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Home cooking fuels fleet feet

September 30, 2026 by David Svien

Henry Purdue shares the spotlight with other quick runners. (Elizabeth Bitting photo)

The sun peeked out and the Wolves flew across the course.

Playing host to an eight-team meet at Fort Casey State Park Wednesday, the Coupeville High School cross country squad pulled off a successful event, in terms of compliments received and stellar performances delivered.

Wolf freshmen Anna Powers and Henry Purdue collected 2nd and 3rd place finishes, respectively, while the CHS girls won the team title.

Coupeville’s female harriers hit the line with 32 points as a group, edging out Evangel Classical, which scored 39, and Mount Vernon Christian, which recorded 59.

On the boys’ side of things, Evangel, a private school from Marysville, topped the chase with just 18 points, with Friday Harbor (59) and Coupeville (63) rounding out the top three.

Big hat, big performance for Anna Powers. (Elizabeth Bitting photo)

Mount Vernon Christian sophomore Della Carlson and Evangel senior Joshua Sarr, a three-time state meet participant, were the individual winners.

Coupeville coach Elizabeth Bitting, who pulled off the home meet with the help of a small army, was beaming after the runners finished the 5,000-meter course.

“They all ran excellent, both boys and girls!” she said.

“Both teams ran amazing! They are getting it, coming together and pushing beyond the hurt! So proud of them!!!”

The brains behind another successful home meet. (Kelly Powers photo)

The Wolves return to action this Saturday, when they travel to University Place to participate in the 103-team John Payne XC Invite.

Yes, you read that right. 103 teams.

Cross country on the mainland is a whole different thing.

 

Wednesday results:

 

GIRLS:

Anna Powers (2nd) 22:22.9
Ivy Rudat (5th) 23:42.7
Mikayla Wagner (11th) 25:21.8
Claire Lachnit (13th) 25:57.6
Emma Green (14th) 26:28.8
Allie Powers (18th) 26:45.2
Laken Simpson (19th) 26:45.5
Devon Wyman (21st) 26:56.5

 

BOYS:

Henry Purdue (3rd) 18:01.6
Archer Schwarz (17th) 19:37.6
Kenneth Jacobsen (19th) 19:45.6
Beckett Green (23rd) 20:11.9
Leo Davis (27th) 21:19.9
Hunter Atteberry (31st) 21:37.7
Johnathan Jacobsen (32nd) 21:48.9
Isaiah Allen (36th) 22:16.9
Nolan Hunt (46th) 28:19.0
Zach Blitch (50th) 33:19.8

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Tense tussle, valiant victory

September 30, 2026 by David Svien

Emily Rains was a volleyball assassin Wednesday night. (Emma Leavitt photo)

Winner, winner, they get to sit on a ferry for the rest of the night.

At least the journey back from Friday Harbor is likely to be a joyous one Wednesday night for the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad, after the Wolves claimed their first victory of the season.

Holding off the pesky Wolverines (and their board operator, who lost control of the score more than once) 26-24, 25-23, Alita Blouin’s spikers improve to 1-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 1-5 overall.

Coupeville’s second squad, which has come close almost every time out, gets a chance to make it back-to-back celebrations when it hosts Concrete Thursday in Cow Town.

The young Wolves will be riding a high when they take the floor against the Lions, having put together their most complete performance of the season in a rival’s gym.

CHS fought back from an early deficit Wednesday, rallying behind tip winners from Emma Leavitt and Cassandra Powers, before getting a big burst at the service stripe from Olivia Martin.

The fired-up Wolf libero peppered Friday Harbor, running off five straight points on her serve to stake the Wolves to a 15-11 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Not that the Wolverines didn’t make a serious play to stage their own comeback, finally forcing a tie at 21-21.

But a strong serve off the fingertips of Amira Anunciado, followed by Leavitt slashing a winner while soaring towards the net from the left side, was the answer.

As was a tooth-rattling ace from Powers at set point, the ball skidding away from the would-be receiver.

With the JV teams playing second, thanks to the need for a possible rush out the door to snag the last ferry out of town, action stayed hot ‘n furious in the second frame.

Friday Harbor surged ahead, Wolf freshman Emily Rains corrected things with a stellar run on her serve, and the teams battled through 10 ties.

Powers and Leavitt continued to come up with big-time plays, whether it was the former flicking deep balls that caught the back line, or the latter leaning way back to redirect a rapidly dropping ball for an emphatic kill.

Also coming up big was Scarlett Spencer, making a great save to turn a potential Friday Harbor point into a surprise Coupeville winner.

With the score knotted at 23-23, the Wolves dug deep, with Anunciado crushing a service ace followed by Powers ending things with one final ear-popping spike winner.

Coupeville got contributions from everyone on the roster, with Annabelle Cundiff and Addison Jacobson chipping in to the on-floor performance and Sabrina Judnich and Hannah Roberts bringing big emotional support from the bench.

 

Wednesday stats:

Amira Anunciado — 1 ace
Addison Jacobson — 1 kill, 1 dig
Emma Leavitt — 6 kills, 3 digs, 8 assists, 2 aces
Olivia Martin — 3 digs, 1 ace
Cassandra Powers — 7 kills, 6 assists, 5 aces
Emily Rains — 3 kills, 4 digs, 6 aces
Scarlett Spencer — 4 digs

Posted in Volleyball | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Stuurmans still a slammin’ success

September 30, 2026 by David Svien

Lyla Stuurmans (in pink) hangs out with college roommates (left to right) Leah Lockwood, Lily Starr, and Rylan Bernardy. (Scarlett Stuurmans photo)

The winners are jumping off her fingers.

Raining down 10 kills Wednesday night, Coupeville grad Lyla Stuurmans helped lift the Skagit Valley College women’s volleyball squad to a straight-sets win over visiting Shoreline.

Claiming their fourth win in their last five matches, the Cardinals pounded their foes 25-11, 25-13, 25-10 to get to 9-7 on the season.

Stuurmans, a former CHS Athlete of the Year winner who is now a college sophomore, added nine digs, a service ace, and 11 points to the stat sheet to go with her collection of spikes.

For the season, the ever-springy one has racked up 95 kills, six assists, 15 service aces, 147 digs, five solo blocks, 25 block assists, and 127.5 points.

Skagit returns to action Friday, when it hosts Edmonds, before traveling to Whatcom October 7.

The second of those matches will reunite Stuurmans with her former Coupeville teammate, Mia Farris, who anchors the Orcas.

Posted in Volleyball, Wolves in college | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Tough loss, bright future

September 30, 2026 by David Svien

Lillian Ketterling unleashes her Leg o’ Death and Destruction. (Monica Grant photos)

These are the games that help build character for a young team on the brink of greatness.

They sting in the moment, but down the road, the chances are great the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer squad will look back and see where they persevered through adversity and came to prosper because of it.

Coming off a heartbreaking tie against La Conner, in which the Braves punched in the tying goal in stoppage time while getting away with roughing up Coupeville’s goaltender, Wednesday’s trip to Friday Harbor also ended with a sucker punch.

This time out, the host Wolverines snapped a tie with a goal (again in stoppage time), followed a half second later by the ref’s whistle, handing CHS a 2-1 loss.

The defeat drops Coupeville to 2-2-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-2-2 overall, and for the moment, drops Jasmine Ader’s booters into fourth place in the seven-team conference.

Mount Vernon Christian (5-0-0 for 15 points) sits atop the standings, followed by Lopez Island (3-2-1 for 10 points), Friday Harbor (3-2-0 for nine points) and the Wolves (eight points).

La Conner (2-1-1 for seven points), Providence Classical Christian (1-4-0 for three points), and Orcas Island (0-5-0 for zero points) round out things.

Coupeville, a very-young team which is currently without injured veterans Tamsin Ward and Taylor Marrs, still has six league games left to play, however, including a rematch with Friday Harbor in the regular season finale.

First though the Wolves head to Bremerton Saturday for a non-conference clash with Crosspoint Christian, which sits at 5-2.

Playing on Friday Harbor, CHS got its score from freshman Hazel Goldman, who knocked in her team-leading fourth goal of the season.

That held up almost until the end, but a few missed opportunities in the final minutes made life tough for the Wolves.

Coupeville had multiple corner kicks as the clock ticked away, but despite having all the momentum, barely missed on nailing what would likely have been a game-winning goal.

With the clock frozen, Friday Harbor launched one final fast break and slid in the dagger.

“A hard-fought game with small mistakes that cost us big,” said CHS assistant coach Jerry Helm. “Lots of good take aways, just need to finish.”

Emma Cushman sends the soccer ball off on an adventure.

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Support spirit superstar, get a snazzy collectable

September 29, 2026 by David Svien

Coupeville grad Pamela Morrell cheers at a recent Whatcom College volleyball match. (Jennifer Morrell photo)

Pamela Morrell is a woman of many talents.

Cheerleader and cheer coach. Award-worthy student. Talented artist. Veteran of the theater scene.

And now the 2025 Coupeville grad is pursuing a nursing degree and helping revive the cheer program at Whatcom College.

While still finding time to showcase her artistic nature with a new side biz, Pamela’s Posters.

Want to support one of Coupeville’s best and brightest?

Of course you do.

So, reach out to Miss Morrell today at Pamelasposters@gmail.com and get in on the ground floor before she starts popping up on the morning network talk shows and is booked out for six months.

Posted in Business profiles, Cheer | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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