Coupeville Sports

Briscoe down, but not out!!

August 22, 2016 by David Svien

Kyla Briscoe was a key player as a sophomore on last year’s girls’ hoops squad which went to state. (John Fisken photos)

Briscoe, seen here last year with Sarah Wright (left) and Katrina McGranahan, is a two-year letter winner in volleyball.

Briscoe models her new cast Monday. (Amy Briscoe photo)

One bad step during the off-season will put the Coupeville High School volleyball squad down a player this year.

Junior Kyla Briscoe, a two-time letter winner for the Wolf spikers, ripped seven ligaments and two tendons in her left ankle during a summer volleyball camp.

Coming down after a block, she landed on another player’s foot and rolled her own ankle, hard.

A small smidgen of good news was delivered Monday, however, as Briscoe learned she wouldn’t need surgery.

Instead, she will wear a cast for the next three weeks.

After that, Briscoe is expected to move into a boot and begin rehab.

While it’s expected she’ll miss the entire volleyball season, and the chance to play a final season alongside older sister Tiffany, the lack of surgery might put her back in play for basketball season.

Kyla Briscoe saw her playing time steadily increase as her sophomore hoops season played out.

A scrappy player on both sides of the ball, she helped lead the Wolf basketball squad to its first state tourney berth in a decade.

CHS hoops coach David King was planning on keeping Briscoe actively involved in the program, regardless of her playing status.

She is currently slated to assist Sherry Roberts with Coupeville’s fall ball team.

“One thing she knows is the plays and how we as a team want to play,” King said. “That insight is invaluable.”

A few days back, when it appeared Briscoe might be out for a substantial period of time, her coach expressed regret.

“Not having Kyla is going to leave a huge hole within our team,” King said. “The growth towards the end of last season and this summer really allowed her to gain confidence in herself and her game.

“We were looking forward to having her full time on varsity and being a contributor in all facets of the game.”

Monday’s prognosis may brighten the outlook for King, however, depending on how fast Briscoe’s ankle mends itself.

For now, it’s a waiting game, though one with more of a silver lining than it might have seemed at first.

Posted in Girls Basketball, Volleyball | Tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, injuries, Kyla Briscoe, volleyball | Leave a Comment »

Young gridiron warriors kick off season!!

August 22, 2016 by David Svien

Coupeville’s quarterback of the future, Logan Downes, rolls out while playing youth football in Oak Harbor. (John Fisken photos)

“I know purple and gold are not really my colors. It is what it is.”

Coupeville’s football future is hard at work up in the big city.

With no youth football program of its own, the home of the Wolves sends its young gridiron warriors to Oak Harbor.

Nine Coupeville kids are currently suiting up in the Oak Harbor Football and Cheer League, spread across three divisions.

Future Wolves include:

Daylon Chapel (Pee Wee Gold)
Joseph Cuaresma (Pee Wee Gold)
Hunter Bronec (Midget Purple)
Hurlee Bronec (Midget Purple)
Logan Downes (Midget Gold)
Gabriel Reed (Midget Gold)
Wyatt Howard (Midget Gold)
Tyson Bovee (Seniors)
Dominic Ricci (Seniors)

The league kicked off its season with a jamboree in Burlington-Edison Saturday, with regular play set to start this coming weekend.

Travelin’ photo whiz kid John Fisken hit the road to send back pics from the jamboree, including the two seen above.

To gaze upon all his work (and possibly purchase some glossy pics for displaying on the mantle) bounce over to:

Pee Wee Gold — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OHFCL-PeeWee-Gold-Jamboree/

Pee Wee Purple — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OHFCL-PeeWee-Purple-Jamboree/

Midget Gold –– http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OHFLC-Midget-Gold-Jamboree/

Midget Purple — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OHFLC-Midget-Gold-Jamboree/

Junior Gold — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OHFCL-Junior-Gold-Jamboree

Junior Purple — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OHFLC-Midget-Gold-Jamboree/

Seniors — http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/OHFCL-Seniors-Jamboree/

Posted in Football | Tagged CMS Wolves, football, John Fisken photos, Logan Downes, Oak Harbor Youth Football | 3 Comments »

Wolves return to trail again!!

August 21, 2016 by David Svien

Coupeville High School sophomore Danny Conlisk will compete in cross country this fall, training and traveling with South Whidbey while competing as a Wolf. (John Fisken photo)

CHS sophomore Danny Conlisk will run cross country this fall, training and traveling with South Whidbey while competing as a Wolf. (John Fisken photo)

Six years ago Tyler King was the fastest cross country runner among all 1A athletes in Washington state.

When he ran away with a state championship in 2010, kicking off his senior year at Coupeville High School, he joined Natasha Bamberger atop the podium, 25 years after she won the girls title in 1985.

But, no Wolf has competed in cross country since King’s title run.

And, Coupeville didn’t actually have a team in 2010, with the program having been shut down years earlier.

King traveled and trained with Oak Harbor, but competed as a (very successful) one-man Wolf squad.

That followed on the heels of his first three years, when he actually competed under Oak Harbor’s banner and went to state at the 4A level each season.

The agreement between the two schools changed before King’s senior campaign, and then was dropped after OHHS reverted to being a 3A school.

In recent years, CHS athletes have been able to travel and train with fellow 1A school South Whidbey, but compete as Wolves, if Coupeville doesn’t offer their sport.

The most obvious case was Austin and Christine Fields, who qualified for state in golf all four years they each competed.

Now, at least one Wolf, and possibly as many as four, are following in King’s huge footprints.

Coupeville sophomore Danny Conlisk, who went to state in the 800 and 4 x 400 as a freshman, is signed up and will kickoff cross country practice at 12:01 AM Monday morning at Camp Casey with South Whidbey.

Three other Wolf track stars — Abby Parker, Lauren Bayne and Henry Wynn — have expressed interest in cross country, and may join Conlisk in the coming days.

If they do, they will compete alongside the Falcons in the regular season, then split off when the postseason arrives.

South Whidbey competes in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference, while Coupeville runners will line up opposite their counterparts in the 1A Olympic League to start off any postseason run.

Conlisk’s commitment, and the possibility of other Wolves being interested, has revived interest in CHS re-starting its own cross country program.

Coupeville teams finished in the Top 10 at state five times between 1975-1982.

To bring the sport back to CHS would take some work, however.

“We would have to do a cost breakdown for coaching, bus, interest (other than four kids) etc.,” said CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith. “We would also have to figure out a home course, which are generally on golf courses or some semblance of trails that are maintained.

“So not much but something worth looking into.”

Until then Conlisk (and possible company) will simply go rogue like King before them.

Posted in Cross Country | Tagged CHS Wolves, cross country, Danny Conlisk, SWHS Falcons, Tyler King | Leave a Comment »

Better not wuss out on me!!

August 21, 2016 by David Svien

Who speaks for the Wolf? (Robyn Myers photo)

Don’t make the Sad Coyote cry any more. Play a sport! (Robyn Myers photo)

Psst, kid … yeah you … this is your time.

Monday marks the first day of practice for volleyball, girls soccer and boys tennis at Coupeville High School and day five for football.

Plus, there are pretty substantial rumors a number of Wolves are going to travel down to South Whidbey and run cross country this season.

Since CHS doesn’t have an active harrier program, they’ll train and travel with the Falcons, but compete under the Coupeville banner.

To everyone, in any of the different sports, who shows up tomorrow, I say congratulations.

You are expanding your horizons, giving yourself new challenges, taking full advantage of everything your school has to offer.

To those who are wavering on this (suddenly less ferociously-hot) Sunday, I say, DO IT!!!!!

Take a chance. Try something new or return to a sport you once played.

Just do it.

Early estimates have three of the four fall sports at CHS down in number of athletes from a year ago, and, if that plays out, it sucks.

Opportunity abounds right now, thanks to Coupeville’s relative smallness (we boast the sixth-smallest student body of any 1A school) and, if the numbers hold, lack of competition for a roster spot.

In the two years the Wolves have been in the Olympic League, athletic success has trended upward.

Coupeville, across the 11 varsity sports, has been well in front of Port Townsend and Chimacum, while making a sustained, serious run at Klahowya, which has the second-biggest 1A student body.

Now is not the time to take a step back.

Now is the time for the benches to be deep, for the programs to be growing.

Every athlete, top to bottom, is important at a small school.

Athletics are not more important than academics, but, when the two are combined, they provide you with a better base.

When I look back at my own high school days in Tumwater, I don’t remember the tests I aced (or the classes I skipped…), but I do vividly remember playing tennis on gas-soaked courts in the hellhole that is Aberdeen, while local fans threw rocks at us through the chain-link fence.

I sort-of remember a vinegary English teacher calling me a blasphemer after I wrote a story about Adam and Eve rolling dice with the Devil, but that time I hit a jerk-wad foreign exchange student in the chest with three consecutive shots as he cussed me out in his native tongue?

Crystal clear.

Now imagine if I had been anything more than a mere journeyman netter?

I might be telling you about the state tourneys I played in, as opposed to fondly remembering the open sewage which ran past the courts in Hoquiam and the afternoon we “liberated” the large welcome carpet from outside Charles Wright Academy.

Anyway, the point of this rambling is this — sports, whether you’re All-State or prone to running extra laps, makes for memories you simply can’t get in a classroom.

Take advantage. Don’t let the opportunities slip away.

Get off your duff and show up Monday. Play a sport.

Your very own gas-soaked courts, irksome foreign exchange students and open sewage awaits you, but only if you go seek them out.

Posted in Ranting and Raving | Tagged Aberdeen sucks, CHS Wolves, commitment, fall sports, open sewage, Tumwater High School | Leave a Comment »

“He was tough as nails!!”

August 21, 2016 by David Svien

Mike Smart (Photo courtesy Dustin Van Velkinburgh)

The stats were impressive. But that’s not why he’s remembered.

Mike Smart racked up defensive numbers for Coupeville High School which let him stand shoulder-to-shoulder with virtually anyone who has ever strapped on the pads as a Wolf.

But it’s his presence in the huddle, on the bus, in the locker room, which remains with his former teammates 15 years after he played his final down at CHS.

The son of a coach, Gary Smart, Sr., and younger brother to Gary Smart, Jr., a very successful Wolf quarterback in his own right, Mikey is the lone member of the 61st class to be inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall of Fame.

After this, you’ll find him at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

The induction is posthumous, as Smart passed away at just 21, after a fatal car crash on Fort Casey Road in 2005.

He left behind a son, though, who, under the tender care of mom Kimberly (Bagarelli) Robinett, grows to look more like his dad with each day.

And he left behind a lifetime of memories for those who lined-up next to him on Friday nights at Mickey Clark Field.

Smart was a two-way warrior for the Wolf gridiron squad, a fullback and a linebacker, where he made his biggest impact.

During his senior season in 2001, he combined with Joe Kelley, a fellow Hall of Famer, to provide one of the most brutally-efficient defensive duos Coupeville has ever had.

Smart collected 119 tackles that season (Kelley had a school-record 142), earning team MVP honors and receiving All-League recognition.

He had the ability to turn games by sheer force of will, which is evidenced by a game at Concrete at mid-season.

Sparking a 31-17 Wolf win, Smart collected 12 tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss of yardage, forced a fumble and recovered another.

He topped out that season with 19 tackles against Archbishop Thomas Murphy, while chasing down Jevon Butler, the two-time 1A state player of the year.

But, as great as his stats were, it’s not the tackles or the fumble recoveries for which he is most remembered.

Dustin Van Velkinburgh, who graduated with Smart in 2002 after playing football and basketball along side him, is now a Wolf coach.

When he looks back and reflects on his friend, this is how he remembers him:

Mike always put a smile on your face. I absolutely loved that kid!

I remember him blocking for Ian Barron his junior year, getting run over again and again and never complaining.

He was tough as nails.

But he was also the kid who made you laugh all the time. There was never a dull moment.

He would do the Mikey Shuffle.

He had a white t-shirt that had been cut-up, had that shirt since he was a freshman.

It was yellow, dirty, he never washed it all four years.

He’d wear that, put his cleats and helmet on, nothing else, and tap-dance in the shower for us.

In the huddle Noah (Roehl) would get upset with us. “We gotta score now!!”