Coupeville Sports

Sole Sisters sizzle!!

May 28, 2016 by David Svien

Wolf freshman Lindsey Roberts, roaring up the outside,

CHS frosh Lindsey Roberts, here with coach Chad Felgar, roared up the outside lane Saturday, claiming fourth in the 100 hurdles. (Sherry Roberts photo)

The Sole Sisters — Lauren Grove, Roberts, Sylvia Hurlburt and Makana Stone, broke school records in both relays this weekend. (Sylvia Hurlburt photo)

Jacob Smith (and his mom) bask in the glow of his first state meet medal. (Deb Smith photo)

Sole Sisters 4 Ever. (Eileen Stone photo)

This will go down as one of the great years in Coupeville High School track history.

Capping a brilliant two-day run through the 1A state meet in Cheney, the Wolves picked up six more medals Saturday, running their total to nine.

That’s the most medals won at one state meet since the 2008 CHS squad also claimed nine.

While 2016 doesn’t match 2006, when the CHS boys won four state titles, including the only relay crown in school history, this year’s pack of Wolves can stand proud.

The girls finished 11th in the team standings, the best of any District 3 school, while the boys placed 15th, just a point-and-a-half behind Port Townsend.

Naches Valley won the girls title (South Whidbey was 17th), while Zillah took the boys trophy home.

Entering this year’s meet, Coupeville had four athletes who had won three or more medals at a single state meet — Jon Chittim (who won four in 2006), Tyler King, Kyle King and Brian Miller.

They nearly doubled that this weekend, with seniors Makana Stone and Dalton Martin and freshman Lindsey Roberts all hitting the trifecta.

Martin is the first Wolf in history to win three throwing medals at the same state meet (2nd in discus, 8th in both javelin and shot put), while Roberts and Stone became the first CHS girls to reach the three-medal, one-meet level.

The irrepressible freshman was the first to do what even former Wolf greats like Natasha Bamberger, Jennie Cross and Madison Tisa McPhee had not, when she sandwiched a shocker in the 100 hurdles in between legs on two relay squads.

Roberts, who was the only frosh to toe the starting line in the hurdles, was seeded eighth, but came roaring up on the outside to knock off half the pack and finish fourth.

Packaged around that, she teamed with the “Sole Sisters,” — Stone, Sylvia Hurlburt and Lauren Grove — to run strong in both the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 races.

The 4 x 2 team equaled last year’s 3rd place showing, breaking a school record, while the Wolves claimed sixth in the 4 x 1.

Coupeville broke the school record in the shorter race during Saturday’s prelims.

Stone then capped her prep career with a second-place showing in the 400, trailing only three-time state champ Maya Jackson of Northwest across the line.

That left the Wolf senior with seven state meet medals, while her quicksilver running mate since 7th grade, Hurlburt, zoomed away with four of her own for her stellar career.

While the Wolf girls were running wild on the oval, Martin was pulling off his second surprise of the meet.

Jumping from a #16 seed in the javelin to medal Friday, he vaulted from a #12 seed in the shot put to put the final stamp on his life as a Wolf.

With a second-place showing in his premier event, the discus, Martin finished with four state meet medals for his high school run.

After freshman Chris Battaglia tied his PR in the high jump with a leap of 5-04, sophomore Jacob Smith delivered the final high note for Wolf Nation.

Roaring to a fourth-place finish, he put the track community on notice he’ll be back, and he wants more medals.

Many more.

While Wolf seniors Hurlburt, Stone, Martin, Jared Helmstadter, Lathom Kelley and Jordan Ford (8th in the pole vault Friday) depart, Coupeville should return several marquee athletes next season.

Eight of the 13 Wolves who competed in Cheney are underclassmen, led by Roberts, Smith and Grove, who now has three state meet medals of her own.

Other potential returnees with state experience include Skyler Lawrence, Danny Conlisk, Mitchell Carroll, Henry Wynn and Battaglia, as well as Allison Wenzel, Connor Thompson, Ashlie Shank and Grey Rische, who were alternates this year.

Complete Day 2 results:

Girls:

400 — Makana Stone (2nd) 58.74

100 hurdles — Lindsey Roberts (4th) 16.39 *PR*

4 x 100 relay — Lauren Grove, Roberts, Stone, Sylvia Hurlburt (6th) 50.98

4 x 200 relay — Grove, Roberts, Hurlburt, Stone (3rd) 1:46.41 *SCHOOL RECORD*

Boys:

200 — Jacob Smith (4th) 23.06

Shot Put — Dalton Martin (8th) 47-07.75 *PR*

High Jump — Chris Battaglia (14th) 5-04 *PR*

Posted in Track | Tagged Cheney, CHS Wolves, Lindsey Roberts, Makana Stone, relays, state meet, Track | Leave a Comment »

Ignore the rain, today’s about Zane!!

May 28, 2016 by David Svien

Zane Bundy, through the years.

The best-dressed booter in the biz. (John Fisken photos)

Doin’ what he does.

Zane Bundy is special.

The Coupeville High School senior, who celebrates a birthday today, is a rarity, in many ways.

I’ve seen him grow up seemingly for all of his life, because in his early days he was a fixture at Videoville and David’s DVD Den, the constant companion to mom Janine or dad Mark.

Whether he was knee-deep in the video game section, trying to fast-talk his way to renting a questionable movie that he absolutely, positively needed to see or scampering around the aisles, Zane was a friendly ball o’ fire.

As he grew, both in age and shooting up like a weed in height, young Mr. Bundy picked up the mantle of soccer star and ran with it.

Both as a select player and high school booter, he’s been one of the most consistent stars we’ve had in Coupeville in the last decade.

Zane had a nose for goal-scoring, but also showed an extremely deft touch with the ball when setting others up for the shot.

And, despite always being a pretty dang skinny kid, he has never been afraid to rumble in the scrums, taking and exchanging body blows with the burliest of foes.

Proving people can always surprise you, Bundy slipped off the pitch as a senior to join the CHS football team for the first time.

Utilizing his booming leg, he led the Wolves in scoring and was among the best prep field goal kickers in the state.

He even snagged himself a tackle late in the season, which delighted Zane and coach Ryan King, while causing his mom to (momentarily) hyperventilate.

And lo and behold, it’s football, not soccer, which he’ll be playing in college.

Who saw that coming?

Through it all, whether he was playing “the beautiful game” or staying one step ahead of grunting, 300-pound would-be tacklers, Bundy has never changed as a person.

And that, ultimately, is what has always made him one of my favorite athletes, on and off the field.

He remains today the same fresh-faced, super-friendly person he was as a young boy, though now, as a young man set to graduate high school in a week, he’s become quite the fashion fiend.

Athletes come and athletes go, and a few will always rise above the crowd, for any number of reasons. Some positive, some negative.

With Zane, it has been nothing but positive, from day one to his final moments as a Wolf.

I hope he goes down to Santa Barbara City College and makes a big splash with the Vaqueros gridiron squad. That goes without saying.

But regardless of how his entree into college football goes, this is a young man who will be a success in life, and that’s far more important.

He is too kind, too smart, too friendly, too talented, not to do well.

Today is a small sliver of his life, and I hope his cake day is a smashing one. But I also hope every day around his birthday is equally winning.

Face it, Zane, you’re a pretty awesome guy.

Posted in Boys Soccer, Football, Happy birthday | Tagged cake day, CHS Wolves, football, Happy birthday, Soccer, Zane Bundy | Leave a Comment »

Halfway to history!!

May 27, 2016 by David Svien

Wolf senior Dalton Martin (right) hangs out with the only man in 1A to throw a discus farther than him, Chelan’s Jose Padilla. (Abbie Martin photo)

Coupeville’s Sole Sisters relay team — (l to r) Ashlie Shank (alternate), Lauren Grove, Lindsey Roberts, Sylvia Hurlburt, Makana Stone. (Eileen Stone photo)

It was Dalton’s day.

Coupeville High School senior Dalton Martin put on a show Friday in Cheney at the 1A state track and field meet.

Coming off of a 5th place showing in the discus as a junior, he entered his final go-around at state qualified in three throwing events.

And he immediately made his impact felt, in the most surprising way.

Having only picked up the javelin just a few weeks ago, he slipped into the state meet seeded #16 in a 16-man field, then promptly flipped that ranking on its head.

Unleashing a PR of 149 feet, three inches on the very first throw of the event, he sailed on to the awards podium, claiming an 8th place medal.

What came next was far more expected, as Martin, who has been the second-best discus chucker in 1A all season, claimed his second medal of the meet, finishing runner-up to defending champ Jose Padilla of Chelan.

Martin came within 13 inches of his PR, hurling the discus 160 feet, six inches.

Padilla, who has accepted a track scholarship from the University of Washington, launched throws of 185-03 and 195-00.

The first broke the 1A state meet record, which was set in 1968.

The second shattered the record for all classifications, which had stood since 1979.

Martin’s double-dip day (he’ll back to lob the shot put with Padilla Saturday) highlighted a busy day for the Wolves.

Having sent its biggest crew in memory, 16 athletes strong, Coupeville competed in five finals and nine prelims Friday.

Of the three finals not involving Martin, the best showing came from senior Jordan Ford, who also earned a medal, finishing in a tie for 8th in the pole vault.

He went 12-06, three inches off of his school record, in an event that was shoved back two hours on the schedule and finished long after all the other competitors had left the stadium at Eastern Washington University.

Wolf junior Skyler Lawrence, who finished 16th a year ago, jumped to 12th in the shot put, while Mitchell Carroll was 15th in the triple jump.

With a strong showing across the board in Friday’s prelims, the Wolves are qualified for seven finals Saturday, and will make some history.

Freshman Lindsey Roberts and senior Makana Stone are guaranteed to bring home three medals apiece, while Martin also has a shot at three.

The last time a Wolf won three medals at a state track meet was Tyler King in 2011.

The only time three CHS athletes won three medals each in the same state meet was 2008, when Brian Miller, Kyle King and Tyler King pulled off the feat.

As far as I can find in my research, no Wolf girl has won three medals in the same state meet.

Stone, who has collected four medals over the past three years, will run in the final of the 400, while Roberts is the lone ninth grader in the 100 hurdles final.

Both will team with Lauren Grove and Sylvia Hurlburt in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relay finals.

The fearsome foursome, known as “Sole Sisters,” are gunning for only the second relay title in the history of Coupeville High School.

In 2006, the quartet of Kyle King, Jon Chittim, Steven McDonald and Chris Hutchinson won the boys 4 x 400.

Complete Day 1 results:
(Top 8 in prelims advance to finals)

GIRLS:

200 (Prelims) — Lauren Grove (15th) 27.50

400 (Prelims) Makana Stone (2nd) 58.89

100 hurdles (Prelims) — Lindsey Roberts (7th) 16.57 *PR*

4 x 100 relay (Prelims) — Grove, Roberts, Stone, Sylvia Hurlburt (4th) 50.66 *SCHOOL RECORD*

4 x 200 relay (Prelims) — Grove, Roberts, Hurlburt, Stone (3rd) 1:47.08

Shot put (Finals) — Skyler Lawrence (12th) 32-03

BOYS:

100 (Prelims) — Jacob Smith (11th) 11.76

200 (Prelims) — Smith (4th) 23.18

800 (Prelims) — Danny Conlisk (17th) 2:07.83 *PR*

4 x 400 relay (Prelims) — Smith, Henry Wynn, Jared Helmstadter, Conlisk (15th) 3:44.30

Discus (Finals) — Dalton Martin (2nd) 160-06

Javelin (Finals) — Martin (8th) 149-03 *PR*

Pole Vault (Finals) — Jordan Ford (8th) 12-06

Triple Jump (Finals) — Mitchell Carroll (15th) 38-02.75

Posted in Track | Tagged 1A state meet, Cheney, CHS Wolves, Dalton Martin, track and field | Leave a Comment »

Knock it out of the park!!

May 27, 2016 by David Svien

Landon Roberts detects the presence of the paparazzi in the dugout. (John Fisken photos)

“Well, I’m not saying we can’t go to McDonald’s. I’m just saying we have to play the game first. Strikeouts, then fries. Kinda how that works…”

Meanwhile, in the stands, the mom who has to wash this uniform silently cries.

“Just leave me here. Go on, save yourself from the sand storm. I’ll … cough … be … cough … fine.”

“Run on ME, fool?!?!? Taste the swift vengeance of my arm!!”

“One order of the ol’ high, hard cheese, coming right up!”

“I feel good, I feel great, I just stepped on … home plate!!”

“Take my picture?!?!?!? Well, I am kind of shy and all … but OK, just this once.”

Everywhere you look, someone is smacking a ball around these days.

With Little League seasons rolling along, there are plenty of photo-snappin’ opportunities for wandering’ camera clicker John Fisken.

His latest stop? A game featuring Central Whidbey’s Minors baseball squad, a collection of rising stars with prairie superstar-ready last names like Messner and Roberts.

The pics above are courtesy Fisken.

To see more and fork over just a wee bit of cash to keep his camera working for all of us, pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/BB-Minor-20160525-CW-vs-Ranger/

Posted in Baseball, Little League | Tagged baseball, Central Whidbey Little League, John Fisken photos, Landon Roberts, McDonald's | Leave a Comment »

Run on, Tyler! Run on!!

May 27, 2016 by David Svien

The definitive Tyler King photo? Perhaps.

Not done just yet.

Thunders storms blew away his event Thursday, but, given a second chance at the crack of dawn Friday, Tyler King took advantage.

Romping to a ninth-place finish (out of 48 runners) in the men’s 10,000 meter race at the NCAA West Regionals in Lawrence, Kansas, the University of Washington senior punched his ticket to the national championships.

Now, the Coupeville High School grad will run his final collegiate race in Eugene at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are June 8-11.

King covered Friday’s race in 29 minutes, 57 seconds, while Oregon’s Edward Cheserek (29:45.41) claimed the title.

The top 12 finishers advance to Eugene.

The race was set to be run late Thursday night, but day one of the three-day meet in Kansas was blown away by constant thunder storms which sat right on top of Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence.

Having called it a day after only two events had started (men’s hammer and women’s javelin) meet officials jammed two days worth of events into one day.

That put King and Co. on the starting line Friday at 8:40 AM local time (6:40 Whidbey time).

Posted in Track, Wolves in college | Tagged 10000 meters, CHS Wolves, NCAA West Regionals, track and field, Tyler King, U-Dub, University of Washington | Leave a Comment »

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