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Archive for the ‘Middle School’ Category

Never too early to plan ahead

Posted in Boys Soccer, Cross Country, Middle School, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on July 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Cole White and fellow Coupeville Middle School athletes kick off fall sports in Sept. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Lauren Marrs and Co. will compete in volleyball, cross country, and, for the first time, boys soccer.

The times, they are a-changin’.

Football is out, and soccer is in, when Coupeville Middle School sports teams return to action this fall.

The CMS gridiron program was cancelled – at least for now – due to increasingly smaller numbers. Last year, the Wolves only played three of the six games they had on the schedule.

Seeing little hope for roster growth, Athletic Director Willie Smith opted to go in a different direction.

Since schools have to offer an equal number of sport programs for male and female athletes, killing football meant CMS had to pick up another boys sport, and did so with soccer.

It was a straight swap (and actually soccer should be cheaper than football), so an already-depleted athletic budget didn’t take any additional hits.

The Wolves will field one girls sport (volleyball), one boys (soccer) and one co-ed (cross country) this fall, with all three programs competing in the Cascade League.

Schedules for each team are below, though changes can always happen.

To stay up to date as the fall plays out, keep an eye on league and school web sites.

 

BOYS SOCCER:

Mon-Sept. 23 — Northshore Christian (3:30)
Wed-Sept. 25 — @Lakewood (3:30)
Mon-Sept. 30 — @Granite Falls (3:30)
Wed-Oct. 2 — @Northshore Christian (3:30)
Mon-Oct. 7 — Lakewood (3:30)
Wed-Oct. 9 — Granite Falls (3:30)
Mon-Oct. 14 — Northshore Christian (3:30)
Wed-Oct. 16 — @Lakewood (3:30)
Mon-Oct. 21 — @Granite Falls (3:30)
Wed-Oct. 23 — Northshore Christian (3:30)

 

CROSS COUNTRY:

Sat-Sept. 21 — @South Whidbey (TBA)
Wed-Sept. 25 — @Lakewood (3:30)
Sat-Sept. 28 — @King’s Invite (TBA)
Thur-Oct. 3 — @Granite Gallop (3:30)
Sat-Oct. 12 — @Hole in the Wall – Lakewood (9:00)
Thur-Oct. 17 — @Sultan (3:30)
Wed-Oct. 23 — @Cascade League Championships – S. Whidbey (3:30)

 

VOLLEYBALL:

Mon-Sept. 23 — @Granite Falls (3:15)
Wed-Sept. 25 — King’s (3:15)
Mon-Sept. 30 — Northshore Christian (3:15)
Thur-Oct. 3 — @South Whidbey (3:15)
Mon-Oct. 7 — @Sultan (3:15)
Wed-Oct. 9 — Lakewood (3:15)
Mon-Oct. 14 — Granite Falls (3:15)
Wed-Oct. 16 — @Northshore Christian (3:15)
Mon-Oct. 21 — South Whidbey (3:15)
Thur-Oct. 24 — @Lakewood (3:15)

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Classroom or court, Erin Locke embraces every challenge

Posted in Middle School, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on July 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Erin Locke is Coupeville’s newest coach, joining the CMS volleyball program. (Photo courtesy Locke)

Erin Locke is up for every challenge.

The Coupeville Middle School PE teacher, and soon to be volleyball coach, has pursued excellence in sports ranging from wrestling to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

A big fan of staying active – she was on her way out the door to start a backpacking trip, but stopped to answer some questions – Locke is beginning to translate her own sports experiences into a solid coaching career.

She worked as an assistant coach with the Oak Harbor High School wrestling team this past winter, and moved quickly when presented with the chance to pick up her first head coaching gig.

Locke, who joins returning coach Sarah Lyngra, replaces Casie Greve, who stepped down after last season.

The duo will share duties as CMS changes formats for its middle school spiker program.

Instead of playing with 7th and 8th grade teams, the Wolves will have three squads this fall, with players from both grades mixing to form essentially varsity, JV and C-Team units.

For Locke, the chance to expand her impact on her students was irresistible.

“The student/athletes are what (or who, rather) attracted me to the position,” she said. “I knew that I’d know many of the students, and I jumped at the opportunity to work with them in a different capacity and in a different role.”

Her hiring will be official when the school board approves it at its monthly meeting, which is set for Monday, July 22.

Locke, who graduated from Eastern Washington University in 2018, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, with certifications in K-12 Health and Physical Education, K-12 English as a Second Language, and Secondary Biology.

She’ll get a chance to branch out in the classroom as well this coming school year, adding English as a Second Language classes to her duties as a PE teacher.

While on the volleyball court, Locke hopes to achieve three primary goals.

“(I want to) appropriately prepare students for high school volleyball with Coach (Cory) Whitmore, (and) engage student/athletes with effective drilling and skills to grow our team,” she said. “(And, also) grow in my skills as a coach!”

Having seen the positive impact sports have had on her own life, Locke is eager to help her young athletes reach their own potential.

“I would like my players to take away an improved confidence and ability to work as an effective team,” she said.

“Overall, I’d like to work to make CMS volleyball like a family,” Locke added. “Somewhere where we can work hard together, but be supportive of one another, no matter the outcome.”

With both her teaching and coaching career beginning to truly blossom, the relative newcomer is soaking up everything her new life has to offer.

“If you catch me out “in the wild,” I probably will have a huge smile on my face,” Locke said. “I love living life on Whidbey Island, and am still becoming a part of our community.

“Please feel free to introduce yourself if you see me!”

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All your ribbons belong to us

Posted in Middle School, Track, tagged , , , , on June 1, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville 7th graders Brionna Blouin (left) and Allison Nastali both earned ribbons at the Cascade League Track and Field Championships. (Elizabeth Bitting photos)

The Wolves closed their season Friday at home with a Class vs. Class meet, won by the 8th graders.

Powered by Prairie Center snacks, the Wolves went out with a burst of excitement.

Before leaving town Thursday for the Cascade League Championships, Coupeville Middle School track and field athletes hit up their local grocery store for a wide range of food products.

Whatever they bought seemed to do the trick, as the Wolves went off in Lakewood, throwing down 20 PR’s and breaking a school record.

CMS 8th grader Alex Murdy closed his middle school career by ripping off a run of 24.94 seconds in the 200, erasing Gabe Eck (25.82 in 2015) from the record book.

It was actually the second-straight time Murdy had shattered the mark, as he ran a 25.25 Tuesday in the prelims.

A second school record also fell Tuesday, and was officially recognized Thursday.

8th grader Carolyn Lhamon, competing in the shot put on day one, threw the orb 32 feet, 11.50 inches, more than five feet past her previous PR of 27-09.

Turns out that tops the previous CMS mark of 29-02.25, set by Morgan Pease in 2016.

What makes it even more remarkable is Lhamon has only been tossing the shot for about a month, picking it up while resting shin splints.

The record-busters drew the headlines, but Coupeville was strong across the board in Thursday’s regular season finale.

“Our athletes’ top-notch efforts, mixed with a season full of improvements earned through hard work, made our first trip to the Cascade League finals one that was full of PRs, great rankings, and even a couple of broken records,” said CMS coach Jon Gabelein.

“Even in the hot sun, nearly all runners found a way to earn a PR today.”

 

(Hopefully) complete Thursday results:

 

GIRLS:

1600 (8th grade) — Carolyn Lhamon (5th) 7:02.12

100 Hurdles (8th grade) — Claire Mayne (6th) 19.86 *PR*

4 x 100 Relay (7th grade) — Allison Nastali, Desi Ramirez, Brionna Blouin, Brielle Armstrong (5th) 1:00.55

4 x 100 Relay (8th grade) — Mayne, Abigail Ramirez, Cristina McGrath, Ryanne Knoblich (4th) 59.50

4 x 200 Relay (8th grade) — Mayne, Lhamon, A. Ramirez, Knoblich (2nd) 2:10.22

Discus (7th grade) — Blouin (2nd) 61-11.50 *PR*; D. Ramirez (4th) 59-04.50 *PR*; Armstrong (7th) 49-10.50 *PR*; Nastali (8th) 48-08 *PR*; Erica McGrath (12th) 46-03.50 *PR*; Isabella Schooley (17th) 36-09.50

Discus (8th grade) — C. McGrath (7th) 56-07; Helen Strelow (10th) 51-05; Taygin Jump (15th) 45-00 *PR*; Camryn Clark (20th) 38-11 *PR*

Long Jump (7th grade) — E. McGrath (5th) 11-10.50; Nastali (10th) 10-11 *PR*; D. Ramirez (15th) 9-11

Long Jump (8th grade) — Knoblich (7th) 12-10; Strelow (8th) 12-08 *PR*; Mayne (11th) 12-05; C. McGrath (22nd) 11-00

 

BOYS:

100 (8th grade) — Reiley Araceley (7th) 12.74 *PR*

200 (7th grade) — Nick Guay (4th) 28.65 *PR*

200 (8th grade) — Alex Murdy (3rd) 24.94 *PR* *SCHOOL RECORD*

400 (8th grade) — Joven Light (6th) 1:05.02

800 (7th grade) — Cole White (6th) 2:36.57 *PR*; Hank Milnes (8th) 2:41.73 *PR*

800 (8th grade) — Aiden Anderson (3rd) 2:35.50 *PR*; Tate Wyman (12th) 3:08.43 *PR*

4 x 100 Relay (7th grade) — Milnes, Mikey Robinett, N. Guay, Logan Downes (2nd) 55.91

4 x 100 Relay (8th grade) — Araceley, Dominic Coffman, Light, Murdy (2nd) 50.81

4 x 200 Relay (7th grade) — Timothy Nitta, Robinett, N. Guay, Downes (2nd) 1:58.73

4 x 200 Relay (8th grade) — Josh Guay, Araceley, Jacob Mathusek, Wyman (4th) 2:02.89

Shot Put (7th grade) — William Davidson (7th) 24-07; Ryan Blouin (11th) 23-05 *PR*

Shot Put (8th grade) — Josh Upchurch (7th) 29-04 *PR*; Killian Coen (12th) 25-10; J. Guay (23rd) 17-07 *PR*

High Jump (8th grade) — Murdy (2nd) 5-05; Coffman (7th) 4-10

 

**And, if you’re wondering why the fanatic who stays up until 3 AM to publish stories the day the event happens is just now getting this story up two days later … it’s a long story.

Suffice it to say, results seemingly weren’t posted, then they were finally found posted in the wrong place, and, even now, we’re not 100% sure everything got posted by the folks in Lakewood.

Peachy…

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Big day, big records, big eats

Posted in Middle School, Track, tagged , , , , , , on May 29, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s Carolyn Lhamon lets it rip Tuesday, beating her shot put PR by more than five feet. (Helene Lhamon photo)

It was a long and eventful day.

The Coupeville Middle School track and field squad opened the two-day Cascade League Championships Tuesday at Lakewood, and got a bit of everything.

With day one a mix of prelims and finals, the Wolves piled up 25 PR’s, advanced several athletes in highly-competitive races, then celebrated with dinner at a surprise location.

“To celebrate our great performance at our first prelims within this league, we stopped at Costco on the way home to eat!,” said CMS coach Jon Gabelein.

“The athletes were surprised at how much more of an adventure it was compared to what an ordinary McDonald’s visit would have offered.”

The tasty treats compensated for the hardships the Wolves faced at the track oval.

“Officials shared that due to a headwind at the Lakewood High School track, run times for sprints trended slower than they would have otherwise been,” Gabelein said. “So any PR earned was actually even more amazing than the recorded time.”

The day was full of top-notch performances, with Coupeville 8th graders Carolyn Lhamon (shot put) and Alex Murdy (long jump) claiming 2nd in the finals of their events at the seven-team meet.

Lhamon, who only recently picked up the event as a substitute for the 1600 while recovering from shin splints, had a phenomenal performance.

Her previous-best throw was 27 feet, nine inches, but Tuesday she uncorked a lob of 32-11.50.

Other Wolf highlights included 7th graders Allison Nastali and Brionna Blouin nailing PR’s in the shot put under unusual circumstances.

Nastali was throwing for the first time while using the glide strategy, while Blouin competed in someone else’s shoes, after getting an assist from teammate Desi Ramirez.

Coupeville advanced five runners from the prelims to Thursday’s finals in running events, with 8th grader Claire Mayne kicking things off by hitting a PR in the 100 hurdles.

Joining her in making the jump to finals are 7th grader Nick Guay (200), along with 8th graders Reiley Araceley (100), Murdy (200), and Joven Light (400).

 

Complete Tuesday results:

 

GIRLS:

100 (7th grade) (Prelims) — Erica McGrath (20th) 16.27; Brielle Armstrong (26th) 17.60; Alena Osborne (27th) 17.73 *PR*; Isabella Schooley (28th) 17.78 *PR*

100 (8th grade) (Prelims) — Abigail Ramirez (16th) 15.65 *PR*; Taygin Jump (19th) 15.73; Trinity McGee (22nd) 15.84

200 (8th grade) (Prelims) — A. Ramirez (16th) 32.75 *PR*; Jump (15th) 34.03; Camryn Clark (20th) 36.66 *PR*

800 (8th grade) (Finals) — Carolyn Lhamon (6th) 2:57.92; Helen Strelow (7th) 3:01.08 *PR*

100 Hurdles (8th grade) (Prelims) — Claire Mayne (7th) 19.98 *PR*; Camryn Clark (17th) 23.77 *PR*

Shot Put (7th grade) (Finals) — Brionna Blouin (4th) 24-09.50 *PR*; Allison Nastali (5th) 24-03 *PR*; Schooley (14th) 21-00.50; Desi Ramirez (15th) 20-10

Shot Put (8th grade) (Finals) — Lhamon (2nd) 32-11.50 *PR*; Jordyn Rogers (18th) 19-02

High Jump (8th grade) (Finals) — Ryanne Knoblich (6th) 4-03; Jump (11th) 3-10; McGee (11th) 3-10; Cristina McGrath (11th) 3-10

 

BOYS:

100 (7th grade) (Prelims) — Logan Downes (12th) 14.68; Nick Guay (13th) 14.74 *PR*; Mikey Robinett (16th) 14.91; Timothy Nitta (18th) 15.14 *PR*; Ryan Blouin (30th) 17.07

100 (8th grade) (Prelims) — Reiley Araceley (3rd) 12.94 *PR*; Coen Killian (10th) 13.31 *PR*; Joven Light (12th) 13.72; Dominic Coffman (19th) 14.30; Jacob Mathusek (25th) 14.88

200 (7th grade) (Prelims) — Nick Guay (6th) 29.23; Nitta (14th) 31.25 *PR*; Blouin (22nd) 34.48; Alex Clark (23rd) 35.71 *PR*

200 (8th grade) (Prelims) — Alex Murdy (2nd) 25.25 *PR*; Josh Upchurch (17th) 30.11 *PR*; Josh Guay (22nd) 32.92

400 (8th grade) (Prelims) — Light (6th) 1:05.17; Upchurch (14th) 1:14.70

1600 (7th grade) (Finals) — Cole White (8th) 5:49.18 *PR*; Hank Milnes (9th) 5:54.28 *PR*

1600 (8th grade) (Finals) — Aiden Anderson (6th) 6:01.64 *PR*; Tate Wyman (11th) 6:45.60

110 Hurdles (7th grade) (Prelims) — A. Clark (16th) 28.86

Discus (7th grade) (Finals) — Zane Oldenstadt (6th) 69-09.50; William Davidson (18th) 51-01

Discus (8th grade) (Finals) — Anderson (13th) 65-07; Upchurch (15th) 63-11; Light (20th) 59-11; Mathusek (23rd) 53-03.50; J. Guay (24th) 51-05

Long Jump (7th grade) (Finals) — Robinett (7th) 13-09 *PR*; White (11th) 13-01; Downes (13th) 12-10; Milnes (17th) 12-05 *PR*; A. Clark (30th) 10-05

Long Jump (8th grade) (Finals) — Murdy (2nd) 16-05; Killian (4th) 15-06 *PR*; Araceley (12th) 14-01; Mathusek (15th) 12-11; Wyman (20th) 11-09.50

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Faster than lightning, stronger than thunder

Posted in Middle School, Track, tagged , , , , on May 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Alex Murdy is never coming back down. (Photos by Morgan White)

Logan Downes roars up on the inside, a Wolf chomping Tigers every step of the way.

Claire Mayne (third from right) and Camryn Clark (far right) prepare to launch.

Coen Killian comes back to Earth.

Timothy Nitta ignites the rockets in his shoes.

Helen Strelow strides towards greatness.

Tate Wyman prays for a soft landing.

Hank Milnes (left) and Mikey Robinett push each other to new heights.

Coupeville High School track and field is off to state this weekend, but their middle school counterparts are back at home, hard at work.

The younger Wolves have their own season-ending, two-day royal rumble May 28 and 30 in Lakewood, when CMS battles for supremacy at the Cascade League Championships.

To get you ready, and put a face to some of the stars of the future, as they kick fanny and take names now, we give you a smorgasbord of photos from the most recent meet, courtesy Morgan White.

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