Coupeville Sports

One true hype queen to rule them all

February 24, 2024 by David Svien

Lucy Sandahl (middle, left) is the face of SPU crew. As she should be.

Lucy Sandahl has moved to the front of the class.

The Coupeville grad, now a senior at Seattle Pacific University, headlines the official 2024 rowing schedule.

While the former Wolf supernova technically shares space with a couple other Falcons, we all know who’s generating the most attention here.

It’s the Coupeville volleyball and track and field ace turned SPU coxswain.

If you want page hits, Instagram likes, and hype for your crew program, Lucy is the chosen one.

That’s just cold, hard facts, folks.

Posted in Rowing | Tagged CHS Wolves, Lucy Sandahl, Rowing, schedue, Seattle Pacific University | Leave a Comment »

Jump keeps the implements flyin’

February 23, 2024 by David Svien

Taygin Jump keeps her eyes locked on her bright future. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

She’s the queen of the freshmen.

Coupeville grad Taygin Jump finished 14th in the weight throw while competing in a field of veterans Friday at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships in Brockport, New York.

The former Wolf ace, who competes for Plattsburgh State, chucked her implement 41 feet, 3.75 inches, the best throw of any frosh in the competition.

Sophomore Lauren Jaklitsch of SUNY Geneseo won top honors, with three seniors, three juniors, and six sophomores filling out the rest of the top 13 spots.

Jump, who was a standout volleyball and track athlete during her time at CHS, has had a stellar collegiate debut.

Competing in both the shotput and weight throw, she’s racked up five top-five finishes, with a win in the weight throw at a home meet in early February.

Plattsburgh State wraps up the indoor track and field season with an appearance at the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference Championships Mar. 1-2 in Rochester.

After that Jump and the rest of the Cardinals head outdoors for spring action.

Posted in Track, Wolves in college | Tagged CHS Wolves, SUNY Plattsburgh, Taygin Jump, track and field, weight throw | Leave a Comment »

Fight our streaming overlords!!

February 23, 2024 by David Svien

Coke ain’t Pepsi, and in a country where my winter depression beard is allowed to get this out of hand, you don’t have to accept the latter as the former. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There you are in a restaurant, and it’s time to order your beverage.

“I’ll take a Coke, thanks.”

And the waitress looks uncomfortably around, takes a deep sigh that seems to travel from the top of her head to the bottom of her well-worn shoes, and asks, “Would a Pepsi be OK?”

Now your first response is “No, if I wanted to drink toilet water, I’d go drink toilet water.

“You can put a few bursts of thick, sludgy syrup in there, it’s still going flat in .00002 seconds, and it’s still tasting like something a sasquatch left on the side of Mt. Rainier.”

But you’re polite and all, so fighting down your gag reflex, you weakly smile and say, “Sure…” while knowing you will hate every Godforsaken swallow.

Now, this is a sports blog, so today our waitress is the gum-snapping, tired-beyond-belief folks at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, and the “Would Pepsi be OK?” and “Sure…” conversation is being used in the context of streaming.

As in me asking, “May I please watch the livestream of my state basketball game being done on Facebook by a mom who can properly frame the picture, keeps things in focus, gets close enough I can see actual faces, AND provides witty commentary with regular score updates?”

To which our waitress responds, “Would NFHS be OK?”

You mean the crap-ass company whose cameras can be defeated by a single hair, taken down by a flake of dust, brought to a standstill by a single drop of rain? Or is that just my tears…

The charlatans whose remote, often terribly positioned cameras allegedly follow action, but that means many, MANY times the ball goes one way, and the AI system sends the camera the other way, so we can watch a five-year-old cruise by clutching his giant chewy pretzel?

But that’s only if the camera isn’t already posting multiple images, causing the ballhandler to vanish, reappear, vanish again, then flat out disappear into the Bermuda Triangle.

Where hopefully they’ll find Amelia Earhart, all while the on-screen scoreboard stays stuck at 0-0.

That NFHS?

The one that struggles to stay on the air all too frequently, offering the endless loop of death for our entertainment?

The one that shoots its commercials in hi-def, NFL-ready images, then reverts back to 1970’s TV once the feed actually kicks in?

While charging us for the pleasure??????

Oh, that NFHS. The one Bigfoot deposited on the side of the trail.

Why does this come up today, you ask?

Because, as the Coupeville boys prepare to play their state opener against Tonasket, we’re being told the WIAA is trying to get the small-time innovators out of the streaming business and force us to send money to their incompetent chosen web site.

All so they can get a cut of that sweet, sweet moola, in much the same way they do when they tell you cash (the legal tender of the USA) is forbidden and GoFan (with its fees and frequent web site screw ups) is golden.

Now, I question how the cucumber sandwich-eatin’ dilettantes at the WIAA can enforce a ban on people using Facebook Live to stream games.

In this day and age, everyone, whether they want one or not, has a phone.

So, if everyone in the stands raises their devices at the same time, how do they know if you’re taking a photo, talking to Grandma, playing Fruit Ninja, trying to find what year Hoosiers hit movie screens, or live streaming the game?

Answer, 1986, and they don’t.

Remember, the WIAA is the same organization which got caught TWICE this season ranking non-existent teams #1 in their RPI rankings.

Once is an accident. Twice, someone needs to go back to school.

Those RPI rankings? The WIAA only pushes them because they have sponsors who pay to attach their names to the whole sham.

And then newspaper writers and bloggers (ahem…) use the weekly release of said numbers to get quick page hits on the internet by trumpeting the results.

Who’s rising? Who’s falling? Which team on this list doesn’t actually exist???

So, when it comes to streaming, the WIAA hopes well-meaning school officials will put subtle pressure on parents.

And that those parents, being polite like the people gagging down Pepsi against their will, will go along with the scam and turn off their feed.

That way WIAA head honchos can get back to plundering the cream cheese and veggie tasty tidbits paid for by your money.

But what if you don’t turn off the feed?

Imagine a world where you all rise up, sending countless live streams out onto the internet, all infinitely better than the mediocre pap “produced” by NFHS.

Say no to “Pepsi!”

If they won’t give you Coke, order Root-Beer or lemonade!

Free the stream! Bring the whole empire crashing down around their heads, even if it means they can’t have cucumber on their sandwiches.

Anarchy on the hardwood? God bless, America, where you’re still free to be as annoying as you like.

Posted in Ranting and Raving | Tagged Basketball, live stream, MorganTV, NFHS Network, WIAA | Leave a Comment »

Break the bank for Shank!!

February 23, 2024 by David Svien

Dr. Jim Shank, enjoying a moment of Zen in the CHS gym while sitting beneath his beloved “Sad Coyote” painting. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The biggest potential free agent on the market is still out there, Cow Town. Get this thing done!

As the Coupeville School District conducts a superintendent search, no name delivers the same pizazz as Dr. Jim Shank.

And now, with the Longview School District choosing a different candidate Friday to fill its own open position, the dapper doctor could be back in play for a return to Whidbey Island.

Dr. Karen Cloninger, who is coming from Spokane, was chosen over two other finalists who both graduated from Longview-area schools — Shank and John Hannah.

So now the buzz gets going again.

Does Dr. Shank remain with the North Beach School District in Grays Harbor County?

Or will he consider bouncing back to reclaim the top seat in a Coupeville School District he led to great success from 2013-2018?

Will the lure of “The Sad Coyote” bring him back to Cow Town??

I’m asking you, for I do not know the answer.

School board members are notoriously tight-lipped and ultra-professional about stuff like this, and I haven’t been able to electronically bug all the district offices … yet.

But I know what I want, and that’s to see the man who gave us a new stadium, a new track oval, and both new bleachers and the Wall of Fame in the gym, come ambling back down Main Street.

Only time will tell how this story plays out, but I got a crisp fiver here to help sweeten the pot.

Don’t go for a single or try to leg out a double, Coupeville. Swing for the fences on this one.

Break the bank (if need be) for Shank!

Posted in Administration | Tagged Dr. Jim Shank, Dr. Karen Cloninger, Longview, new hire, superintendent, Wall of Fame | Leave a Comment »

Hardwood heroes fear no foe

February 22, 2024 by David Svien

Brooklyn Pope springs into action. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The tide is turning.

After years of being bashed about by King’s, the Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball program acquitted itself quite nicely Thursday afternoon.

Winning two of three games against the visiting Knights, the Wolves continue to play strongly as the season reaches the halfway point.

How the day played out:

Level 3:

Thursdays are reverse day, with games going 3-2-1, instead of 1-2-3, and that helped Coupeville get off to a blazing start.

Sort of.

The Wolves actually failed to score in the first quarter of the day’s opening rumble, but so did King’s, leaving things frozen at 0-0 seven minutes into play.

After that, the defenses cracked a bit, or the shots got a little more precise, with CMS eventually rallying for a nail-biting 18-16 win.

The victory lifts the Wolves to 2-1 on the campaign.

While the ball wasn’t staying in the bucket in the early going, that was partially because the hometown squad was playing inspired defense.

Kaleigha Millison pulled off a snappy hustle play, tiptoeing down the sideline as she grabbed a runaway ball and flipped it back over her head to keep the action flowing.

Meanwhile Brooklyn Pope shut down the Knights on the boards, snagging rebounds left and right, while teammate Claire Lachnit was like a bumblebee, madly buzzing from side to side, chasing down every Knight who dared to touch the ball.

Bouncing off the floor at a steady rate, Lachnit proved surprisingly resilient as well, popping up and charging back into action while shaking various body parts to restore feeling.

If her coaches thought about pulling the plucky ballhawk from the game to slow her rate of bruises, they relented as each time she flashed a huge smile, her joy overshadowing any pain.

Coupeville finally got on the board thanks to Cassandra Powers, who nailed a turnaround jumper, and with some big buckets from Pope, the Wolves rolled into halftime tied 6-6 with King’s.

Twice CMS snatched the lead in the third, only to have the Knights convert three straight offensive rebound putbacks to stake themselves to a 14-10 lead heading into the final frame.

King’s popped for one more bucket to open the fourth, then the Wolves clamped down, holding their foes scoreless for the final six minutes.

That gave Pope, Powers, and Millison time to chip away at the lead, with the winning bucket coming off of a rebound with less than a minute to play.

The Knights had the ball in their hands at the end but couldn’t get the tying bucket as Coupeville came full tilt on defense, setting off a huge celebration among CMS students in the stands.

Pope, who was a powerhouse all game, finished with a game-high 12 points, with Powers knocking down four and Millison rounding out things with a bucket.

Emma Cushman, precise point guard Cameron Van Dyke, Zayne Roos, Selah Rivera, Zariyah Allen, and the turbo-charged Lachnit also saw floor time for the Wolves.

Isabella de Souza Oliveira Mc Fetridge looks for an open teammate.

Level 2:

Coupeville blew the doors off the gym in the early going, then quietly added to their lead quarter by quarter in a 28-14 romp.

The victory lifts the Wolves to a stellar 3-1.

This one was briefly tied 2-2 about a minute into play, before CMS went on a tear to build a 12-4 lead by the first break.

Kennedy O’Neill, slashing hard to the hoop, pestering King’s ballhandlers until they didn’t know which way to turn, and flying down the floor like a missile, brought the main pain.

She peppered the net for six of her team-best 12 points in the first quarter, while also pulling off the best basketball IQ play of the day.

After being mugged while slapping home a breakaway layup, O’Neill had a chance to make it a three-point play the hard way with a free throw.

When her charity shot rolled off the rim and bounced free, nine players and both refs stood stock still, as if a second free throw was coming. Which it wasn’t.

Breaking the frozen portrait, O’Neill alertly shot forward, snagged the live ball and put it back up, showing at least one person in the gym knew the rules inside out.

The Wolves stretched the lead out to 18-8 by the half, with Amiaya Curry drilling a particularly gorgeous jumper.

It came on a play where the Wolf guard came strolling up to the key at the speed Matthew McConaughey drawls his dialogue, then suddenly lunged forward and drove home the exclamation point.

“Alright, alright … alright,” indeed.

The overall scoring was bit muted after the halftime break, but the Wolves pushed the margin out to 24-12 through three quarters before holding King’s scoreless for the first six minutes and 56 seconds of the seven-minute final frame.

O’Neill, who leads all Wolf scorers this season, netted 12 more points to lead the way, while Willow Leedy-Bonifas and Sophia Batterman both added four apiece.

Rhylin Price, Amelia Crowder, Allison Powers, and Curry all scored a bucket, with Sage Stavros, Isabella de Souza Oliveira Mc Fetridge, and Elizabeth Marshall bringing the fire on the defensive end of the floor.

Ari Cunningham dives for a loose ball.

Level 1:

A vintage King’s team, populated with three-ball shooters who all had mad hops, brutal speed, and the ability to attack the rim with both hands, proved to be too much for the Wolves in the finale.

The Knights cracked the game open with a 19-0 run midway through the first quarter and romped to a 48-18 win.

The loss drops the Wolves, who played King’s straight up in the second and fourth quarters, to 1-3 on the season.

CMS 8th grader Adie Maynes nailed a driving jumper to knot things up at 2-2, then the visitors went to work.

An Ava Lucero free throw at the very tail end of the opening quarter stopped King’s huge surge, but a 21-3 deficit heading into the break proved to be too much to overcome.

Tenley Stuurmans fired up the Wolves in the second quarter, scoring five points and loudly rejecting a Knights shot during a defensive stand, while Sydney Van Dyke netted a note-perfect jumper from the top of the key.

But while CMS won the quarter (7-6) it still trailed 27-10 at the half, and a 15-2 King’s run in the third sealed the deal.

Down by 30, the Wolves faced a running clock in the fourth quarter but played the visitors to a 6-6 standstill.

Lillian Ketterling, who fought valiantly all game while being smacked and poked, hit a layup, while Stuurmans continued to work hard down in the paint.

She finished with a team-high 11 points, with Maynes (2), Van Dyke (2), Ketterling (2), and Lucero (1) also netting points.

Olivia Hall, Taylor Marrs, Laken Simpson, Tamsin Ward, Marin Winger, and Ari Cunningham rounded out the active roster.