Coupeville High School seniors have two weeks left to get in the running for a $5,000 college scholarship.
The 2020 Smart Choices Scholarships are offered by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the Dairy Farmers of Washington, and Les Schwab Tires.
The program, in its eighth go-round, honors one female and one male high school student for their achievements in athletics/activities, the community, and the classroom.
While the winners net $5,000 apiece, eight other finalists also receive $1,000 scholarships.
The deadline to apply is April 1.
Seniors need to fill out an online application and write a short essay on “How you plan to use your education to benefit others.”
Judging is based on athletic/activity excellence (35%), academic achievement (35%), leadership (15%), citizenship/community service (10%), and originality/creativity of the essay (5%).
Left to right, top to bottom: Drake Borden, Hannah Davidson, Koa Davison, Maddie Georges, Mason Grove, Mitchell Hall, Dawson Houston, Gavin Knoblich, and Mallory Kortuem. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
L to r: Carolyn Lhamon, Catherine Lhamon, Andrew Martin, Emma Mathusek, Xavier Murdy, Chelsea Prescott, Jacobi Pilgrim, Avalon Renninger, Scout Smith
Maya Toomey-Stout, Sean Toomey-Stout, Zoe Trujillo, Maddie Vondrak, Ulrik Wells, Hawthorne Wolfe, Tia Wurzrainer
For the eighth straight year, it’s time to anoint one Wolf to rule them all.
Sort of.
Love it or hate it, the annual battle to be anointed as the Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme returns.
With everything going on in the outside world, I decided to jump things forward from May to March, giving everyone one small thing to take their mind off of their cabin fever.
The contest is simple — I nominate 25 Coupeville High School athletes, you get 100 hours to vote (10 AM, Thursday, March 19 to 2 PM, Monday, March 23), and one victor emerges.
In previous go-rounds, you had to have made an impact on at least two varsity teams to be eligible.
This year, with spring sports on hiatus, I’ve changed it to one team.
It’s not easy to get things down from say, 28 to 25 athletes.
The last person cut had a decent fall and winter, and was headed into a spring where they would likely have been a star, putting them over the edge if we were doing this in May.
It is what it is, though.
If you’re ticked at being left out, remember this — it’s a fake award. And the guy who made the nominations (me) is often an idiot.
For those nominated, if you and/or your fan base want to fight for a title previously won by Nick Streubel, Amanda Fabrizi, CJ Smith, Hunter Smith, Joey Lippo, Ethan Spark, and Mason Grove, great.
If not, no worries.
In the end, there’s no real prize for the winner, just a warm feeling in your chest from all that internet love, and the chance to smack-talk everyone (from a reasonable distance).
Sometimes that’s enough.
After several years of unlimited voting, which allowed people to run computer scripts and nuke the vote totals, we went back to semi-restricted voting last year.
That forced people to rely more on rallying fan bases and kept the race exciting until the end.
So, we’re keeping things that way this time around, and it should allow you to vote once per device, every three hours.
Former Coupeville soccer/football star Zane Bundy is now a deputy with the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Department. (Photo poached from Janine Bundy)
The journey continues.
Zane Bundy was one of those Coupeville kids who spent a good chunk of his early days camped out in the video game aisle at Videoville.
Later, he was a soccer star, one of the best to ever come through CHS, a high-flying, often-electrifying player who had superb touch with the ball and a genuine love for the sport which always shone through brightly.
As a senior, he threw everyone a curve, joining the Wolf football team and excelling as a kicker, leading the team in scoring while finishing as one of the best field goal kickers in the state.
Now, the 2016 CHS grad is engaged to fellow Wolf alum Rebecca Robinson and busy being a full-time adult.
Tuesday he was sworn in as a deputy with the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Department, and I just had to pass on the news.
Makana Stone received another major college basketball award Tuesday afternoon. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Her basketball season ended prematurely, but she continues to be showered in awards.
Coupeville grad Makana Stone, already honored as the Northwest Conference Player of the Year, was named Tuesday to the D3hoops.com West Region First Team.
The Whitman College senior, who averaged 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds, joins Emma Gerdes of Wartburg, Caitlin Navratil of Nebraska Wesleyan, Taite Anderson of Bethel, and Hanna Geistfeld of Bethany Lutheran.
Two other NWC players, Jamie Lange of Puget Sound and Kory Oleson of Linfield, earned Third Team honors.
Stone collected 409 points, 225 rebounds, 37 assists, 26 steals, and 26 blocks, while shooting 166-316 (52.5%) from the floor and 74-96 (77.1%) from the free-throw line this season.
During her four years as a Blue, the former Wolf star played in 110 games, including making a program-record 92 starts.
She finished as the #5 scorer (1,337 points) and #2 rebounder (837 caroms) in Whitman women’s basketball history.
Sparked by the play of Stone and teammates such as Mady Burdett, Whitman went 26-3, won its first regular-season title since 2014, and opened the NCAA tourney with back-to-back wins.
The Blues were in Maine preparing to play Oglethorpe University in the Sweet 16 when the remainder of the season was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Coupeville High School seniors have two weeks left to get in the running for a $5,000 college scholarship.
