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Archive for the ‘Softball’ Category

Carson Risner’s mom was a superstar back in the day!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Softball, Track, Volleyball, Where are they now? on October 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Jennie (Cross) Prince

The early days.

Jennie (Cross) Prince was a star in a different time.

The 1990 Coupeville High School grad, whose school records in the shot put and discus still stand untouched, lettered twelve times (four in basketball and volleyball, three in track and one in a brief freshman fling with softball) during a period when the Wolves truly believed they were going to kick the fannies of any opponent who stepped foot on their Island.

“I just remember every game/meet was the only one that existed, and we were all determined to die for it,” Prince said. “We physically pushed ourselves to the max every time we put that uniform on or set foot on the court for practices. I thought we wanted it more than any other team.”

Playing along side other talented athletes of the time, such as Sherry (Bonacci) Roberts, Sally (Biskovich) Wheeler and Kara (Harvey) Ford, Prince learned from two fondly remembered coaching giants, volleyball/basketball sage Phyllis Textor and track guru Guy “Doc” Whittaker.

“Ms. Textor always pushed us physically and mentally beyond what we thought we were capable of,” Prince said. “She taught us that we could achieve anything with hard work and instilled a fight in us that made us think we were unstoppable.

“Mr. Whittaker was amazing with the technique,” she added. “If you could master the technique of shot or discus, the strength was just an added bonus to get it a little further. Many VHS videos of Olympic throwers later I finally got it.”

That mix of technique and raw power  — which she also exhibited on the volleyball court (“I lived in terror of volleyball practice in high school. Bump – set – spike with Jennie and the evil grin she would get when it was her turn to spike!,” said former teammate Georgie Smith.) — carried her to a second-place finish at state her senior year.

And, with her name still on the big board in the CHS gym, it offers a chance for her son, sophomore football/basketball stud Carson Risner, to lord it over his classmates a bit.

“Still having the record is definitely fun for my son to brag about,” Prince said. “They’re not the most feminine of events, but I am surprised more girls don’t try it.

“I hope others remember me as a hard worker that loved to represent CHS.”

After graduation, Prince remained true to her work ethic, going to Skagit Valley Community College to get her nursing certificate, while working full-time and raising her young son as a single mother.

“Talk about pushing yourself,” she said. “I wanted him (Carson) to see that example and give him the life I thought he deserved.”

She married former classmate Tom Prince (the couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary this week), added a daughter and is now watching her own kids play, the way her parents once did. And she tries to keep a low profile in the stands.

“I try to let the coaches coach. I just push my kids at home in life and reassure them that they are what they put into themselves,” Prince said. “They will find their passions and I just encourage whatever they want as long as they give 110 percent.“

With both of her children inheriting one of the great legacies of CHS sports, branching from their mom out through her father, her siblings and her cousins, the Cross family reputation still flies proud.

“Sports was and still is a great lesson to all,” Prince said. “I think kids just need someone to show them how far they really can push themselves.

“The unstoppable attitude keeps you unafraid to do the unthinkable if you want to. Expecting more out of yourself than the next guy is what will make you a success,” she added. “My family made me who I am today. My dad and mom are both hard workers with a never fail attitude. Nothing can stop my family!”

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Wolf sharpshooter grows up, still hitting nothing but net!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Softball, Volleyball, Where are they now?, tagged , , , on October 19, 2012| 1 Comment »

Emily (Vracin) Kosderka and her children, Colby and Sydney.

Emily (Vracin) Kosderka was money.

There have been great basketball players at Coupeville High School over the years, but was there ever another Wolf player who you were more confident would absolutely, positively put that ball in the hoop at crunch time?

If you say yes, you’re lying.

Now married and a mother of two, the 1992 grad — who also played some pretty dang good volleyball and softball during her days in the red and black — was among the best basketball players I have seen play for CHS in the 22 seasons I have been on this Island.

You can make arguments for Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Brianne King, Lexie and Brittany Black, Tina Joiner, Linda Currier and a couple of others.

Mike Bagby, Cody Peters, Hunter Hammer and Virgil Roehl are in the argument as well.

But Kosderka was Coupeville’s answer to Larry Bird. If she didn’t have ice water in her veins, she was close.

Modest, too.

“Ha! Oh, I doubt anyone remembers me from back in the day, but on the off chance they do, I hope they remember me as you did,” Kosderka said. “Honestly, I take that as a huge compliment, because that is how I hoped to be perceived — very confident, but a team player.

“Magic Johnson once said that during his playing days, he approached the game “with effort and joy” and it made me smile because I could really identify with that,” she added. “In fact, to this day, it’s pretty much my approach to life in general.”

And she agrees with the Bird comparison, to a point.

“It’s funny that you bring up Larry Bird,” Kosderka said. “One of my favorite quotes of all time is from him — ‘In the closing seconds of every game, I want the ball in my hands for that last shot – not in anybody else’s, not in anybody else’s in the world.’ And that doesn’t come from a place of cockiness, but of confidence.”

She retains fond memories of her days as a Wolf, recalling how each of her coaches imparted lessons that have stayed with her and helped shape her as she has gone through life.

“Phyllis Textor (basketball), Deb Cummings (volleyball), and Pam Jampsa (softball) were all extremely influential on me and each in their own ways,” Kosderka said. “They had very different coaching styles, but each took the time to teach me a lot about the game, but more importantly about life.

“And now that I really sit down and think about it, other than the flex offense and deny defense, it’s the life stuff that I remember the most,” she added. “After spending the last 20 years in athletics, and realizing how much the game has to teach about life, it’s easy to say that they did it right.”

Having been taught well by her coaches and teachers (“Mr. Engel, Dr. Whittaker, Mr. Bagby, and Ms. Erbaland were some of the most amazing people and I am grateful to them almost on a daily basis, even after all these years. There is no better feeling than to know that someone truly, truly believes in you, and the education they provided extended much further than the classroom.”) Kosderka made a successful leap to college.

She played basketball for two years at Willamette University and then moved into sports medicine, getting a Masters in Kinesiology from Indiana University.

After three years as an assistant athletic trainer with Lewis & Clark College, she made the jump to Concordia University, where she has been the head athletic trainer and taught since 2001.

Married for 10 years to Matt Kosderka, and the mother of a six-year old (Sydney) and four-year old (Colby), she is content with where life has led her. And she firmly believes her days on the diamond and the court helped make her strong enough to weather the storm of changes over the years.

“I could write a novel on the lessons learned through sport,” Kosderka said. “Sport molded me and shaped me into who I am today.

“I learned to compete, to compromise, to revel in the success of others, to work within a team, to respect the officials, to take direction, to be a leader, to always be open to learn, to win gracefully and to lose graciously (most of the time), to endure pain, to manage heartache, to strive for success and to struggle to obtain it, to recognize the unequivocal joy of reaching a goal that you had to work really hard to obtain, and the fact that the best part of it all are the people you are in it with,” she added. “That is what sport gives us. These are the lessons it can teach.”

There is still one lesson to learn, however, and that is how she will deal with being the mom of an athlete (or not).

“Do I want my kids to follow in my athletic footsteps? That is a big question with a complex answer,” Kosderka said. “It sounds cliche, I know, but my greatest hope is that my kids find their passion, whatever that may be.

“Matt and I talk about that all the time,” she added. “We wonder what it is that they will connect with and love and are excited to watch them discover that. Will it be sport? Or will it be music? The arts? Dance? Karate? Auto shop?”

While she still believes sports have a lot to teach, she is a bit leery of a hyper-competitive world of travel squads and year-round dedication to one sport, as opposed to “the good old days” when you rotated sports and played with your friends all year.

“I remember the days of little league in Coupeville when we played on crappy fields on Saturdays,” Kosderka said. “We wore polyester uniforms that were five years old, our parents sat on folding chairs, our coaches were dads who just wanted to help kids learn the game, and our competition was the kid down the street. It all seemed so simple, and unfortunately it just isn’t that simple anymore.

“So, we will see. If Colby’s heart beats for baseball and Sydney is determined to shoot 100 free throws every night, then it will be on their own volition,” she added. “In many ways, I hope they do. I hope they get to learn the lessons sport has to teach. I hope they learn to be good leaders, to rely on their teammates, to respect their coaches, to strive and to struggle, and to know the great exuberance of a big win.”

Lessons their mom learned every time she stepped on the court, and reasons why she will never be forgotten by Wolf fans.

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Volleyball sensation has a common name, uncommon talent!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Softball, Volleyball on October 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Haley Sherman

It’s safe to say Haley Sherman has a few fans in Coupeville.

The last name means she’s related to about 88.7% of the town, and family members can be seen at every volleyball match the Coupeville High School junior plays in. Start with her mom and dad and siblings, then start tossing in grandparents and by the time you get to the cousins, there are quite a few people screaming her name every time she pulls off a superb play, which happens a lot.

A key member of a Wolf spiker squad that is coming off of an emotional five-set home win over Sultan, Sherman returns the love to her fans.

“Being a Sherman, I see it as an advantage really. Having such a huge family just means more support,” she said. “It feels great to have the last name, knowing how wonderful everyone in my family is.

“If only I could claim relation to Richard Sherman from the Seahawks, now that would be something!”

Like most athletes, she has that one person who she looks for in the stands. That one person whose presence at her games lifts her soul. And for Haley Sherman, that person is her mom, Christa Canell.

“Honestly I could thank everyone I’ve ever met, but most importantly I would say my mom,” Sherman said. “My mom tries to be as supportive as she can all the time, and she always spends money on my sports every year and goes to every home game. It feels great to have such good support.”

Not that she doesn’t notice everyone else.

“My grandparents, every single one of them, I couldn’t thank enough for coming to my games. I LOVE THEM!,” she added. “And this year Mrs. Crebbin has made a huge impact on me too; she is such a wonderful person and I couldn’t ask for a better coach!”
 
A three-sport athlete (volleyball, softball and she’s returning to basketball for the first time since eighth grade) who has a deep love of photography, Sherman balances sports, school and a personal life, while always finding a bit of free time to spend with her favorite pet.

“Apart from school I spend a lot of time with my family, my friends and my animals,” Sherman said. “I love to just watch movies all day with my cat, too! Not the most exciting life, but I’m content!”

When she steps on the volleyball court, she brings a complete game with her and can generally be found in the middle of the action. Against Sultan, she sparked a crucial rally with several laser-like shots that sliced through the Turk defenders, leaving them wildly flailing as the ball found pay dirt.

The win, which gave Coupeville a season-sweep of Sultan, captured everything Sherman likes about her favorite sport.

“The thing I enjoy most about volleyball is the intensity of the game and how well it brings a group together, like our team,” Sherman said. “We are all so close and have become like a family since the season started.”

While she sees a fair amount of floor time, she is constantly working to improve her skills. With an eye set on the future (Coupeville will lose seniors Bessie Walstad, Katie Kiel and Lauren Escalle to graduation), she wants to be ready to be one of the faces front-and-center on next season’s squad.

“I believe my strengths in volleyball are passing and serving,” Sherman said. “I have been cautious in my serving lately, so I would like to improve that and I also want to up my consistency in hitting so I can play front row all the time!
“My goals for the rest of the season are to just keep passing consistently and keep my love for the game strong,” she added. “When it comes to my senior year, I hope to have improved enough to the point where I can play all-around rotation all the time.”

And don’t think hard work on the volleyball court worries her. She is a Sherman, after all, a family with a strong work ethic, and, for her, volleyball has never really been work.

“I could play volleyball any time of any given day! I love the game so much!”

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Aparicio loves her fans (and they love her)!!

Posted in Cheer, Girls Basketball, Softball, Volleyball on October 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Controlling the middle ground between teammates Breeanna Messner (5) and Madeline Strasburg, Wolf setter Sydney Aparicio makes the play. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Sydney Aparicio has a large fan base.

Attend any Coupeville High School volleyball match or football game this fall and it’s obvious. From her parents, Mitch and Tami Aparicio, to her grandparents, Cec and Kaye Stuurmans, and tons of other interrelated family members, half the town calls the Wolf junior one of their own.

Whether she’s setting for the spikers or front and center as a key member of the CHS cheer squad, Aparicio always seems to have a huge, beaming smile on her face. And that eternal good-will that flows from her is returned by her vocal rooting section.

Don’t think Aparicio doesn’t notice.

“My parents have a really big impact on my life,” Aparicio said. “They support me so much with everything I do. There’s not one sports event when I don’t look out in the crowd and see them cheering me on.”

They have plenty of events to be at, as Aparicio is a four-sport threat, adding in basketball in the winter and softball in the spring. Toss in academics (she’s especially enjoying an on-line photography course from Skagit Valley Community College), spending time with her friends and a job at Whidberry Frozen Yogurt in Oak Harbor and you have a busy young woman.

But also one who is skilled in the art of finding pieces of time for all her pursuits.

“It takes a lot of juggling and managing my time to do both (cheer and volleyball), but, in the end I enjoy both and wouldn’t have it any other way,” Aparicio said. “It’s hard and it takes a lot of self discipline to go straight from volleyball practice to cheer in an hour, but I make it through.”

Ferocious in guarding the back line, Aparicio frequently spends a good chunk of each match sprawled on the floor, having sacrificed her knees to keep rallies alive. She also teams with Megan Oakes to provide perfectly placed balls lobbed right into the spike zone where heavy hitters Bessie Walstad, Hailey Hammer and Breeanna Messner can pound them off of the outstretched arms of back-pedaling foes.

“I really enjoy volleyball. All of the girls on my team are wonderful, which really helps me enjoy it,” Aparicio said. “I think my strengths are staying positive and encouraging my team; I also don’t get down on myself very easily.

“My goals this year are to get together and really learn to play as a team,” she added. “My personal goals are to get better each game I play and put forth all my effort.”

Aparicio’s hustle and positive mind-set will be crucial as the Wolves (2-8) look to snap a five-match losing streak. With a home rematch Thursday against Sultan, a team they have already beaten this season, there is still potential to go out on a winning note.

“I think our highlights for our team this year was our Sultan game,” Aparicio said. “Even though we lost one of our seniors (Walstad) during the game, we really pulled through as a team and won.”

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Please Bessie, stop hurting yourself!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Softball, Volleyball on October 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »

  Back in action, Bessie Walstad unloads her fury on Cedarcrest. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Whether she wants to admit it or not, Bessie Walstad is arguably the best female athlete at Coupeville High School.

Getting the Wolf senior, a three-sport star, to admit that in public is next to impossible, however, as she has spent the last three plus years being modest and doing her best to deflect praise to her teammates.

Walstad is the consummate team player, revered by younger CHS athletes, a leader by example — and that example is her generally crushing foes left and right, be it on the volleyball and basketball court or on the softball diamond.

Now she just needs to stay healthy.

The only thing that has slowed her reign of glory has been a handful of injuries, ranging from a busted hand that knocked her out of last year’s softball season to a badly sprained ankle that curtailed a chunk of this year’s volleyball season. She just returned to action Thursday, a day before being voted Homecoming Queen, subbing in off the bench in a hard-fought loss to Cedarcrest.

She hurt the ankle by playing fearlessly, and having the misfortune of coming back to Earth at the wrong moment.

“I hurt it when me and a teammate were both going up for a block,” Walstad said. “I landed on her foot with my left foot, then over compensated with my right, and rolled my right foot really bad.”

The injury sent her to the sidelines for a string of games, but she stayed deeply involved with the team while she rehabbed, often leading the huddle in street clothes, an unpaid but very effective assistant for Wolf coach Toni Crebbin.

The battle to get better wasn’t an easy one and required a fair amount of work.

“I used crutches for a week. Then I got a boot for a few days, which helped me put pressure on my heel, where it hurt the worst,” Walstad said. “Now I just wear a brace when I’m walking around, just to be safe. All this, along with lots of icing and elevation.”

In her return, she was inserted in the back line, to give her time to get used to playing on the leg again, before moving her up front, where her booming spikes and ferocious stuff blocks complement the similar style of sophomore slugger Hailey Hammer.

At least that was the plan. Mere moments into her return she was already unloading on Cedarcrest, even though she still had some mental issues to get past.

 “At first I was afraid to jump or to injure it again, so I played timid,” Walstad said. “Then when I started missing my hits, and not playing to the best of my ability, I stopped focusing on my ankle and started focusing on the game.”

And, while she plans to wear a brace for the rest of volleyball season and into the basketball campaign, she is confident that the extra equipment won’t slow her down.

“I’m hoping that in a week or so I will forget all about it when I play.”

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