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Wolves gallop in Granite

Rain? What rain? (Amber Wyman photos)

They were weather warriors.

Dodging liquid sunshine and slipping and sliding on the 1.7-mile course, Coupeville Middle School cross country runners held up well Thursday at the Granite Gallop.

The Wolf girls, who had five of the first 15 finishers, claimed 3rd in the team standings, while the CMS boys were 4th overall.

The event drew 161 runners from seven schools.

“We had a great, if very rainy day at Granite Falls!” said Coupeville coach Amber Wyman.

“The runners were up for the challenge of rain and mud!” she added. “They ran hard, and we came away with some strong finishes.”

The Wolves are off for a bit, returning to action next Friday, Oct. 6 at the Nike Hole in the Wall Cross Country Invitational at Lakewood.

“Wolves on three!”

 

Thursday results:

 

GIRLS:

Mikayla Wagner (11th) 13:10.98
Lillian Ketterling (12th) 13:11.78
Laken Simpson (13th) 13:23.15
Allie Powers
(14th) 13:23.59
Anna Powers 
(15th) 13:26.64
Hazel Goldman (27th) 14:50.96
Mary Western
 (50th) 16:44.14
Claire Lachnit
(51st) 16:44.64
Ava Lucero
(70th) 18:18.46
Amelia Crowder
(71st) 18:20.16
Hailey Goldman (72nd) 18:28.03
Elizabeth Marshall (73rd) 18:28.39
Devon Wyman (74th) 18:28.74

 

BOYS:

Cyrus Sparacio (20th) 12:27.70
Isaiah Allen (23rd) 12:45.08
Edmund Kunz (32nd) 13:10.93
Archer Schwarz (33rd) 13:12.04
Ossian Merkel (35th) 13:23.18
River Simpson (42nd) 13:34.60
Avery Eelkema (45th) 13:55.54
Johnathan Jacobsen (57th) 15:41.07
Christopher Zenz (58th) 15:42.05

Ferry life is the only life.

Skylar Sand soars to snag a catch, leading off a series of Wolf football pics. (Andrew Williams photos)

Same field, different job.

Coupeville High School senior Andrew Williams spends a fair amount of time at Mickey Clark Field, usually helping lead the defensive charge for the Wolf soccer squad.

This time out, though, he’s on the other side of the camera, clicking away as his football-playing classmates get ready for their rumble with La Conner.

But hang around until the final photo, for a look at Williams himself.

Dylan Robinett

Chase Anderson

William Davidson

Cameron Breaux

Mikey Robinett

Brett Casey

And our photographer is revealed, as he preps for his own soccer game. (William Davidson photo)

Home cooking, flying feet

George Spear flies down the trail Wednesday at Fort Casey State Park. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The rain stayed away, but the top times flowed down.

Putting three runners in the top seven Wednesday, the Coupeville High School boys’ cross country team defended its home turf at Fort Casey State Park, winning a six-team home meet.

Meanwhile, the Wolf girls, paced by another stellar performance from Noelle Western, pushed Mount Vernon Christian hard, with only nine points separating the two teams in the final tally.

Led by individual champ Evangeline Fikkert, the Hurricane girls finished with 23 points to Coupeville’s 32.

Noelle Western cruises to a 5th place finish.

On the boy’s side of things, the Wolves edged MVC 39-55, though the ‘Canes did have an individual winner in Isaac Betz.

Friday Harbor (73), Orcas Island (86), and Evangel Classical (98) rounded out the team standings.

Lummi Nation also sent runners but didn’t have a full squad.

All the Wolves come off the starting line at the same time.

Wednesday’s meet, the lone home event for Coupeville, played out on a redesigned course covering 5,000 meters.

With retired CHS track coach Randy King on hand to be the official race starter, things kicked off with a big rush, as the girls and boys competed at the same time.

With the weather cooperating, and Coupeville Middle School coach Amber Wyman stepping up to take the reins as race director, it made for a pleasant day all around.

“Great afternoon!!!,” said CHS harrier coach Elizabeth Bitting.

“So many compliments on the beautiful course, wonderful volunteers, shout out to the middle schoolers who stepped up and helped out. Can’t wait for them to run this course next season.”

Volunteers like Sherry Bonacci were invaluable to bringing off a successful meet.

With coaching duties calling to her, Bitting needed someone to run the race, and Wyman knocked it out of the park.

“This was very hard for me to do — give control of my baby to somebody else,” Bitting said with a laugh.

“But Amber is AMAZING and did GREAT!”

Coupeville returns to action this Saturday, Sept. 30, when it travels to the Cedarcrest Golf Course in Marysville for the 16th annual Twilight XC Invitational.

 

Wednesday results:

 

GIRLS:

Noelle Western (5th) 24:47.69
Ari Armstrong (14th) 27:41.44
Aleksia Jump (15th) 28:28.76
Erica McGrath (17th) 30:23.69
Reagan Callahan (18th) 30:27.44

 

BOYS:

George Spear (4th) 19:17.39
Carson Field (5th) 19:32.77
Landon Roberts (7th) 19:41.55
Ezekiel Allen (10th) 20:02.63
Kenneth Jacobsen (13th) 20:18.80
Thomas Strelow (14th) 20:27.07
Nicholas Wasik (25th) 21:47.88
Preston Howard (29th) 22:14.56
Santi Ojeda (30th) 22:17.71
Axel Marshall (31st) 22:30.01
Zach Blitch (43rd) 30:54.28
Damy Giacobbe (44th) 33:52.55

Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith ponders the meaning of the universe while tabulating times.

 

To see more photos from this race, pop over to:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/CHS-Cross-Country-2023-2024/XC-2023-09-27-at-Ft-Casey/

Chloe Marzocca goes airborne to punch a volleyball in the face. (Jackie Saia photos)

They’re headed home for a long stretch.

Fresh off a hard-fought loss at La Conner Tuesday night, the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad gets five straight matches at home.

The Wolves, who have been playing with the minimum six players, five of whom are freshmen, return to action Tuesday, Oct. 3 against Friday Harbor.

After that comes tilts with Forks, Concrete, Mount Vernon Christian, and Providence Classical Christian.

Neither the Wolf varsity nor JV spikers have to play away from Coupeville again until Oct. 17.

Freshmen (l to r) Capri Anter, Myra McDonald, Dakota Strong, and Lexis Drake show great promise.

CHS fans who catch the JV squad (0-2 in league play, 1-4 overall) during their homestand will see a scrappy band of ballhawks who continue to fight hard even when giving up the advantage in terms of bodies on the bench.

While the wins may not have come as frequently as in the past, Wolf coach Ashley Menges has her squad on the upswing, teaching them to play with passion and courage.

 

Thursday stats:

Capri Anter — 2 kills, 7 digs, 8 aces
Haylee Armstrong — 3 kills, 1 dig, 2 assists, 2 aces
Lexis Drake — 3 kills, 1 ace
Chloe Marzocca — 9 digs, 2 assists, 4 aces
Myra McDonald — 2 digs, 1 assist
Dakota Strong — 1 kill, 4 digs

Haylee Armstrong and Co. play at home for the next three weeks.

Coming out of a summer when budget cuts were all the buzz in Coupeville, a quick glance at non-represented employee contracts appear to show the school district paying more than it did a year ago.

That’s not really true, however.

A closer look actually reveals the increase in dollars is covered by outside grants, and not the general fund.

There are nine contracts on the consent agenda for Thursday’s school board meeting, with two showing a slight increase in money.

Maintenance Supervisor Scott Losey and Supervisor of IT Systems Will Smith will both be bumped up by about $900 from 2022-2023.

That’s not a raise, though, but financial compensation for both men achieving a new level on the established pay scale based on service time.

And actually, with Losey, the school district still saves money.

In 2022-2023, he balanced the Maintenance Director position with also being Transportation Supervisor, which paid $16,275.00.

That second position has been added to the duties of Coupeville Schools Superintendent Steve King for the 2023-2024 school year.

The bigger jump comes from the district’s decision to have separate employees handle the positions of Student Support Liaison and Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent.

During the 2022-2023 school year, Arianna Bumgarner received $75,233.60 while balancing the positions.

This year, Bumgarner is solely the Student Support Liaison, and will earn $83,019.20, while district newcomer Karissa Swain will bank $69,894.46 as Administrative Assistant.

That’s a jump of more than $77,000, but a financial move which will not adversely affect the general fund, as Bumgarner’s current position is grant funded.

That money comes from the McKinney Vento Federal Grant, Migrant Education Program, and Title 1A.

The Student Support Liaison position is considered a key role in the district, King said.

It aligns with the strategic plan pillar “Promote Student and Staff Well-Being,” which is aimed at “improving on-campus mental health and social work support for students.”

Bumgarner originally began covering both the Student Support Liaison and Administrative Assistant jobs in January 2020, after the previous Administrative Assistant retired.

The original plan was for her to do this for just a single semester, King said.

Then the pandemic changed everything.

“We decided to continue to split the positions to have the superintendent’s office be directly involved with student support,” King said.

“With the return to normal and the increased work of having two board meetings per month it became clear that the full time Admin Assistant needed to be restored to the original status and that the district needed a full-time social worker based on student needs and our strategic plan.”

 

Non-represented employee contracts:

 

Donna Bailey
Fiscal Assistant

2022-2023: $78,665.60
2023-2024: $76,327.22

 

Arianna Bumgarner
Student Support Liaison

2022-2023: $75,233.60 (Also Administrative Assistant)
2023-2024: $83,019.20 (Grant funded)

 

Scott Losey
Maintenance Supervisor

2022-2023: $115,215.03 (Also Transportation Director)
2023-2024: $99,830.49

 

Laura Luginbill
Assistant Food Service Director

2022-2023: $79,475.63
2023-2024: $79,017.49

 

Vicki Owen-Gailey
Payroll/Human Resources Assistant

2022-2023: $76,585.60
2023-2024: $74,302.93

 

Will Smith
Supervisor of IT Systems

2022-2023: $101,214.68
2023-2024: $102,125.62

 

Karissa Swain
Administrative Assistant

2022-2023: N/A
2023-2024: $69,894.46

 

Eyleen Uculmana
District Accountant

2022-2023: $75,900.00
2023-2024: $60,039.00

 

Andreas Wurzrainer
Food Service Director

2022-2023: $100,213.83
2023-2024: $96,346.15

 

To see the complete contracts, pop over to:

Click to access Non%20Rep%20Contracts%2023-24.pdf