Alita Blouin, talented and tough. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
She’s one tough young woman.
Coupeville High School senior Alita Blouin has natural athletic talent, a strong inner drive, and a rock-solid support crew in her family and friends.
But what has always impressed me over the years, as she has gone from the world of youth sports to high school games, is her toughness.
Not that she goes out and slugs rival players in the face or anything like that — though maybe don’t get between Alita and a loose ball or you just might taste her elbow.
A shooter supreme. (Andrew Williams photo)
Alita’s toughness comes in several forms.
One, in being able to fight back through injuries, whether it’s a busted ankle or a balky back.
Nothing keeps Alita down for long, and, each time, she returns to the floor just as committed and just as scrappy.
But her toughness also shines through in how she approaches each aspect of being an athlete.
Some players bring effort in games. Others turn up the intensity in practice.
Few have been as competitive in warmups as Alita, however.
Way back, a long time ago — OK, it was during her 8th grade volleyball season — I wrote about a small, but very important, moment I noticed during pregame exercises.
As CMS went through warm-ups before a volleyball match, the spikers started to run laps around the floor.
Alita, a team captain, was out in front, serious and locked-in. No coasting.
At which point, one of her teammates, Lucy Tenore, who is considerably taller, and has a much-longer stride, tried to pass her friend.
Alita was not playing that. At all.
Lucy, smile growing bigger and bigger, tried a second time, then a third, but couldn’t get by.
That’s because Alita, legs pumping, elbows ever at the alert, fended off her teammate at every turn, her face locked in a death mask of concentration.
Lucy, fully laughing at this point, finally relented, only to see Alita kick it up a notch to a sprinter’s run to finish the final curve, one eye looking over her shoulder just in case anyone else wanted to get foolish.
June and Shawn’s daughter brought that same intensity to the floor every night as she played volleyball and (when her body allowed it) basketball.
Hanging out with the parental units. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
As a libero, Alita was invaluable, capable of filling up the stat sheet, but worth far more to the Wolves as a leader, joining Maddie Georges at the forefront of the CHS attack.
The duo earned a major honor at the end of their prep volleyball careers, invited to play in the 1B/2B/1A All-State games.
It was a fitting reward, and a testament to what both brought to the Wolf spiker program.
In a perfect world, Alita would have been able to suit up for Coupeville’s basketball team all four years.
While injuries prevented that, with a broken ankle suffered during pregame player introductions her junior season a nasty surprise, when she was on the floor, she made the net jump like few others.
Alita can rain down three-balls from anywhere on the floor, yet also showed a willingness to slice through the paint and tangle with the tall trees camped around the basket.
She was only on the floor for 23 high school hoops games — two as a junior before the injury, and 21 as a senior — yet still rattled the rims for 215 points.
That puts Alita #56 on the all-time CHS girls scoring chart, for a program launched in 1974, and her 204 points this past season marks the first time a Wolf girl topped 200 in a season since 2016.
Toss in appearances on the honor roll, and the fact she was elected Homecoming Queen as a senior, and Ryan’s big sister has left a substantial mark on her soon-to-be alma mater.
Royalty, on and off the court. (Angie Downes photo)
Talent, toughness, inner drive — Alita has it all, and wherever she goes after high school, one thing is for certain. She will be a winner at anything she does.
Now, as she and her classmates work their way towards graduation, let’s take a moment to bestow another honor on her.
Today, in a move which you could see coming a long, long time ago — at about the moment she hip-checked Lucy Tenore into the stands — we welcome Alita Blouin to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
After this, you’ll find her hanging out at the top of the blog under the Legends tab, a fitting destination.
When entering the digital shrine, however, don’t try and pass Alita.
Cause she don’t play that.
“You can compete with me. You can’t beat me!” (Brian Vick photo)
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