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Long night, tough loss

September 7, 2025 by David Svien

Davin Houston, seen last year, snagged a touchdown pass Friday in Tacoma. (David Somes photo)

The location? Impressive. The final score? Not so much.

The Coupeville High School football squad traveled to the wilds of Tacoma Saturday for its season opener, squaring off with non-conference foe Annie Wright at Stadium Bowl.

With its impressive architecture and water views, the joint, which sprawls next to Stadium High School, has hosted everyone from Teddy Roosevelt to Babe Ruth to Heath Ledger dancing his way through “10 Things I Hate About You.”

Stadium Bowl, in all its glory. (Stephanie Blas photo)

Unfortunately for the Wolves, a viewing of that much-beloved 1999 film would have left them happier than their rematch with the Gators did.

A year after demolishing Annie Wright 51-6 on Whidbey, this time it was Coupeville which came up on the short end of a 25-7 contest.

The game, which was delayed due to lightning in the second half — the Wolves returned home on a 1:00 AM ferry — was a defensive struggle until late.

Annie Wright held a narrow 2-0 lead at the half, thanks to a safety off of a blocked punt, then added a second safety in the third quarter.

That 4-0 deficit turned into a 10-0 gap after the Gators used a big kickoff return to set up a short touchdown pass.

Coupeville held tough, however, forcing Annie Wright to miss the PAT. When a penalty gave the hosts a second shot, they went for a two-point conversion, but the Wolves stuffed them short of the promised land.

The Wolves finally got on the scoreboard when senior quarterback Chase Anderson connected with Davin Houston on a 10-yard scoring strike, before the gunslinger tacked on the extra point.

That was as close as CHS would get, however, as Annie Wright used a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to stretch the final margin out.

While the 2B Wolves came up short against their 1A foes, they did get solid play across the board from a variety of players, with Marquette Cunningham, Jackson Sollars, and Liam Blas among those making their presence felt on defense.

Sollars, in particular, was a handful, creating havoc time and again in the Annie Wright backfield after crashing through the line.

Coupeville, which plays its first four games against 1A opponents, hosts Cascade (Leavenworth) Friday, Sept. 12 in the home opener. Kickoff is set for 6:00 PM.

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Sweet sweep for JV spike crew

September 7, 2025 by David Svien

Adeline Maynes, seen here last season, helped spark the Wolf JV volleyball team to a rivalry win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

One match in and everything’s clicking.

Getting contributions from all 10 girls in uniform Friday night, the Coupeville High School JV volleyball squad rolled to a straight-sets win over visiting South Whidbey in the season opener.

Bouncing the Falcons 25-22, 25-18, the young Wolves made a winner of new coach Tianna Carlson in her debut on the CHS bench.

The new spike guru replaces Ashley Menges, who moved to Florida after five highly-successful seasons as JV coach.

Carlson got a strong effort across the board from her players Friday, with the Wolves combining for 12 kills, 35 digs, nine assists, and seven aces.

Along with the eight CHS players who scratched their names in the scorebook were Emma Leavitt and KeeAyra Brown, who rounded out a potent attack.

 

Friday stats:

Hailey Grijalva — 1 kill, 2 digs, 1 ace
Willow Leedy-Bonifas — 6 digs, 2 aces
Adeline Maynes — 1 kill, 2 digs, 3 assists
Isa Mc Fetridge — 1 kill, 8 digs, 1 assist, 2 aces
Kennedy O’Neill — 5 kills, 11 digs
Cassandra Powers — 3 digs, 2 assists
Chelsi Stevens — 3 kills, 1 dig
Sydney Van Dyke — 1 kill, 2 digs, 3 assists, 2 aces

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Harriers kick off trail season

September 6, 2025 by David Svien

Captains Zeke Allen and Aleksia Jump prepare to lead Coupeville cross country into action. (Elizabeth Bitting photos)

The season began with a flash.

Or a couple of them.

Dodging a bit of lightning Saturday in Maple Valley, the Coupeville High School cross country squad joined 40+ other schools in participating at the season-opening Tahoma Coed Relays.

The jamboree-style event featured boys and girls competing together, with each five-member team limited to three runners from either gender.

And when Mother Nature allowed the runners to stay on the course, the Wolf harriers put the pedal to the metal, earning praise from coach Elizabeth Bitting.

“It was a strange relay,” she said. “The lightning delay messed everything up. Stopping in the middle of the relay was weird!

“The runners however didn’t let it dampen their runs. They each ran their leg and enjoyed the water portion,” Bitting added.

“It made for a fun and wet start to the season.”

Coupeville returns to action next Saturday, Sept. 13, when it travels to Bellingham for the GearUp Northwest Cross Country Preview.

Isaiah Allen gets movin’.

Zach Blitch attacks the course.

Nolan Hunt splashes through the water part of the course.

The Wolves invade Maple Valley.

Ivy Rudat has her eyes on the finish line.

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New-look Wolves spike Falcons

September 6, 2025 by David Svien

The baton is passed from Cory Whitmore to Scout Smith. (Sarah Stuurmans photos)

It may be a new era, but winning is still very much in fashion.

After a decade of success under Cory Whitmore, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball program kicked off the Scout Smith dynasty in style.

Drilling visiting South Whidbey 25-20, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16 Friday in their season opener, the new-look Wolves staked their claim to Island dominance and continued success.

Coupeville’s spikers are coming off the most-successful campaign in their history, earning 4th place at last year’s 2B state tourney.

But much has changed since that team departed the Yakima SunDome with the program’s first-ever trophy.

Seven seniors graduated after carrying an undefeated record into the final day of the season, while Whitmore stepped away after compiling a 106-45 record and three trips to state in nine years.

Taking his spot on the Wolf bench is Smith, a standout setter during her playing days at CHS.

Friday’s rivalry win in her debut as varsity head coach capped a busy, but successful series of days for the ever-talented one, as she also completed her first week as a 3rd grade teacher at Coupeville Elementary.

Guided by Smith, and sparked by the play of the team’s two returning state meet vets — senior Teagan Calkins and sophomore Tenley Stuurmans — the Wolves piled up 37 kills, 30 digs, 31 assists, and 13 service aces against South Whidbey.

Whitmore and recent Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame inductee Taylor Brotemarkle were in the stands Friday to provide moral support for their successors, who return to match action next Tuesday, Sept. 9.

The Wolves play host to another non-conference foe, Nooksack Valley, that night, with JV tipping at 5:00 PM and varsity at 6:30.

 

Friday stats:

Capri Anter — 5 digs, 1 ace
Haylee Armstrong — 8 kills, 6 digs, 1 ace
Teagan Calkins — 16 kills, 5 digs
Ari Cunningham — 3 kills, 2 digs, 2 assists, 2 aces
Lexis Drake — 1 kill, 5 digs, 1 ace
Dakota Strong — 6 kills
Tenley Stuurmans — 3 kills, 7 digs, 29 assists, 5 aces

Tenley Stuurmans filled up the stat sheet as Coupeville won its season opener.

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Booters are back!

September 5, 2025 by David Svien

Tamsin Ward, who played co-ed soccer as an 8th grader, will help lead the CHS girls’ program in its revival. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022 was a busy day in the world.

Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, a position he would hold for two years.

Dietrich Mateschitz, one of the co-founders of the Red Bull empire, passed away at age 78. No word on whether he drank his own beverage, or whether it gave him wings.

There was also a partial eclipse, disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was in court, and, oh yes, the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer team beat visiting La Conner 4-0 in the season finale.

Sophomore Ayden Wyman punched in two goals for the Wolves, giving her 13 for her career at that point, and it was the last game for retiring coach Kyle Nelson, who ambled away after one last postgame interview with me.

After debuting in 2004, the CHS booters left the field that day in 2022 already thinking ahead to the program’s landmark 20th season.

Who knew it would take more than 1,000 days to get there, however?

The CHS girls played through a pandemic, but a crash in roster size sidelined the program the past two seasons.

Kimberly Kisch, a former Wolf player hired to lead her alma mater’s squad, ended up working with boys coach Robert Wood in 2023 and 2024, with a scrappy band of female pitch warriors joining up with Coupeville’s boys to form a co-ed team.

That squad was very competitive in an expanded-for-soccer nine-team Northwest 2B/1B League which has collected the majority of the state tourney trophies handed out in recent years.

Wyman, while denied a chance to chase the CHS girls scoring record, held her own against the boys, and was joined by other scrappers such as Lillian Ketterling, Taylor Marrs, and Frankie Tenore.

But this Monday, Sept. 8, that 20th season finally gets its moment.

Kisch, who decided to move back to coaching youth soccer, kept the flame alive, and new CHS pitch guru Jasmine Ader has capitalized, pulling together enough girls to have a full roster.

That means the Wolves will defend their turf at Mickey Clark Field against visiting East Jefferson this Monday (kickoff is 4:00 PM), a mere 1,050 days after the 2022 squad celebrated KO’ing La Conner.

If you can’t be there for the opener (I myself am 2,800 miles away in West Virginia these days…), Coupeville’s girls are slated to play seven of their first eight at home.

There’s no charge to watch soccer, so cram the stands in support of the Wolf girls being back in (red) and black.

 

CHS girls soccer schedule:

Mon-Sept. 8 — East Jefferson (4:00)
Wed-Sept. 10 — Lopez Island (4:00)
Fri-Sept. 12 — @ La Conner (4:00)
Tue-Sept. 16 — Orcas Island (4:00)
Fri-Sept. 19 — Mount Vernon Christian (4:00)
Thur-Sept. 25 — Friday Harbor (4:00)
Thur-Oct. 2 — Granite Falls (6:00)
Mon-Oct. 6 — Providence Classical Christian (6:00)
Thur-Oct. 9 — @ Lopez Island (4:00)
Sat-Oct. 11 — Sultan (6:00)
Tue-Oct. 21 — @ Orcas Island (4:00)
Fri-Oct. 24 — @ Providence Classical Christian (3:30)

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