Randy King (left) is retiring after a long teaching/coaching career at Coupeville High School. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
UPDATE – 9:30 PM Monday:
School board agenda said “Retirement – Randy King, CHS/CMS Teacher and Coach.”
Latest word from the man himself: “I resigned from teaching, will not be in the classroom next year on a daily basis. Not sure yet about coaching.”
The longest-tenured coach at Coupeville High School won’t be coming back when Washington state schools reopen.
The agenda for Monday’s school board meeting included one bombshell, as Randy King’s retirement as a teacher and coach was included on it.
King has been a CHS track and field coach since the mid-2000’s, a time period in which Wolf athletes have won 11 of the 17 state meet titles in program history.
State champs he helped produce:
2006 — Jon Chittim (200, 400); Kyle King (3200); boys 4 x 400 (Chris Hutchinson, Chittim, K. King, Steven McDonald)
2007 — K. King (1600, 3200)
2008 — K. King (3200)
2010 — Tyler King (1600, 3200)
2019 — Danny Conlisk (200, 400)
Under Randy King’s tutelage, Coupeville track regularly proved quality could beat quantity, with his teams piling up strong league, district, and state finishes despite often having far fewer athletes than many of its rivals.
The Wolf boys claimed 5th place in the team standings in the last two 1A state meets, while the CHS girls were 9th in 2019.
The high-water mark for CHS track came in 2006 and 2008, when the Wolf boys finished 4th in the team standings.
His girls teams were some of the strongest in school history, and 11 of the 18 Wolf girls track school records came on his watch.
On the boys side, 12 of 17 school records belong to King-coached athletes.
Before he began his run as track guru, King coached the CHS varsity boys basketball program for 20 seasons, ruling the sidelines between 1991-2011.
He led both his 1998 and 2002 squads to Northwest League titles, and coached four of the top 10 scorers in program history.
Mike Bagby (tied for #1 with 1,137 points), Pete Petrov (#7 with 917), current CHS boys hoops coach Brad Sherman (#8 with 874), and Arik Garthwaite (#10 with 867) all called King their coach.
King also pulled a stint as a CHS assistant football coach, and, later in his career, led middle school programs for both boys basketball and volleyball.
The spikers who he taught as young women went on to provide the core of the most-recent CHS volleyball squad to earn a trip to state.
As news of his retirement filtered out to a quarantined Wolf Nation, the response was quick and highly-positive.
“Oh man, that’s rough for sure!,” said Sylvia Hurlburt, a key part of record-setting CHS relay squads. “He’s going to be missed, but he had an amazing run!”
“Thanks Randy for all your hard work and dedication!,” said Wolf mom Dawnelle Conlisk. “Congratulations on your retirement! I agree with Sylvia!”
“You will be missed by sooo many,” said Susan Hulst, whose granddaughter Alana Mihill ran track for King. “We salute you COACH. Wishing you the best on your next adventure.”
That was a sentiment echoed by those who worked with the track guru.
“He will ALWAYS be COACH to me!!!,” said CMS cross country/track coach Elizabeth Bitting. “Congrats and enjoy retirement!!!! You deserve it!!!!!!”
Shawna Kelley has two sons, Brandon and Lathom, who were CHS track stars, and a husband, Lincoln, who coached with King.
“Randy, we will miss you dearly,” she said. “We are so blessed to have had you as a teacher, a coach, co-coach, and friend.
“Enjoy your retirement and we’ll see you around the bend.”
While King’s days as a coach and teacher may be coming to an end (unless we can talk him into coming back to coach little league…), that opens up the chance he might have more time to rock the mic from the press box.
Tom Zingarelli, a former longtime coach who operates the clock at many CHS and CMS athletic events, has already put the offer out there.
“One of the best that I have ever been around!!,” he said. “I expect to see you in the booth during sports seasons – it’s warmer and drier up there!”
