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Chelsea Prescott is the 2020-2021 Coupeville High School Female Athlete of the Year. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Xavier Murdy is the Male Athlete of the Year.

There’s two more names to add to the ring of honor.

Senior Chelsea Prescott and junior Xavier Murdy were tabbed as Coupeville High School’s Athletes of the Year Monday in a virtual ceremony.

Prescott, a four-year star for the Wolves, had very-strong seasons in softball and volleyball during her final year at CHS.

Opening on the diamond, with the pandemic flipping things around, she led CHS softball to a flawless 12-0 record as it returned to the Northwest 2B/1B League after a long absence.

Playing shortstop for the Wolves, Prescott brought a booming bat, quick wheels, and a laser arm to the lineup, plus a low-key, infectious spirit.

After she moved inside for volleyball, she remained on point, lashing winners left and right for a squad which finished second behind two-time defending state champ La Conner.

Prescott peppers a winner.

Tabbed as a First-Team All-Conference pick, Prescott capped her run on the CHS volleyball court by signing to play at Medaille College in New York.

During her days as a Wolf, the young woman who could hit a homerun, then rip out and replace a toilet with one hand, while repairing a car with the other, was a rare athlete.

She came up playing baseball in little league, often pitching, then played volleyball, basketball, and softball at CHS.

Murdy, currently leading a first-place Wolf basketball team in rebounds, assists, and steals, is that rarity — a star who seems to delight in other’s success even more than his own.

His junior year started on the baseball diamond, where he helped Coupeville finish second behind Friday Harbor, moved to the soccer pitch, where he helped restart the program, and is finishing on the hardwood.

Working with teammates such as Hawthorne Wolfe and his own brother, sophomore Alex Murdy, X-Man has been indispensable for a red-hot Wolf team which sits at 6-3 heading into the final week of the season.

Need a big bucket? He can get it.

Need 27 rebounds? He’s on it.

He’s the glue which holds everything together.

And now, like Prescott, and his own basketball coach, Brad Sherman, Murdy will be immortalized on the wall outside the CHS gym – one of the best of the best to ever wear a Wolf uniform.

Murdy sacrifices for the team.

Mollie Bailey and other Coupeville High School Class of 2021 students raked in awards and scholarships in a virtual ceremony. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Let the scholarships rain down. Virtually, at least.

With the pandemic still disrupting life across the globe, Coupeville High School is giving out awards and grants to Class of 2021 students in an online ceremony, saving the live experience for Friday’s graduation.

This marks the second-straight spring the senior awards night has been virtual, with all signs pointing to 2022 breaking that pattern.

 

Scholarships and awards:

 

Association of Old Crows
($6,000 – four years):

Mollie Bailey

 

AAUW Academic Scholarship
($2,000 each):

Mollie Bailey
Megan Behan

 

Bayleaf Foreign Study/Travel
($1,000):

Knight Arndt

 

Big Brothers, Big Sisters
Julie Langrock Memorial
($2,500):

Drake Borden

 

Cascade Custom Homes and Design
($2,500):

Alex Jimenez

 

CHS Booster Club
($1,000 each):

Mollie Bailey
Alex Jimenez
Catherine Lhamon
Daniel Olson
Ben Smith
Genna Wright

 

CHS Parents
($500 each):

Mollie Bailey (Sports)
Megan Behan (General)
Autumn Cernick (Race the Reserve)
Kylie Chernikoff (Life Grant)
Emily Fiedler (Life Grant)
Alex Jimenez (Race the Reserve)
Catherine Lhamon (Sports)
Chandell Schoonover (General)
Ben Smith (Sports)
Lily Zustiak (General)

 

Coldwell Bankers 360 Team Cares
($500 each):

Megan Behan
Alex Jimenez

 

Coupeville Lions:

Mollie Bailey ($3,000)
Owen Barenburg ($2,225)
Megan Behan ($2,000)
Drake Borden ($3,000)
Anya Burns ($2,000)
Aurora Cernick ($2,000)
Autumn Cernick ($2,000)
Kylie Chernikoff ($1,000)
Alexis Czarnik ($1,000)
Alex Jimenez ($2,000)
Catherine Lhamon ($2,000)
Daniel Olson ($2,000)
Genna Wright ($2,000)
Lily Zustiak ($2,000)

 

Coupeville Lions Students of the Year
($500 each):

Megan Behan
Drake Borden

 

Educate Your Passion
($1,000):

Alexis Czarnik

 

Endeavor Scholarship
($1,000):

Alex Jimenez

 

Fleet Reserve Association Branch 97
($1,000):

Aurora Cernick

 

Friends of the Coupeville Library
($2,000 each):

Anya Burns
Daniel Olson

 

Gervais Memorial
($1,500):

Alex Jimenez

 

Harada Family Scholarship
($1,000):

Megan Behan

 

Harvey/Pickard Scholarship
($2,500 – four years):

Alex Jimenez

 

Jack McFadyen Memorial Scholarship:

Mollie Bailey

 

Larry Engle Teacher Extraordinaire
($500):

Knight Arndt

 

Leganeids:

Aurora Cernick
Alex Jimenez

 

Leo Beck Memorial Scholarship
($1,000):

Lily Zustiak

 

New Leaf Jo Balda Scholarship
($2,000):

Megan Behan

 

North Puget Sound Realtors
($1,000):

Daniel Olson

 

Pegasus Scholarship
($1,000):

Chandell Schoonover

 

Red Apple Market
($1,000):

Mollie Bailey

 

Rick Widdison Memorial Scholarship
($1,000):

Genna Wright

 

Rose Hip Farm
($1,000):

Alexis Czarnik

 

Salon Blue
($1,000):

Alexis Czarnik

 

Soroptimists International of Coupeville
($1,000):

Emily Fiedler

 

Suzanne Bond Memorial Scholarship
($1,000):

Lily Zustiak

 

Toby’s EMT/First Responders/Medical Profession
($1,000):

Megan Behan

 

Tom Roehl Memorial Scholarship
($2,000):

Drake Borden

 

Vaughan/Porter Scholarship
($5,000):

Drake Borden

 

West Family Foundation
($1,000 each):

Autumn Cernick
Catherine Lhamon
Daniel Olson

 

Whidbey Audubon Scholarship
($2,000 each):

Drake Borden
Catherine Lhamon

 

Whidbey Island Masonic Lodge
Bud Madsen Memorial Scholarship
($1,000):

Drake Borden

 

Yorioka Scholarship
($1,000):

Daniel Olson

 

The awards show:

Gravity has no hold on Alex Murdy. (Jackie Saia photos)

Jackie Saia is the superwoman of Coupeville athletics.

A teacher and Wolf mom, she also clicks a steady stream of photos for the CHS yearbook, which she oversees.

Plus, she lets me use said photos for free, which makes her a saint.

The pics above and below, which come to us courtesy one of the hardest-working women in Central Whidbey, capture Wolf boys basketball beating Mount Vernon Christian last week.

Bask in the afterglow.

Miles Davidson (in black) and Logan Martin multitask.

Sage Downes swoops and scoops.

Mikey Robinett stays hydrated (and camera-ready).

Xavier Murdy dances a basketball ballet.

The Wolf bench gets excited.

Daniel Olson whispers, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer,” then banks home a runner.

When you just made Mount Vernon Christian cry sweet, sweet tears.

Sophomore Maddie Georges was Second-Team All-Conference. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Ryanne Knoblich played strongly for both the Wolf varsity and JV.

Kylie Chernikoff nabbed the Coaches Award to go with a First-Team All-League nod.

Successful season, successful banquet.

Coming off a campaign in which they finished second in the Northwest 2B/1B League, beating everyone except two-time defending state champ La Conner, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad had plenty of honors to bestow.

Seniors Maddie Vondrak, Kylie Chernikoff, Jaimee Masters, and Chelsea Prescott all received four-year awards for playing every season.

Prescott and Vondrak shared captain honors, with Prescott tabbed as varsity MVP and Vondrak bringing home Most Inspirational.

Jill Prince (Most Improved) and Chernikoff (Heart of the Wolf – Coaches Award) round out the varsity honorees.

In addition, JV awards went to Maya Lucero (MVP), Skylar Parker (Most Improved), and Allie Lucero (Most Inspirational).

NWL coaches named Prescott and Chernikoff as First-Team All-League players, with Vondrak and Maddie Georges earning Second-Team honors.

Alita Blouin and Prince received Honorable Mention.

Varsity letter winners:

Alita Blouin
Kylie Chernikoff
Maddie Georges
Ryanne Knoblich
Jaimee Masters
Abby Mulholland
Chelsea Prescott
Jill Prince
Lucy Tenore
Maddie Vondrak

Participation certificates:

Gwen Gustafson 
Issabel Johnson
Allie Lucero
Maya Lucero
Allison Nastali
Skylar Parker
Grey Peabody
Jordyn Rogers
Olivia Schaffeld

Manager:

Taygin Jump

Matthew Kelley, who played for Coupeville for many years, lofts a jumper Saturday as Oak Harbor and South Whidbey clash. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

John Fisken was bored, so now I have to be nice to the two high schools not in Coupeville.

While Central Whidbey’s high-flying boys basketball players were blasting Orcas Island Saturday and moving into first-place in the Northwest 2B/1B League, Whidbey’s other hoops squads squared off back at home.

In the end, 3A Oak Harbor came away with the non-conference win in Langley, bouncing 1A South Whidbey 60-41.

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 2-7, while the Falcons slip to 3-4.

Coupeville, in case you weren’t aware, is 6-3, but won’t get a chance to play either of its two next-door neighbors as it’s playing a league-only schedule this year.

The photos above and below are courtesy Fisken, and I never say no to the offer of pics, so here you go.

To see everything he snapped, and perhaps buy some presents for the family, pop over to:

 

Oak Harbor:

BBB 2021-06-05 at South Whidbey – John’s Photos (johnsphotos.net)

 

South Whidbey:

BBB 2021-06-05 South Whidbey vs Oak Harbor – John’s Photos (johnsphotos.net)

 

Jacob Ng comes in hot.

“Knock, knock, I have a delivery. Spoiler, it’s two points for me.”

Luke Rookstool floats in the danger zone.

Kelley goes Dikembe Mutombo on a Falcon.

Elijah Dixon looks for a way out of a sticky situation.

Killer shoes, killer game.

Sterling Patton yanks down a rebound while Kelley admires his work on the glass.