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Taygin Jump, ready to take on the world.

Ice Cube would agree, it was a good day for Taygin Jump.

The Coupeville grad, now a junior track and field star at Plattsburgh State, nailed top-two finishes in all three of her throwing events Friday at the SLU Twilight Invite in Canton, New York.

The former Wolf won the hammer throw, chucking her implement 125 feet, 11 inches, while also finishing second in the discus (93-06) and javelin (92-00).

Jump’s impressive performance helped carry the Cardinals to a second-place finish in the team standings at the meet, which was hosted by St. Lawrence College.

When she’s not busy chucking things, Aleksia and Khanor’s older sister is an honor student pursuing a degree in Environmental Planning and Management.

The curtains in the CHS/CMS PAC have supported many a production over the years. (Stefanie Ask photos)

As the only performing arts space in town, the Coupeville Middle School/High School PAC is ground zero for creative expression.

“On our stage throughout the course of a year, you can watch secondary and elementary theater productions, choir and glee performances, local community concerts, awards presentations, 8th grade passages ceremonies, 5th grade moving on ceremonies, Veterans’ Day assemblies, Homecoming rallies, and so much more,” said CHS drama teacher and play director Stefanie Ask.

“The Performing Arts Center stage is the hub of how we come together as a school and community to celebrate achievements, attend performances, and collaboratively create art.”

But that space is in serious need of an upgrade, specifically where it concerns the stage curtains, which have become battered over decades of use.

“Every student that steps on the PAC stage deserves to feel pride in themselves and the environment we cultivate for them,” Ask said.

“The PAC has recently been improved by replacing the seats for our audiences, but if you’ve been to a performance recently, you’ll inevitably have noticed a problem that distracts from the magic on the stage.

“Our curtains, or “stage blacks,” are antiques at this point and are essentially disintegrating before our eyes.”

That creates numerous issues for the theater troupe, which is currently gearing up to deliver performances of “Too Many Detectives in the Murder Mansion” May 7-9.

“When I teach students to use the space for rehearsal or performance, they all learn the first rule above all else: “Do NOT touch the curtains!” Ask said. “The fabric simply can’t handle it.

“Over the past 40 years, tiny holes or snags have occurred, and as the years have passed, the ancient fiber of the fabric has just broken down to the point that the holes are growing and growing.

“In fact, when performers have to cross behind the back curtain to get to the other side of the stage for an entrance, you can see them walking by through the unintentional little portholes that have been created.

“The curtains are in tatters, and it matters!”

Cost for purchase and installation of new curtains is $33,000, and the Coupeville Schools Foundation is leading a fundraiser drive to cover the expense.

With help from the Foundation, as well as the Coupeville Lions Club and Coupeville Arts Festival, almost half of the money has been raised, but “it takes a community!” as Karen Koschak, Vice President of the Foundation, said.

If you’re interested in learning more, or want to make a donation, pop over to:

https://givebutter.com/PAC_Curtains

Oak Harbor slugger Layla Suto celebrates a milestone. (Photos courtesy Matt Suto)

First she broke the record, then she hit triple digits.

Oak Harbor High School softball sensation Layla Suto is one of Whidbey Island’s best diamond players, whether starring for the Wildcats or playing travel ball alongside Coupeville students such as Teagan Calkins and Taylor Brotemarkle.

A dangerous hitter, Suto broke the OHHS career hit record of 95 earlier this week, which had stood for a decade.

Thursday, in a win over league rival Mount Vernon she continued to push her record pace, collecting her 100th and 101st hit in her 79th game as a ‘Cat.

Oak Harbor, which lost a one-run thriller in extra innings to Coupeville to open the season, has won six of its last seven games to get to 9-9 on the season.

While she still has more games to play in her senior campaign, Suto already knows she’ll continue the game at the next level.

That’s because she’s signed to play softball for the University of Sioux Falls, an NCAA D-II program in South Dakota.

All the success makes for one proud papa in Matt Suto, who has coached both Wildcats and Wolves alike to travel ball success.

“It’s been amazing to watch this kid work hard day after day to get better at the sport she loves,” he said.

Layla Suto and Coupeville catcher Teagan Calkins have played as both teammates and friendly rivals.

Olivia Martin and associates spent most of Thursday tearing around the basepaths. (Jackie Saia photos)

They were thunderstruck.

While prairie skies were largely clear and blue Thursday afternoon, the Coupeville High School softball squad rained down holy terror on visiting Concrete.

Whacking 27 hits, including inside the park home runs from Sydney Van Dyke and Emily Rains, the Wolves decimated the Lions 28-0 in a game which could have been 100-0 if CHS coach Aaron Lucero had been in a mood.

Instead, the diamond sage spent part of his day playing dodgeball as his catcher, Teagan Calkins, drilled hot shot after hot shot at him in the third base coaching box, every crack of her bat causing him to both grin and possibly suffer heart palpitations.

“Try and dodge this, Aaron!”

With the win, the Wolves get to 8-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 13-1 overall.

Up next is a non-conference rumble Friday at home against South Whidbey, before next week brings a two-game set with Orcas Island in which CHS can clinch a conference crown.

First up though was Concrete, a team building for a better tomorrow, but not remotely ready yet to slow down the freight train wearing red and black.

The Wolves, who won the first meeting between the teams 17-1, put this go-around on ice in the flick of a wrist.

CHS hurler Adeline Maynes struck out the first three hitters she faced, then she and her teammates busted out the bats and did their best to explode a few softballs.

Coupeville pushed 12 runs across in the bottom of the first, with 12 of their first 13 hitters reaching base.

The only one not to was still super-efficient, as Chelsi Stevens delivered an RBI groundout following a two-run double from Calkins.

Next at-bat, same inning, Stevens flexed her biceps and crushed a two-run triple to deep left field, proving she can kill you in a multitude of ways.

In between those at-bats, Coupeville picked up RBI-rich hits from Maynes, Zariyah Allen, and Haylee Armstrong, before Sydney Van Dyke launched a solo shot to left, tearing around the bags and sliding under the tag to complete her home run trot.

Everyone was hitting, with the Wolves tacking on seven more runs in the second, taking a breather in a scoreless third, then piling up nine more in the fourth.

In the second, five straight singles kept the runners moving base to base, before Maynes lofted a resounding triple to left to cap things.

Jump to the fourth and it was prime time for the Wolf reserves, as they picked up right where the starters had left off.

Emily Rains, swinging a hot stick and hollering as she tore around the basepaths, came off the bench to wallop an inside the park homer to lead off the inning, before coming back around later in the frame to mash a three-run double while almost overrunning the girl in front of her.

Also coming up big were Zayne Roos, zipping a two-run single into the gap, and Ari Vinson, swatting an RBI double to left.

While 13 of 16 Wolves collected a base hit, Maynes and Armstrong combined to virtually shut down Concrete’s offense. The former whiffed seven of the 10 batters she faced, while the latter came in to toss two scoreless innings of relief.

Even when the Lions did make contact, Coupeville had an answer, with Emma Leavitt collecting the web gem of the day by making a smooth snag on a liner to left while on the run.

 

Thursday stats:

Zariyah Allen — One single, one walk
Haylee Armstrong — Two singles, one double
Teagan Calkins — Three singles, one double, one walk
Emma Cushman — Two singles
Emma Leavitt — One single, one walk
Olivia Martin — Two walks
Adeline Maynes — One single, one triple, one walk
Allie Powers — One single
Emily Rains — One double, one home run
Zayne Roos — One single
Chelsi Stevens — Two singles, one triple
Cami Van Dyke — Three singles, one walk
Sydney Van Dyke — Two singles, one home run
Ari Vinson — One double

Coupeville freshman Trent Thule was a two-way terror Thursday, striking out 10 on the mound and getting on base three times as a hitter. (Jackie Saia photos)

Trent Thule had himself quite a day.

The Coupeville High School freshman was in the spotlight Thursday, pitching and hitting the Wolf baseball squad past visiting Concrete, even after leaving some of his blood on the prairie thanks to taking a wayward pitch to the face.

Thule finished the day with two base knocks and a walk, with the latter leaving him with a bloody nose and black eye, while also striking out 10 Lions across 6.2 innings of work in a 9-6 win which wasn’t as close as it might sound.

The victory gives Coupeville a season sweep of Concrete, while lifting the Wolves to 7-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 9-4 overall.

Steve Hilborn’s squad, which hosts South Whidbey in a non-conference Island rivalry rumble Friday, sits a game off of Mount Vernon Christian (8-0) in the race for a conference crown, with the matchup between those two teams set for the final two regular season games the first week of May.

Thursday’s bout with Concrete wasn’t as lopsided as the first meeting, when CHS won 25-0, but the Wolves were still in control from the first pitch to the last.

Thule didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning and was just a dropped third strike away from being flawless through three frames.

With their young buzzsaw setting the Lions down in order, the Wolves broke out for three runs in the bottom of the first to get things rockin’.

Leo Rodriguez whacked a leadoff double, then three batters later he came around to score thanks to a two-bagger from cleanup hitter Camden Glover.

Glover also scored on the play when Concrete’s outfielder threw the ball away, and a little later Aiden O’Neill also took advantage of a Lion error to tap home.

Coupeville stretched the advantage to 4-0 in the third, with Thule crunching an RBI single, before tacking on two runs in the fourth thanks to a series of walks mixed with Concrete errors.

The Lions did get one run back in the fifth, but CHS responded with a three-run sixth to open a convincing 9-1 lead.

That frame featured a two-run single off the bat of Glover, but also a number of Wolves being drilled by pitches, including Thule.

Despite being injured, the fab frosh convinced his coach he was ready to return to the mound, and he came within a pitch or two of throwing a complete game.

Concrete rallied late to make things interesting, but Glover came out of the bullpen to get the game’s final out, whiffing the only Lion he faced to slam the door shut on another Wolf win.

 

Thursday stats:

Chase Anderson — One walk
Coop Cooper — One walk
Camden Glover — One single, one double
Carson Grove — Three walks
Aiden O’Neill — One single, one walk
Leo Rodriguez — One double, one walk
Killian Shaw — One single
Malachi Somes — One single
Trent Thule — Two singles, one walk
Aiden Tingley — One walk

Killian Shaw (9) was one of six Wolves to get a hit in the win over Concrete.