Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Murdy, magnificent!

May 26, 2023 by David Svien

Alex Murdy celebrates a state title with CHS coach Elizabeth Bitting. (Photos courtesy Sandi Murdy)

We’re in double digits.

Coupeville senior Alex Murdy became the 10th track and field state champion in school history Friday, smashing his PR as he sailed to a win in the long jump at the 2B championships in Yakima.

The mad dog of the basketball court splashed down with a jump of 20 feet, 11 inches, beating his previous top mark by a stunning eight inches.

Murdy finished an inch-and-a-half in front of runner-up Tony Belgiorno of Morton-White Pass.

The duo were well ahead of the 16-man field, with Stephen Pittman of Goldendale earning 3rd place with a jump of 20-02.50.

Murdy, who is in his first full season of track at CHS, topped 19 feet six times this season, but didn’t break 20 feet until the final two meets of his prep career.

He won a bi-district title May 13 in Coupeville with a jump of 20-03.

With his victory Friday, Murdy joins Wolf alumni Jeff Fielding, Natasha Bamberger, Amy Mouw, Jon Chittim, Kyle King, Chris Hutchinson, Steven McDonald, Tyler King, and Danny Conlisk as a state champ.

He is the first to win in a field event, with all previous Coupeville championships coming in running events.

Overall, CHS athletes have won 19 state titles — 17 in track and two in cross country.

The state champ hangs out with older brother Xavier and the grandparents.

Posted in Track | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Strelow shines at state tourney

May 26, 2023 by David Svien

Helen Strelow is alive and kicking heading into day #2 of the state championships. (Photos courtesy Brian Strelow)

She’s sticking around.

Having traveled all the way to Yakima for the 1B/2B state tennis championships, Coupeville’s Helen Strelow is giving the school van time to cool down before the trip home.

The Wolf senior split a pair of matches Friday and returns to action Saturday with a chance to finish as high as 3rd.

Strelow fell 6-1, 6-1 to Simi Sahota of Jenkins (Chewelah) in her opener, then bounced back to whack Amy Dorman of Lake Roosevelt 6-1, 6-3 in the afternoon.

With the split, the Wolf ace, now 11-2 on the season, earns a matchup with Gwen Gilliam of Goldendale.

That slugfest is a loser-out affair, with the victor squaring off later Saturday in the 3rd/4th place matchup against either Maddie Castro of Cle Elum or Liberty Linklater of Okanogan.

The top four finishers claim awards, with Simi Sahota scheduled to play older sister Avi Sahota in the championship match.

Strelow smacks a return at the swanky Yakima Tennis Club.

This is Strelow’s third appearance at a state championship event, but her first as a netter.

She twice advanced to the final run of the season in cross country, qualifying for state as both a junior and senior.

During her final campaign on the trails, Strelow was a captain as the Wolf girls made it to state as a complete team for the first time since the ’80s.

 

League rivals eliminated:

Friday Harbor’s Megan Mellinger and Kira Clark, who won the tri-district doubles title when Strelow won the singles crown, went two and out Friday in Yakima.

The Wolverines fell 6-2, 7-5 and 6-3, 6-0 to teams from St. George’s and Pateros, respectively.

Posted in Girls Tennis | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Ward wows, Wolves soar

May 26, 2023 by David Svien

Tamsin Ward elevates on her way to winning a league title in the high jump. (Jon Gabelein photo)

Tamsin Ward is starting to get historical.

The Coupeville Middle School 6th grader soared over the high jump at four feet, six inches Thursday in Lakewood, winning the title at day #1 of the two-day Cascade League Championships.

That mark is four inches higher than Ward’s previous PR and pulls her within eight inches of the best effort ever thrown down by a Coupeville High School female athlete.

The CHS girls record of 5-02 was set in 1999 by Yashmeen Knox, while current Wolf senior Ryanne Knoblich has cleared 5-00 heading into her final state meet.

While Ward won’t make her high school track debut until spring 2026, Thursday’s win already puts her in the company of some of the town’s most-successful female athletes.

The victory is her 11th in her debut season, a mark topped in the last decade only by 8th graders Lindsey Roberts (22 wins in 2015) and Makana Stone (12 wins in 2012).

Ward’s big jump made some noise, but her fellow Wolves also soared, racking up 46 PR’s at the seven-team meet.

Thursday’s event was a mix of prelims and finals, with the season-ending day #2 of the championships set for Wednesday, May 31 back at Lakewood.

Taylor Marrs sends the shot put flying. (Amber Wyman photo)

CMS coaches basked in the positive afterglow of a day well spent while the bus wound its way back to Whidbey.

“The athletes represented Coupeville well today,” Jon Gabelein said. “We had a great group and each of them showed why they were one of our district’s best performers in their events.

“We look forward to the district finals next week.”

That was a feeling shared by fellow Wolf coach Amber Wyman.

“I’m so proud of these athletes!” she said. “They really showed off the weeks of work they have put in.

“They worked hard, had great sportsmanship and a lot of PR’s!”

Arianna Cunningham heads for home. (Jon Gabelein photo)

 

Thursday’s results:

 

GIRLS:

8th grade:

100 (Prelims) — Tirsit Cannon (5th) 14.36 *PR*; Lexis Drake (20th) 15.83; Ivy Rudat (21st) 15.90 *PR*; Natalie Perera (26th) 16.70 *PR*

200 (Prelims) — Perera (14th) 37.16 *PR*

800 (Finals) — Kayla Crane (2nd) 2:58.37 *PR*

100 Hurdles (Prelims) — Drake (14th) 22.77 *PR*

Shot Put (Finals) — Lydia Price (26th) 15-09.50 *PR*

 

6th/7th grade:

100 (Prelims) — Tamsin Ward (2nd) 13.88 *PR*; Laken Simpson (11th) 14.60; Isabella De Souza Oliveira Mc Fetridge (17th) 14.81 *PR*; Willow Leedy-Bonifas (20th) 14.93 *PR*; Amayia Curry (28th) 15.46 *PR*; Niella Bryan (37th) 16.68 *PR*

200 (Prelims) — Simpson (10th) 30.59 *PR*; Hyley Farrell (11th) 30.64 *PR*; Tenley Stuurmans (20th) 32.28 *PR*; Olivia Hall (25th) 33.44 *PR*; Arianna Cunningham (26th) 34.10 *PR*

400 (Prelims) — Taylor Marrs (10th) 1:27.03; Alexandra Lo (17th) 1:47.28 *PR*

800 (Finals) — Lillian Ketterling (5th) 3:02.40 *PR*; Devon Wyman (15th) 3:42.68 *PR*

100 Hurdles (Prelims) — Stuurmans (12th) 20.23; Elizabeth Marshall (18th) 20.95 *PR*; Kennedy O’Neill (19th) 21.02 *PR*; Cunningham (21st) 21.36 *PR*; Bryan (34th) 24.21; Amelia Crowder (35th) 24.96

Shot Put (Finals) — Simpson (3rd) 24-04.50 *PR*; Lisette Bentabou (6th) 24-00 *PR*; Marrs (7th) 23-02.50; Maci Wofford (18th) 19-01 *PR*

High Jump (Finals) — Ward (1st) 4-06 *PR*; Crowder (15th) 3-08

Wolf runners lunge for the line. (Jon Gabelein photo)

 

BOYS:

8th grade:

100 (Finals) — Davin Houston (7th) 12.55 *PR*; Ethan Walling (26th) 14.80; Captain Tesucher (27th) 14.88 *PR*; Zach Blitch (29th) 17.58

400 (Prelims) — Axel Marshall (14th) 1:13.39; Blitch (15th) 1:22.15

1600 (Finals) — Kenneth Jacobsen (6th) 5:28.58 *PR*; A. Marshall (11th) 6:15.00 *PR*

110 Hurdles (Prelims) — A. Marshall (14th) 21.25

Discus (Finals) — Blitch (29th) 55-08

Long Jump (Finals) — Houston (5th) 16-00; Jacobsen (16th) 13-08

 

6th/7th grade:

100 (Prelims) — Beckett Green (3rd) 13.10 *PR*; Roger Merino-Martinez (9th) 13.50 *PR*; Leonardo Rodriguez (12th) 13.60 *PR*; Daniel Payan Vasquez (13th) 13.65 *PR*; Wyatt Fitch-Marron (14th) 13.74 *PR*; Carson Grove (22nd) 14.30 *PR*

200 (Prelims) — Green (2nd) 26.93 *PR*; Merino-Martinez (3rd) 27.81 *PR*

400 (Prelims) — Nick Laska (7th) 1:08.70; Nathan Niewald (11th) 1:12.66 *PR*

1600 (Finals) — Brantley Campbell (10th) 6:23.75 *PR*; Niewald (11th) 6:24.57; Edmund Kunz (17th) 6:43.80 *PR*

110 Hurdles (Prelims) — Laska (5th) 20.29 *PR*; Rodriguez (8th) 20.70 *PR*; Campbell (9th) 20.70 *PR*

Discus (Finals) — Laska (2nd) 83-05; Max Ohme (9th) 74-08 *PR*; Grove (18th) 61-09; Campbell (20th) 59-00.25; Khanor Jump (32nd) 45-09.25; Kunz (37th) 36-04

Long Jump (Finals) — Merino-Martinez (3rd) 14-05; Niewald (4th) 13-10; Fitch-Marron (8th) 13-05; Shiloh Sandlin (13th) 12-09.50

Posted in Middle School, Track | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

What we have here is a failure to comprehend

May 25, 2023 by David Svien

“Publish on social media? No sir, that’s for them fancy lads.”

You are NOT reading this on Facebook.

Or Instagram.

Or Twitter.

Or any of a million other social media platforms sprouting up, dying, then sprouting back up, like poisonous mushrooms clinging to life.

If you don’t like something I wrote here, on my blog, to dismiss it with an arch, tossed-off “Well, I don’t have social media” proves only one thing.

You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what I have been doing for the past 11 years on Coupeville Sports.

Because none of the 10,176 articles I have written have ever been published on “social media.”

Like ZERO, ZIP, NADA.

Zuckerberg, and Musk, and their buddies don’t make any money off me.

After I publish a story HERE, I post a LINK to said story on Facebook and Twitter, to drive readers to my actual site.

So, yes, it’s there on social media where readers often then share the LINK, or comment on the LINK.

But a huge chunk of my readership doesn’t have social media, even the snarky ones, and it doesn’t matter, because they come directly to my blog.

You know, that place where all my articles are actually printed.

But I get it.

While Coupeville Sports is overwhelmingly positive in its coverage, there are articles which people don’t like.

When something provokes, that discussion often plays out on social media, which is the 2023 replacement for people meeting and talking in person at Videoville and Miriam’s Espresso.

Social media is the frickin’ Wild West, with people shooting off opinions like they’re gunslingers. Sometimes things get pretty dang funky.

If I was a school administrator, I’m sure I’d also want to avoid the whole mess if possible.

So, it’s a good thing I don’t publish stories on social media sites.

Makes it easy for the big bosses to monitor my written output without having to sink into the swamp.

But, as they do so, it’s always good for them to remember something else.

As it very clearly states in my “Who’s responsible for this?” section, I am NOT an employee of the Coupeville School District.

Never have been.

You ain’t never paid me a cent, and I am NOT your PR flack.

Probably should have gone that route. Might have my indoor/outdoor swimming pool by now.

Posted in Ranting and Raving | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Wolves roar at state track meet

May 25, 2023 by David Svien

Carolyn Lhamon kicked off the state meet with a bang. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Two medals in hand, and a third one on order.

Day #1 of the three-day 2B state track and field championships went to plan for Coupeville High School, with all three athletes in competition doing well.

Wolf senior Carolyn Lhamon led the way in Yakima, shattering her PR in the shot put by more than a foot as she claimed 4th place in a field of 16 girls.

Her throw of 36 feet, two inches tops her previous best mark of 35-00, set at the district meet.

It also left Lhamon just seven inches shy of the CHS girls record of 36-09, set way back in 1990 by Jennie Cross.

Lhamon, who finished 16th at state as a junior, becomes the 78th Wolf to bring home a state meet medal, and the 32nd girl.

Joining her in claiming hardware Thursday was fellow senior Aidan Wilson, who claimed 5th in the triple jump, narrowly missing a PR with a mark of 41-06.75.

It’s the third state meet medal for him, after he brought home a 2nd (4 x 100) and 3rd (800) last season.

Wilson is the 27th Wolf to hit the trifecta, and, with two events still left to compete in this time around, he has a chance to join an even-more exclusive club.

There are 11 CHS athletes currently in the five-medal fraternity.

While Coupeville brought 22 athletes to Yakima, Thursday’s schedule was relatively light, with Monroe Myles running in the 100-meter prelims.

The speedy sophomore, making her first appearance at the state meet for the Wolves, finished 5th out of 16 runners, hitting the line with a PR of 13.13 seconds.

That sends Myles into Saturday’s eight-woman final and guarantees her a medal.

With Lhamon and Wilson scoring Thursday, Coupeville is in the mix in the team scoring race as well.

The CHS girls, with five points, are tied with Brewster for 4th place.

With two of 18 events scored, St. George’s (28), Asotin (16), and White Swan (8) currently hold down the top three slots.

On the boys side, they’ve wrapped three of 17 events, with St. George’s (16), Chewelah (12), and Goldendale (12) in the early lead.

Coupeville, with Wilson’s four points, is 14th heading into Friday.

“They did amazing!!!,” said Coupeville girls’ coach Elizabeth Bitting. “A fun day in YAKIMA!!!”

“Yep, good stuff,” added boys’ coach Bob Martin.

And the Wolves get right back at it after a sleep, with their athletes primed to compete in seven prelims and five finals during day #2 at Zaepfel Stadium.

Posted in Track | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »