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Fight on, brother!!

Posted in Football, Fundraisers, Whidbey's Best, tagged Ben Haight, fundraisers, Gabe Kennedy, Solea Kennedy on June 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Gabe Kennedy (Photos from Solea Kennedy’s GoFundMe page)

A moment or two in the sun for Gabe and one of his nurses.

Hope never rests.

Fighting back from terrible injuries suffered in a hit and run accident while skateboarding in Reno, Gabe Kennedy, older brother of Coupeville High School football star Ben Haight, continues to get stronger with each day.

Mom Solea Kennedy, a volunteer with the Coupeville Food Bank, has been by her son’s side for most of the ordeal — coming back to town for Haight’s graduation, where he was Salutatorian.

She continues to update the progress shown by Gabe, who has come out of a coma but is enduring multiple surgeries, on the family’s GoFundMe page.

A recent one:

Gabe really smiled tonight! Kerri Anne and Andy were visiting and when Andy repeated something funny that Gabe had said a month ago, Gabe gave him a big toothy grin!

Whenever Andy told Gabe one of Gabe’s own jokes, he would smile! We tried our own jokes, but according to Gabe, no one is as funny as Gabe!

Donations, including those from Coupeville folks, have poured in, but the family is still in great need.

To follow updates on Gabe’s progress, and to possibly help out the family (every dollar counts) jump over to:

http://www.gofundme.com/955tg8

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Meggie Moo, you’re amazin’!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Cheer, Happy birthday, Whidbey's Best, tagged Cheer, CHS Wolves, Happy birthday, Megan Meyer on June 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Megan Meyer, all grown up and super classy.

You know, it’s not always about sports.

Megan Meyer, who celebrates her 24th birthday today, was an athlete during her time at Coupeville High School. A cheerleader — during the time when the Wolves were a competition squad — and a tennis player.

So, there’s a sports connection there.

But Meggie Moo is more than that. Much more.

She is the little girl who I saw grow up into an amazing young woman. Sweet-natured, generous, a wonderful person in every way.

Her first day of preschool was my first day working for her mom, Miriam, at Videoville, back when it was still a little shack sitting in the parking lot of what is now an Oriental food store.

A year later, the little shack was torn down and replaced with what seemed to be a colossus of a store that combined Videoville with the newly-created Miriam’s Espresso.

I rented videos, haphazardly stood in as a backup barista on occasion and got paid to goof off there for nearly the entire length of Megan’s school career in Coupeville.

The little girl with the curly hair who we sometimes jammed into the rolling box we used under the video drop slot — so she could reach up and freak people out by grabbing their hands through the slot — was who I saw “George of the Jungle” with in theaters.

Then, one day, she was working behind the counter with me.

She stayed on video for awhile, until she overcame her fear of being burned by a splatter of hot milk on the espresso side of the business, before becoming a talented barista.

Now, she’s a college grad, off saving the small villages of the world and dispensing kindness wherever she goes.

At one point or another, I butted heads with every one of Miriam’s multiple children — because I can be an ass and they’re all feisty in nature … yeah, mainly the former — but never Meggie.

She is one of the most genuinely lovable people I have ever known. Her mere presence causes the heavens to open, the sun to shine and small animals to dance with little children.

You are incredibly special, Miss Meyer. I hope you know how much everyone thinks of you, how much joy you have brought into all of our lives.

I want nothing less than the absolute best for you, no matter where you go or what miracles you work in your life.

You will always be that little girl with the huge smile.

The package may have gotten bigger, but you were awesome from day one, Megster.

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Warriors, come out to play-ay!!

Posted in Whidbey's Best, tagged 3-sport athletes, CHS Wolves, warriors on June 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The warriors of CHS — 23 strong.

There is hope.

Small schools (and Coupeville is the smallest 1A school in the state) need kids to play more than one sport.

In a time when largely unnecessary specialization and year-round play have come to dominate, an “old school” work ethic — where you play three sports because there’s three seasons — is the lifeblood of smaller schools.

So, it’s nice to see that 23 Wolves — 13 girls and 10 boys — played three sports in 2013-2014, up from 18 the year before.

Now, for the second straight year, only two seniors IN THE ENTIRE SCHOOL completed the journey.

Last year it was Caleb Valko and Bessie Walstad, this time around Nick Streubel and Breeanna Messner.

But that means a sizable chunk of those who embraced the three-sport model were freshmen and sophomores.

If they stay the route — and 11 CHS athletes who achieved that in 2012-2013 came back to repeat in ’13-’14 — the numbers will continue to build.

One oddity (at least for someone who graduated high school in ’89, when it was commonplace) is the fact that, for a second straight year, no CHS boy played the traditional three-sport run of football, basketball and baseball.

In fact, only one of the 10 three-sport boys, freshman Gabe Wynn, even played baseball.

By contrast, six girls played the traditional run of volleyball, basketball and softball.

What that means, I don’t know.

Now, of course, there are reasons for some athletes not playing three sports.

Injuries and illness cost a couple, while some people simply don’t want to play basketball, which is the only sport Coupeville plays in the winter.

But we’re not here to talk about the shouldas and the couldas. We’re here to honor those who did suit up every season. The warriors.

P.S. — An asterisk means they also played three sports for CHS in 2012-2013.

GIRLS:

McKayla Bailey (*) — Soccer, basketball, softball
McKenzie Bailey (*) — Volleyball, basketball, tennis
Tiffany Briscoe — Volleyball, basketball, softball
Aura Corredor — Volleyball, basketball, tennis
Emily Coulter — Volleyball, basketball, softball
Lauren Grove — Volleyball, basketball, track
Hailey Hammer (*) — Volleyball, basketball, softball
Breeanna Messner (*) — Volleyball, basketball, softball
Mattea Miller — Soccer, basketball, track
Carlie Rosenkrance — Soccer, basketball, track
Makana Stone (*) — Soccer, basketball, track
Madeline Strasburg (*) — Volleyball, basketball, softball
Monica Vidoni (*) — Volleyball, basketball, softball

Boys:

Beauman Davis — Tennis, basketball, soccer
Jared Helmstadter (*) — Tennis, basketball, track
Oscar Liquidano (*) — Football, basketball, soccer
Dalton Martin (*) — Tennis, basketball, track
Grey Rische — Tennis, basketball, track
Brian Shank — Football, basketball, track
Matt Shank — Football, basketball, track
Nick Streubel (*) — Football, basketball, track
Joel Walstad — Football, basketball, soccer
Gabe Wynn — Tennis, basketball, baseball

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The best, every day, in every way!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Girls Basketball, Happy birthday, Whidbey's Best, tagged Basketball, Brittany Black, CHS Wolves, Happy birthday, Lexie Black, Videoville on May 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The woman, the myth, the legend … Lexie Black. (John Fisken photo)

The Black ‘n Blue Sisters, Lexie (left) and Brittany Black.

Superstar.

Some people are like rays of sunshine, sent into the world to fight against the darkness.

Lexie Black is one of those people.

A radiant burst of joy come to life, Miss Black, who celebrates her 27th birthday today, is one of my favorite people in the world. Without question or qualification.

I remember her as a young woman, slouched behind the counter at Videoville while we worked together, thumbing through fashion magazines and trying to pretend she wasn’t the tallest person in the room.

Already a dead-ringer for Milla Jovovich, even in her teens, Lexie was only missing one thing the “Resident Evil” star possessed — confidence.

But it arrived, maybe not in one day, but over time.

There was a moment when Lexie stepped onto a basketball court, snapped to her full height and realized she could, and would, kick unholy amounts of booty, Jovovich-style.

The queen of the blocked shot — she still holds the record with ten rejections in a single 1A girls’ state playoff game — Lexie was a beast on the hardwood.

She did it with hard work. With grit. With a refusal to ever back down, to ever look at an opposing team’s uniform and assume she had to lose because that uniform said ATM or King’s.

Lexie was graceful in both victory or defeat, but she was going to make damn sure either way you knew you had been in a war.

Running along side lil’ sis Brittany as half of the Black ‘n Blue Sisters, she helped spark the greatest sustained run in any sport in Coupeville High School history.

The duo would go on to play college hoops in Alaska — enduring a new home where their eyelashes would often freeze in the brief time it took to go from car to gym — and the awesomeness grew.

It’s not just sports, though. It’s in all aspects of her life.

I see Lexie today, standing tall and proud, full of joy, proof you can look like a super model, be a goofball and excel at everything you do and I see a lesson for every young female athlete who wears the red and black.

Be proud of yourself. Believe in yourself. Fight hard for what you want.

Know that when you lay it on the line every game and play your heart and soul out, that you will make lifelong fans, people who will be there to support you long after you stop playing.

And yes, she was probably rolling her eyes several paragraphs back, but face it, Lexie, we think the world of you.

You made this town proud. You made your family proud. You continue to make everyone who calls you a friend proud.

You are the best, Lexie, every day, in every way.

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All you need is baby!!

Posted in Where are they now?, Whidbey's Best, tagged babies, Basketball, CHS Wolves, Courtney Boyd, Kassie O'Neil, Tina Joiner on April 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Former CHS hoops star Tina (Lyness) Joiner and Gracen.

Tina (Lyness) Joiner and the very dapper Gracen.

Kassie (Lawson) O’Neil and sons Liam (left) and Abel.

Abel hangs out with aunt Katie Smith, another former Wolf hoops sensation.

Courtney Boyd and super-cutie daughter Ruby Folkestad.

“Bow! Bow before my cuteness!!”

He’s got lines for days.

Basketball players and babies, they go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Take a look at former Coupeville High School hoops sensations and a ton of them have one thing in common these days — they have produced a photogenic next generation.

You could do many things with your Monday. Smiling at pics of babies should always be high on that list.

You’re welcome.

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