Coupeville Sports

Madison Tisa McPhee, far left, and Makana Stone, far right, are getting faster and faster. (John Fisken photo)

Running against the best, they did their best.

Coupeville High School senior Madison Tisa McPhee and freshman Makana Stone combined to set four PR’s at the 37th annual Lake Washington Invitational Saturday.

The premier all-girls meet in the state, it drew runners from 72 schools, with Coupeville being one of only six 1A squads. 52 of the schools were 3A or 4A, and the meet featured nationally-ranked runners and virtually every name athlete in the state.

So Tisa McPhee, who had a short time to run before getting back to the Island to squire Wolf baseball star Jake Tumblin to Prom, went out and kicked it into high gear.

She lowered her PR in the 100 hurdles, finishing in 16.14 seconds (the CHS school record is 16.04), then went nuclear on her personal best in the 300 hurdles.

Her time of 48.24 was an astounding 2.55 seconds better than Tisa McPhee has ever run, and gives her the fourth-fastest time in 1A this season in both events.

“It was a great day!,” Tisa McPhee said.

Kelly Nigro of Woodland, fastest hurdler in 1A, you have been warned. The Terminator is coming for you.

Stone, while experiencing something new — not winning an event after a 28-0 start — merely set PR’s in two of her three events, while narrowly missing in the other.

She ran 13.11 in the 100 (PR), 27.53 in the 200 and 1:02.11 in the 400 (PR).

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Madison Tisa McPhee, center, kicking butt and taking names. (John Fisken photo)

Madison Tisa McPhee is starting to make her move.

The fleet-footed Coupeville High School senior track star has already been to the state meet once before and wants a return trip in late May.

As the Wolves wound up their regular season meets Thursday, she not only set a PR in her marquee event — the 100 hurdles — she obliterated the previous mark.

Tisa McPhee broke the tape in 16.18 seconds, almost a second faster than her previous best time this season (17.03).

A perfect 6-0 in 100 hurdles races this season, her career best had been a 16.40 at tri-districts as a sophomore. That was the season she went on to place 8th at the state meet.

Her performance drove her up the charts, big-time, as she now owns the fourth-fastest time in 1A and 46th best in the entire state (previously she wasn’t in the top 100).

It also moved her even closer to shattering the school mark, which hangs out in front of her like a carrot, at 16.04.

When she’s not running in the hurdles (she’s also 4-0 in the 300 hurdles), Tisa McPhee has been a key part of the Wolf relay squads. Her teams have won all seven times she has raced, and the 4 x 200 unit set a school record.

Even with 18 wins this season, she has managed to fly under the radar a bit. With freshman Makana Stone being 28-0 in sprints and relays, Tisa McPhee has found an ideal wing woman.

Toss in other young guns like Sylvia Hurlburt, Kirsten Pelroy and Marisa Etzell and fellow vet Jai’Lysa Hoskins, and the CHS girls’ track squad is ready to make some noise come the postseason.

“Makana has been such an asset to the team this year,” Tisa McPhee said. “Until this year I haven’t cared too much about any of our relays. But this year, we’ve gained such an awesome and fast group of girls.”

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Manuel Lopez-Santillana

Manuel Lopez-Santillana is far more than just a track star.

The Coupeville High School junior, who saved his best performance for the lone home meet of the season April 18, winning the 800 in an eight-man battle, can casually rattle off info about neuron synapses and finds musical joy in the work of Icelandic and Welsh folk bands.

He’s got a lot going on, and track is just a small, but important, slice of his busy life.

A veteran of Science Olympiad — he won awards last year with Heni Barnes and Allison Stricker for work on protein modeling — he’s the sort of guy who views learning as far more than just schoolwork.

“Science Olympiad has introduced me into a lot of different sciences and I plan to take it again for my senior year,” Lopez-Santillana said. “I would also like to thank my coaches for my events, and Dan d’Almieda, for taking the time out of his day to help me achieve my goals.”

A lot of his success comes from his dedication and natural curiosity. If he has a moment, he’s got time to learn something new.

“I just did some chemical analysis on a project a few days ago and in a few weeks I want to complete a course on neuron synapses and the brain,” Lopez-Santillana said. “I usually just choose a type of science and study it for a few months in my free time.”

He plans to major in physics and is currently working on finishing a train scale converter that will take a real size train and model it down.

Somewhere in between the constant learning, set to the soundtrack of the Joy Formidable and Of Monsters and Men, Lopez-Santillana has found time to excel on the track oval the past two seasons, as well.

“I started because I like running and having friendly competition,” he said. “I enjoy the cohesive environment. In track it seems like there are no enemy teams.

“Everyone seems to understand that the worst enemy that they have is themselves and they can fight at whatever pace they want.”

Having transitioned from soccer (“I really wanted to try something new”), Lopez-Santillana started with distance races, but has found his most success in shorter races like the 400 and 800.

“I believe that my greatest strength is simply endurance, and not just physical, but mental,” he added. “I was used to being in the lower third of the contestants in track. It was a complete shock when I actually scored 1st in the 800 at the home meet.”

He has a strong support group (Erik Holt, Michael Thanem, Brian Wood, d’Almeida) headed up by his parents, Juan and Jane Lopez-Santillana.

“They have really allowed me to further my academic career and have challenged me to learn more and through that grow,” he said. “It has really impacted what I do, and who I am.”

On the oval, he draws inspiration from former teammates who showed him how to adapt to new challenges.

“The highlight of my track career was seeing Mitch Pelroy and Larry Hurlburt switch events and go to state,” Lopez-Santillana said. “I still remember the day I asked Mitch about his doing hurdles and he was uneasy about the idea, thinking that he was simply not the right person.

“It’s astounding how a simple suggestion and some hard work has led to such a promising future.”

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Makana Stone, in a hurry to get somewhere. (John Fisken photo)

The school record board is turning to Stone.

Coupeville High School freshman Makana Stone, who already helped bust the school record in the 4 x 200 relay earlier this season, smashed the school record in the 200 Thursday.

Running at Lakewood, she was clocked in a PR of 27.13 seconds, topping her previous low of 27.68 and shattering the existing school mark.

Janiece Jenkins had eight years to enjoy being the fastest female 200 runner in Wolf history, but now even she must bow to the future.

She was gracious in ceding the throne.

“Congrats to Makana!,” was Jenkins response when told the news.

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