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Coupeville’s Logan Martin learns from Camryn Rogers, reigning world champ in the hammer throw. (Photos courtesy Abbie Martin)

Canada is the place to go if you’re serious about being a top-level hammer thrower, eh.

Coupeville grad Logan Martin, now a sophomore at Central Washington University, continues to work year-round in his pursuit of excellence, and that sent him to Langley, British Columbia last weekend.

Dad Bob, who coaches the CHS track team, was supposed to go along for the trip, but the family dog brought that to a skidding halt, eating the elder Martin’s passport.

Rumors abound that papa, a former Marine Drill Sergeant, is currently making the persnickety pooch run laps.

Is the hangdog hound dog responding by doing a note-perfection imitation of Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, whining “I got nowhere else to go!”

One can only hope so.

World champ Ethan Katzberg informs Martin all of his power comes from his ‘stache.

Meanwhile, back in reality, Logan Martin spent his time in maple syrup country training with world champion hammer throwers Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers, as well as coaches Dylan Armstrong and Garrett Collier.

The first of those coaches is a former Olympian who trained with the sport’s top guru, Dr. Anatolij Bondarčuk, while the latter mentors throwers at the University of British Columbia.

Along with the chance to train with top-level hammer chuckers, Logan Martin also inspired his own throwing coach, Martin Bingisser, to put together a podcast on the subject for his massive HMMR Media network.

That reunited Bingisser, an 11-time national champ, with Armstrong, as the pair were training partners in the old days.

Working with the big boys.

Lyla Stuurmans dreams of droppin’ aces and making rival spikers weep sweet, sweet tears of regret. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Ready, aim, fire, collect cash.

Coupeville High School spikers each launched 100 serves Friday, as the Wolf volleyball teams held a Serve-A-Thon fundraiser.

Each player collected pledges for how many serves they could spin into the court, and the money will be collected over the next few weeks.

Overall, the Wolves converted on 1235 of 1600 serves, with three different players cracking a 90% success rate.

The top six finishers:

Lyla Stuurmans – 93
Grey Peabody – 91
Madison McMillan – 90
Katie Marti – 87
Jada Heaton – 85
Chloe Marzocca – 85

CHS coach Cory Whitmore uses old-school math skills to total up the serves.

Andrew Williams (left) and Cole White lead a Wolf soccer squad ranked #7 in the state. (Jackie Saia photo)

It’s a perfect split.

Coupeville High School fall sports teams have six contests next week, with three at home, and three on the road.

Wolf volleyball has the sweetest schedule, hosting Friday Harbor Tuesday and Forks Saturday, while CHS soccer gets a split decision.

The high-flying booters, who boast the best record of any Coupeville team at 4-1, hit the road Tuesday for a major matchup with Mount Vernon Christian.

Then the Wolves bring it home under Friday Night Lights, playing host to Grace Academy.

That leaves football and cross country, who will both listen to the sounds of the bus wheels going round and round this coming week.

The gridiron giants travel to Bellingham Friday, while the harriers run Saturday at the Hole in the Wall Invitational in Arlington.

One inch can be the difference between a volleyball win and loss. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

With action flowing along, a look at up-to-the-moment standings through games of Sept. 30:

 

Northwest League boys’ soccer:

School League Overall
Coupeville 1-0-0 4-1-0
Friday Harbor 1-0-0 4-1-0
La Conner 1-0-0 3-3-0
Orcas Island 1-0-0 4-3-0
Lopez Island 0-0-0 2-2-0
CPC-Lynnwood 0-1-0 1-4-0
Grace Academy 0-1-0 0-5-0
MV Christian 0-1-0 6-1-2
PC Christian 0-1-0 3-3-0

 

Northwest League football — (11-Man):

School League Overall
Friday Harbor 2-0 3-1
Coupeville 1-1 1-4
La Conner 0-2 0-4

 

Northwest League football — (8-Man):

School League Overall
Darrington 1-0 5-0
Concrete 0-1 3-2

 

Northwest League volleyball:

School League Overall
La Conner 3-0 4-4
Orcas Island 3-0 6-2
Darrington 1-1 7-2
MV Christian 1-1 5-2
Concrete 1-3 4-4
Coupeville 0-2 1-4
Friday Harbor 0-2 0-7

Late start, fast finish

Wolves (l to r) Aleksia Jump, Noelle Western, and Reagan Callahan are ready to fly. (Elizabeth Bitting photos)

They outran the dying light.

Competing in one of the few cross country events to take place in the late afternoon and evening, Coupeville High School harriers recorded strong times Saturday in Marysville.

The event was the 16th annual Twilight XC Invitational, which drew 90 teams from four states, and a bunch of unattached runners, to the Cedarcrest Golf Course.

“It was a great invite,” said Coupeville coach Elizabeth Bitting. “So glad we were finally able to make it!

“In the past Homecoming has conflicted with it, but not this year!”

There were 10 races, with the first one starting at 2:45 PM and the final one not sending runners flying until 7:00.

Hence, the name of the meet.

Coupeville sent 17 runners to the line, with all six varsity boys cracking 20 minutes on the 5,000-meter course.

The sub-20 minute club.

Sophomore Noelle Western had the top Wolf finish, claiming 53rd in a field of 267 in her royal rumble.

“They all ran amazing!” Bitting said.

“I know I always say I am proud of them, but I really, really am.

“All their hard work they are putting in is coming to fruition.”

The Wolves head back to practice with the start of the school week, returning to competition next Saturday, Oct. 7, when they travel to Arlington for the Hole in the Wall XC Invitational.

Ari Armstrong (left) and Erica McGrath get a photo op before their race.

 

Saturday results:

 

GIRLS:

Freshman/Sophomores:

Noelle Western (53rd) 24:03.6
Aleksia Jump (188th) 28:21.5
Reagan Callahan (243rd) 33:52.6

 

Juniors/Seniors:

Ari Armstrong (127th) 27:00.7
Erica McGrath (174th) 29:11.0

 

BOYS:

Varsity:

Landon Roberts (154th) 19:05.8
George Spear (158th) 19:08.3
Carson Field (167th) 19:18.8
Ezekiel Allen (201st) 19:51.7
Thomas Strelow (204th) 19:54.3
Kenneth Jacobsen (205th) 19:56.9

 

JV:

Freshman/Sophomores:

Axel Marshall (269th) 21:43.5
Zach Blitch (477th) 31:16.6

 

Juniors/Seniors:

Nicholas Wasik (217th) 21:26.8
Santi Ojeda (229th) 21:39.6
Preston Howard (246th) 21:58.3
Damy Giacobbe (416th) 30:00.00

Foreign exchange student Santi Ojeda enjoys his American experience.

Nick Guay dropped a note-perfect mix tape during pregame warmups, then scored his 13th career goal in a big Coupeville win. (Carly Burt photo)

Flawless? No. Thrilling? Yes.

The Coupeville High School soccer squad might not have delivered its best performance of the season Friday, but the Wolf booters still had way too much firepower for visiting Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood.

Raining down goals under Friday Night Lights and using a suffocating defense to allow goaltender Hurlee Bronec plenty of rest time, CHS strolled to a crowd-pleasing 4-0 win.

The victory, coming in both team’s Northwest 2B/1B League opener, lifts Coupeville to 1-0 in conference play, 4-1 overall.

The core of a first-place team. (Jackie Saia photo)

Now, the Wolves will carry a four-game winning streak on the road next week, traveling to Mount Vernon Christian for a matchup with a dangerous Hurricanes squad.

Coupeville will need to clean up its passing to hang with MVC, a perennial state tourney contender, but the goal-scoring, enthusiasm, and team camaraderie is already present.

The Wolves have proven quite adept at bashing away and scoring goals this season, and that was on display Friday night.

Cole White broke open a scoreless tie in the game’s 21st minute, peppering the CPC goalie with a laser, before fellow senior Nick Guay popped in a shot seven minutes later.

Around the two first-half scores, the Wolves had numerous other chances which just missed.

Preston Epp and Guay slapped shots which drifted just a bit at the end, sliding past the net, while Ayden Wyman was robbed by a nice save from the visiting netminder.

Awarded a penalty kick after being knocked around in a scrum, Wyman, who tallied 13 goals in two years with the Wolf girls’ team, came dangerously close to becoming the first CHS female to score in a boys’ game.

While she was (barely) denied, Coupeville picked up another two goals after the halftime break.

White punched in his second score of the night 15 minutes into the second half, before Preston Epp went on a rampage, beating the CPC goalie on a breakaway to cap the offensive output.

Facing off with a defense led by Hank Milnes and Andrew Williams, Cedar Park had few chances to score.

Jedi master Hurlee Bronec compels the ball to stop using just his mind. (Jackie Saia photo)

CPC’s best try came courtesy a penalty kick, but the shooter went wide right, perhaps chilled by the sight of Bronec coldly staring him down.

Or the gathered Wolf fans screaming and thumping the metal seats, creating a wall of sound which rippled across the prairie.

With his two scores Friday, White moves into a tie with Guay for the season lead, as both gunners have tallied five apiece.

Now with 13 career goals, Guay jumps a rung, and is tied with Wolf grad Aidan Wilson for #6 all-time, while White has nine celebrations.

That ties him with pitch legend Jon Chittim for #12.

Preston Epp, just a junior, has two goals on the season, and seven for his career, as he also continues to move up the list.

He already owns the family record, edging older brother Cameron, who scored four times during his own strong prep career.

#7 has scored seven times in his CHS career. (Jackie Saia photo)