with sacks that looked and sounded like a freight train hitting a grocery cart left unattended on the tracks.

It was a big night for James, and a huge step forward in his development as a player.

Like big sis Monica before him, he has been a three-sport athlete for the Wolves every step of the way.

Football, basketball and baseball have kept him busy, and he’s shown growth in all three while remaining a low-key warrior.

It’s always nice to see athletes like James, who get in there and fight every step of the way, be rewarded for their efforts.

He got a lot of applause Saturday night, almost enough for Monica to hear it all the way in Minnesota, where’s she playing college volleyball right now.

And he deserved it, both for his accomplishments and for the guy he is in day-to-day life.

So, happy birthday Mr. Vidoni and congratulations on your stellar season debut.

Here’s to many more big nights for you, on and off the gridiron.

Read Full Post »

Hunter Smith (John Fisken photos)

Hunter Smith, slicin’ ‘n dicin’ defenses on the gridiron. (John Fisken photos)

baseball

Flingin’ the high, hard cheese.

(Photos courtesy Charlotte Young)

Evolution of a superstar. (Photos courtesy Charlotte Young)

Sometimes you get lucky.

Over the years Coupeville has lost a lot of pretty talented athletes, young men and women whose families have taken them away, for one reason or another, just as they were about to hit their prime.

But sometimes the scales get balanced, and that’s what happened when Chris and Charlotte Smith moved to town three years ago.

Somehow, against all odds, we got three superb young athletes (and better people) in one fell swoop, a boon to Wolf athletics for years.

Older brother CJ delivered 2.5 years of excellence across football, basketball and baseball before graduation and little sister Scout, just now a freshman at CHS, is already a supernova.

And then, in the middle, we have the young man who is carving out a legend which will loom large over the prairie for many years.

Hunter Smith, a Wolf junior who happens to be celebrating his birthday today, has been a slam-dunk since day one.

Pick the sport and he will go out and kick your fanny in it, small smile on his face as he lets his actions speak louder than words.

In football, he already holds (or is tied, there’s still some debate) the school’s single-season record for interceptions, having snagged seven of them as a sophomore.

A two-way warrior, he was the team’s leading pass catcher as well, and is primed for a major breakout season in his third tour of duty, which begins tonight against South Whidbey.

On the basketball court, Hunter is a dead-eye shooter, a hustler and a scrapper who hits buzzer beaters to electrify the crowd yet still is willing to do the dirty work.

Put him on the baseball diamond, and Smith is a strikeout-hucking pitcher, a rock-solid middle infielder prone to dazzling displays of defensive virtuosity and a lead-off hitter who rocks both power and speed in his trim frame.

If they were taking bets on it in Vegas, he would have to be the odds-on favorite for CHS Male Athlete of the Year in 2016-2017, primarily because he does everything and he does everything really, really well.

And yet, what makes Hunter truly rise above the crowd is the way he handles himself, on and off the field.

If there’s ego there, he hides it well.

Confidence? Yes. A belief in his own abilities? Without a doubt.

But like his siblings and his parents, Hunter is a cool cat who goes about his business with style and genuine class.

A mix of Honor Roll smart and big game tough, the middle Smith kid is a winner in every way, and we are lucky to have inherited him (and his family).

So happy birthday, Hunter.

I look forward to being there as you torch the record books for years to come.

Read Full Post »

Coupeville running legend Abby Parker (left) imparts wisdom to her young prodigy. (Kathy O'Brien photo)

   Coupeville running Jedi Abby Parker (left) teaches her moves to her young padawan. (Kathy O’Brien photo)

Parker

   Parker, who runs faster when her shoelaces are untied, works on hand-offs with CHS relay mate Mckenzie Meyer. (John Fisken photos)

Parker

Imparting joy to the universe (and volleyball teammate Kayla Rose).

Joy, above all.

Abby Parker is the real deal — a smart, strong young woman already super successful at 17, and headed to unimaginable achievements.

But the first thing you notice about the Coupeville High School junior, before you see her determination, her commitment, her grit, her spine of steel, is how she interacts with others.

With her teammates, her friends, her family or with random people she passes while she’s busy doing the million-and-a-half things she seems to accomplish every day.

And what you see, every time, is the joy she brings to this world, and others in it.

It’s not just mere happiness, though she pretty much always seems happy, but something far deeper.

Abby seems to approach every challenge, every obstacle, with a can-do attitude, and the joy she exhibits is truly infectious.

Running, which seems to have become her sport of choice (she’s also skilled in volleyball, basketball and probably any activity you might pick), is not for the faint of heart.

It can rip your body up, tear away at your legs, your muscles, your psyche.

It can deliver huge highs and huge lows, and it takes a special kind of person to embrace it the way Parker does.

Look at the photos of her in action during track season or at one of the many real-world running events she haunts on a regular basis, and you’ll see both sides.

I’ve seen photos of Abby leaving her soul on the oval, trying to trim one more second, lean just a bit harder, reach for a PR at any cost.

In those photos, her face shows the strain, but also (and this is bigger) her willpower. She does not back down, ever.

In other photos, you see the joy she gets from competing, whether she’s flying down a track or splashing through bubbles or clouds of paint.

And we’re right back to joy, which is never far away when Parker is nearby.

As she celebrates her birthday today and prepares to head into another school year, let’s wish her all the best.

Because that’s what she is — one of the best.

Abby, you are a sparkling ray of sunshine, and Coupeville would not be the same without you.

Happy birthday, Miss Parker, and may you always get back just as much joy as you give to the world.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »