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You say you want a war?!!

Posted in Athlete Supreme, tagged , , , , on May 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   25 CHS athletes (16 seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and one freshman) enter the arena and one emerges Monday as the 2018 Athlete Supreme.

It’s time for everyone to get a little mad.

That crackle of energy you feel in the air, the sense that my page hit numbers are about to explode, that certainty that someone, somewhere, will pitch a fit about a contest with no rules, it’s all here.

Welcome to the 6th annual battle royal for the Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme.

In which the winner gets absolutely nothing but a warm glow in their chest.

Anyway, for those new to May’s most polarizing event, here’s a breakdown.

I nominate 25 Coupeville High School athletes, you get 100 hours to vote, with no rules or restrictions, and then we declare a winner.

Simple, yet sure to drive people insane.

The previous winners, in case you’ve forgotten:

2013 – Nick Streubel
2014 – Amanda Fabrizi
2015 – CJ Smith
2016 – Hunter Smith
2017 – Joey Lippo

How did I come up with this year’s nominees?

There’s one hard and fast rule – you must have made a SIZABLE impact on TWO VARSITY teams at CHS during the 2017-2018 school year.

With much respect to Derek and Aram Leyva (soccer), Veronica Crownover (softball), Jacob Smith (track), Ashley Menges (volleyball) and other one-sport standouts, you’re stars, you’re just not eligible for my fake award.

And yes, the final cut-down from 30 to 25 was brutal, and yes, I once again threatened to punch myself during the heated argument.

Anyway, on to the poll itself.

Voting starts 9 AM Thursday, May 10 and closes 1 PM Monday, May 14.

Vote as many times as your lil’ heart desires. There are no restrictions, no caps, no cool-down periods — at least from me.

Welcome to Thunderdome.

 

Your nominees (in alphabetic order):

Payton Aparicio (SR) — Team MVP in volleyball, set school single-game record for service aces; team captain in tennis, won third straight league doubles crown.

Kyla Briscoe (SR) — Led volleyball in kills, lock-down defensive ace who hit her share of big buckets in basketball.

Danny Conlisk (JR) — First CHS cross country runner to advance to state since 2010; well on his way to returning to state in track for third straight season.

Hunter Downes (SR) — Broke school career records as a QB, led basketball team in rebounding, key defender on soccer team which won first playoff game in six years.

Mikayla Elfrank (SR) — Ferocious hitter in volleyball who almost killed a girl with a spike to the face; #1 scorer in basketball until an injury.

Matt Hilborn (JR) — Two-way star in football, one of the top pitchers and hitters on a baseball team which rolled to a league title.

Jake Hoagland (SR) — Solid contributor in football and baseball who was on receiving end of strike from Downes which broke school career TD passes record.

Mallory Kortuem (SO) — Key defender on soccer squad, standout track star in multiple events who shattered school record in pole vault.

Joey Lippo (SR) — Front-line player on three teams (tennis, basketball, baseball) and a league champ in tennis.

Hope Lodell (SR) — Olympic League MVP in volleyball, where Wolves won all 27 sets played; four-year starter in softball, where she’s a defensive demon in center.

Katrina McGranahan (SR) — Killer at the net and killer at the service stripe for a volleyball team which went to state for first time since 2004; rolling towards a second-straight Olympic League MVP award in softball.

William Nelson (SR) — League champ in tennis, captain (and #3 scorer) on boys soccer squad which destroyed five-time state champ Bellevue Christian in playoff opener.

Sage Renninger (SR) — Ever-steady captain in soccer and tennis; won third-straight league doubles title in tennis.

Lindsey Roberts (JR) — Top defender in soccer (who also can score from distance), #1 scorer and rebounder in basketball, on her way to winning the most state track medals of any girl in CHS history. 

Kyle Rockwell (SR) — Had a season-defining play in three sports. Forced and recovered fumble in football finale, had rebound and put-back to deny Klahowya basketball title and threw out runner at the plate to end game and propel baseball to league crown. 

Lauren Rose (SR) — Team spark-plug in volleyball and softball who capped an amazing four-year athletic run by leading both her squads to league titles.

Emma Smith (JR) — Among team leaders in kills and blocks for volleyball team; emerged as track team’s top thrower, where she’s headed to districts in shot put and discus.

Hunter Smith (SR) — Owns seven CHS football records, finished as 12th highest career scorer in boys basketball history, stone-cold lock for Olympic League MVP in baseball.

Scout Smith (SO) — Major contributor in three sports (volleyball, basketball, softball) who is battling for the team lead in hits as diamond season unfolds.

Ethan Spark (SR) — Deadly three-point marksman and #2 scorer during basketball season, captain on the soccer squad. 

Cameron Toomey-Stout (SR) — From a kid who wasn’t 100 pounds as a freshman, finished career as one of Coupeville’s best receivers/defensive backs, ever. Brought insane energy to basketball, currently running towards first trip to state in track and field.

Sean Toomey-Stout (SO) — A beast in the first half of football, among state leaders in tackles and Coupeville’s #1 rusher until an injury. Returned to crush people in track and field alongside siblings.

Julian Welling (SR) — Anchored both lines in football, among team leaders in baseball in RBIs, average, intentional walks and being plunked.

Genna Wright (FR) — Shattered CHS girls soccer single-season record for most goals by a freshman, then picked up a tennis racket for first time and rose to #1 singles by postseason.

Sarah Wright (JR) — Starting goalie in soccer, force in the paint in basketball, superstar in softball, where she leads team in almost every offensive category and is vocal team leader.

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No doubt!!

Posted in Athlete Supreme, tagged , , , , , on May 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Joey Lippo scooped up votes like he does grounders — smooth and easy — running away with the title of Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme. (John Fisken photos)

   Ever at the ready, ready to swat away any late voting rallies by would-be challengers.

The Michigan Internet Mafia sends its regards.

For the third time in five years, I left the voting for the Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme wide open.

No rules. No restrictions. Wild West.

If you’re smart enough or talented enough, or know the right people, and are able to game the system, so be it.

Everyone knew that going in — or should have, if they read my original article — so any cries of “cheating” are going to fall on deaf ears.

Unlike last year, when supporters of Hunter Smith and Lauren Grove waged a bitter battle down to the final hours, year five was over pretty quickly.

After a strong showing early on by supporters of CHS sophomore Chris Battaglia, the tech-savvy people in the shadows who wanted to see junior Joey Lippo win did their work, and did it convincingly.

Once the hammer dropped early in day two of the 100-hour voting period, the lead got so substantial, a chunk of potential voting dried up as others walked away.

That left Lippo to coast home to victory, and the three-sport (tennis, basketball, baseball) star did, setting a new Athlete Supreme record with 50,432 votes in the final tally.

Rounding out the top five from our 25-athlete field were Katrina McGranahan (14,210), Battaglia (10,174), Jacob Martin (3,074) and Danny Conlisk (2,674).

And, in a side note, props to William Nelson, or his “people,” as he jumped from #25 to #7 in the final day.

So, after five years, the roll call of Athlete Supreme winners is:

2013 — Nick Streubel
2014 — Amanda Fabrizi
2015 — CJ Smith
2016 — Hunter Smith
2017 — Joey Lippo

Congratulations to Lippo and his supporters for doing what needed to be done to take home a completely imaginary (but very prestigious) prize. You played the game well.

And a warning a year in advance.

After seeing how things played out this year, I’m 98.3% sure next year I’m going to revert back to year one rules and make it so it’s one vote per person.

Not because I think anyone “cheated” this year — you can’t cheat if there are NO RULES, people — but because I believe it would inject a new layer of suspense into the action.

If nothing else, it would force people to find a new way to game the system.

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Oh, this means war!!

Posted in Athlete Supreme, tagged , , , , on May 8, 2017| 9 Comments »

L to r, Aparicio, Battaglia, Briscoe, Conlisk, Downes, Elfrank, Grove, Lippo, Liquidano, K. Littlejohn, M. Littlejohn, Lodell, Martin, McGranahan, Nelson, Reilly, Renninger, Roberts, Rose, Smith, Spark, Toomey-Stout, Trujillo, Welling, Wright.

Who’s ready to alienate friends and neighbors, scream at their computers, phones and other devices and get worked up into a froth … over an imaginary award?

Yep, it’s that time again, the launch of the all-out war to name the winner of the 5th annual Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme.

It’s 100 hours of bare-knuckle brawlin’, hurt feelings, a lot of pleading and a brief burst of giddiness for the “winner.”

Good times, good times.

So, let’s say you’re new to the joint and you’re like, what are you goin’ on about?

Each year this blog has existed, I have run a poll near the end of the school year, a vote-fest which allows my most rabid readers to decide which Wolf should sit atop the throne.

A throne which doesn’t exist.

I’ve never actually given a trophy out. Thought about it, then realized that was too much like work.

But, what the winner gets is that intangible feeling of, for a moment or two, being the best, the greatest, the last survivor, the … Athlete Supreme.

In 2013, it was Nick Streubel, and he’s been followed by Amanda Fabrizi, CJ Smith and Hunter Smith.

As I radically loosened up the voting rules, we went from a modest 433 votes the first time around to an astonishing 123,908 votes in just 100 hours last year.

So, let’s make the 5th go-around our biggest and best yet.

To be eligible, you had to make a solid contribution to at least TWO VARSITY teams during the 2016-2017 school year.

I had to be a bit ruthless to get things down to a manageable 25 athletes, so, if you’re unhappy you’re not included, I have a checklist for you. Pick one that fits.

Play more than one sport, keep working hard, try not to get hurt or just shrug your shoulders and go about your life, content in the knowledge this is, ultimately, a fake award and I’m an idiot.

Voting rules?

There are none. Almost.

The voting runs 100 hours, from 9:00 AM, Monday, May 8 to 1:00 PM, Friday, May 12.

During that time, you can vote as many times as you want.

There may be times you’re shut out of voting. It happened a few times last year, and it was unfortunate, but it was WordPress doing it, not me.

I want this to be the Wild West.

There are ways to get around those freeze-outs, and yes, it’s also possible some people were figuring out ways to vote last year without having to sit and endlessly click over and over again.

If you’re tech-savvy and deeply committed, more power to you.

Like I said, 100 hours, Wild West, NO RULES. Let the bodies hit the floor!!

Your nominees:

Payton Aparicio — Starter on league champion volleyball team, currently undefeated as tennis doubles player.

Chris Battaglia — “Italian Stallion” a two-way star in football who’s trying to make it back to state in track.

Tiffany Briscoe — Key contributor in volleyball, basketball and softball. One of two seniors to have played a sport in all 12 seasons of high school.

Danny Conlisk — Helped bring back cross country, now piling up PRs in track.

Hunter Downes — Put up big passing numbers as a QB, hustler supreme in basketball, scored two goals in first soccer game.

Mikayla Elfrank — Ferocious, whether blasting kills in volleyball, romping coast-to-coast for buckets in basketball or cranking grand slams to straight-away center in softball.

Lauren Grove — Starting goalie in soccer, relentless defensive dynamo in basketball, legend on the track oval. One of two seniors to play a sport all 12 seasons of high school.

Joey Lippo — Core player in tennis, basketball and baseball. Made strong postseason run as a doubles netter, hit a shot from behind half court in a playoff hoops game and routinely guns down runners at the plate as a diamond dandy.

Uriel Liquidano — A rock. Played every down on the football field, every moment on the soccer pitch, like it was life and death.

Kalia Littlejohn — Splendid soccer star who stretches every defense, and a genuine bad-ass on the basketball court, where she scrapped like a wild beast unleashed.

Mia Littlejohn — Shattered the school record for most soccer goals in a season, then ran the point for a basketball squad which won a third-straight league title with her at the helm.

Hope Lodell — Smashed school records at the service stripe in volleyball, now running down everything in center for a 15-2 softball squad.

Jacob Martin — Emotional leader of football team, among the best in 1A in the long jump this track season.

Katrina McGranahan — League MVP in volleyball, a major contender for same award in softball.

William Nelson — Standout tennis player, heart and soul of soccer squad, where he once again led team in assists.

Clay Reilly — Mixing superior athleticism with quality leadership skills, a standout on the gridiron and diamond.

Sage Renninger — Score, pass, defend, she can do it all on soccer field. On the tennis court, undefeated this season. Too bad she gave up basketball.

Lindsey Roberts — Explosive supernova on soccer pitch, basketball court and track oval, on target to join parents as CHS Athlete of the Year winner.

Lauren Rose — The glue that holds everything together, a serene star in volleyball, basketball and softball.

Hunter Smith — Record-bustin’ football receiver and defensive back, high-scoring hoops sensation and a standout pitcher/shortstop who pounds the hide off the baseball. Plus, our defending champ.

Ethan Spark — Highly-efficient scorer in both basketball and soccer.

Cameron Toomey-Stout — Two-way threat in football, whirlwind 6th man in basketball, speed demon in track.

Valen Trujillo — Closed stellar volleyball career owning multiple school records, long-time #1 singles player in tennis.

Julian Welling — Big hitter on the line in football and at the plate in baseball.

Sarah Wright — Exuberant force of nature who gives you everything she’s got and plays with passion in every game. Rising star in volleyball and basketball, a vocal leader with a booming bat in softball since day one.

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Your long national nightmare is over!!

Posted in Athlete Supreme, tagged , , , , on May 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Hunter Smith

Hunter Smith, our 2016 Athlete Supreme. (John Fisken photos)

Lauren Grove (John Fisken photo)

Runner-up Lauren Grove at work on the soccer field.

Hunter 2

Smith checks the base runner (and the vote count).

Return your voting finger to its upright position.

If you can…

The past 100 hours have seen an unprecedented explosion of fervor — mixed with a little screaming, whining, pleading, snarkiness and good-old-fashioned trash talking — here on Coupeville Sports.

This is the fourth time I’ve celebrated the end of the school sports year by holding a winner-take-all poll for the Athlete Supreme.

But year #4 made years #1-3 look downright quaint.

We topped out a bit over 15,000 votes last year, when CJ Smith joined Nick Streubel (2013) and Amanda Fabrizi (2014) in claiming a title that exists only in our minds.

This year?

123,908 votes cast in 100 hours, with Wolf sophomore Hunter Smith riding an explosion of votes in the final 36 hours to upend junior Lauren Grove and make it back-to-back wins for his family.

At one point Tuesday, the two were separated by three votes, than the Smith mafia (I kid, I kid) kicked it to another gear and it was done, man.

Hunter finished with an uncanny 28,440 votes.

Grove (23,286), freshman Lindsey Roberts (15,496), senior Makana Stone (12,962) and sophomore Julian Welling (12,098) rounded out the top five in our 20-athlete field.

To those who played along, thanks.

And to those like laid-back Lathom Kelley and feisty McKenzie Bailey, who couldn’t have cared less about my silly poll, you know you’re still on my A-list.

Maybe even more so now.

The poll, kicked off Saturday afternoon, was a knock-down, drag-out affair, with early front-runners taken down hard in the second half by athletes with extremely deep benches of family and friends who voted in a frenzy.

By the time we got to the final 24 hours, it was firmly a two-person race between three-sport stars, both of whom are standout athletes and better people.

Nerves got frazzled, charges of voter fraud were launched more than once (I, for one, never saw any, but if people found a way to bend the system, hey, let’s give credit where credit is due) and everyone got worked into a froth for an award that exists … only in our minds.

Will I go back to one-person, one-vote next year? We’ll see. I have 12 months to ponder it all.

For now, a bow in the direction of Hunter Smith, our 2016 Athlete Supreme.

And now we can all return to our normal lives and some of you can go stick your thumbs in a bucket of ice.

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Who wants it more?!?!

Posted in Athlete Supreme, tagged , , , , on May 7, 2016| 7 Comments »

(John Fisken photos)

L to r, Payton Aparicio, McKenzie Bailey, Tiffany Briscoe, Jordan Ford, Lauren Grove, Wiley Hesselgrave, Lathom Kelly, Kailey Kellner, Mia Littlejohn, Hope Lodell, Katrina McGranahan, Clay Reilly, Sage Renninger, Lindsey Roberts, Lauren Rose, CJ Smith, Hunter Smith, Makana Stone, Valen Trujillo, Julian Welling.

Who’s willing to go a bit crazy, while pounding their fingers into submission for a totally mythical award?

Yep, it’s that time again, when we launch the madness that is the 4th annual Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme.

First I take all the CHS athletes and chop them down into a manageable amount.

In previous years we topped out at 12-16 nomines, but this year we’re making it 20, and no longer trying to hold the number of male and female athletes even.

Not counting track (which is its own weirdly-scored beast) the five varsity CHS girls sports teams won 24 league games this school year, to a combined 18 from the boys five teams.

So, if there are more girls than boys nominated this year (which there are) they earned it.

And yes, as soon as people look at the list, the butt-hurt will begin. As it does every year.

There are some names you would expect to be there which simply are not.

First and foremost, to be eligible you have to had a noticeable impact on at least TWO VARSITY teams in 2015-2016.

There are a lot of very talented Wolves who only played one sport this school year, for whatever reason. Injuries, specialization, what have you.

Whether it’s Abraham Leyva and Kalia Littlejohn in soccer, Dalton Martin and Sylvia Hurlburt in track, Risen Johnson in basketball or countless others, you are noticed, appreciated and honored.

But you’re not eligible for this silly lil’ “award.”

I have to make the first cut somewhere, and the easiest (and I think fairest) way is to limit nominees to those who played multiple sports.

If you can, and do, make the commitment at a small school which desperately needs bodies in every sport, you should get some extra credit.

If and when we have a one-sport athlete who is Olympic or professional level in their field, I’ll reevaluate that stance. Until then, diversification deserves to be noted.

For those who don’t know, the Athlete Supreme is a popularity contest, a Wild West voting war and psychological warfare all wrapped in one.

The previous three winners are:

2013 — Nick Streubel (football, basketball, track)
2014 — Amanda Fabrizi (volleyball, basketball)
2015 — CJ Smith (football, basketball, baseball)

The first year, I limited voters to one vote apiece and there were 433 votes cast.

Year two I started with the one vote rule, then opened up the voting to Wild West rules the last day and we topped 4,820 votes.

Year three it was full-tilt war from the opening bell and CJ emerged after 15,385 votes were cast.

Year four will be the same as year three — no rules.

You can vote as many times as you want, no limits, for 100 hours, from the moment this poll goes live until 3 PM Wednesday.

The only thing that stands between you and a brief moment of internet immortality is the willingness to bang your thumbs into oblivion via your phone or computer.

Your nominees (in alphabetic order):

Payton Aparicio — Among team leaders in 10 of 11 stat categories during volleyball, half of #1 doubles team in tennis.

McKenzie Bailey — Big hitter in volleyball, nearly-undefeated doubles ace in tennis.

Tiffany Briscoe — Starter and big contributor in volleyball, basketball and softball.

Jordan Ford — Key starter in football and basketball, new school record holder in pole vault.

Lauren Grove — Starter in soccer and basketball, member of fastest 4 x 200 girls relay squad in 1A.

Wiley Hesselgrave — All-League selection in football and basketball and led boys hoops team in scoring.

Lathom Kelley — Two-way terror in football and track wunderkind.

Kailey Kellner — Deadly three-ball shooter and co-captain on basketball team that went to state and a starter in softball.

Mia Littlejohn — All-league in soccer, co-captain and point guard for basketball squad.

Hope Lodell — Impact player in volleyball and softball, where she blasted Wolves only true home run this season.

Katrina McGranahan — Key volleyball and softball player, winner of the WIAA Athlete of the Week.

Clay Reilly — Top punter in 1A Olympic League during football, key player on baseball team which won first league title in 25 years.

Sage Renninger — Rock-solid team leader in both soccer and tennis.

Lindsey Roberts — Soccer starter, explosive sixth-man on state basketball squad, one-fourth of possible state title-bound relay squad in track.

Lauren Rose — Superb across the board in volleyball (#1 in five stat categories), basketball and softball.

CJ Smith — Quiet team leader in football and baseball. Staff pitching ace on diamond, tossed shutout in title-clinching game.

Hunter Smith — Shattered school record for interceptions in football, while also starring in basketball and baseball.

Makana Stone — League MVP for second straight year in basketball and selected to All-State game after finishing career with 1,000+ points, 800+ rebounds and 200+ steals. On her way to making fourth straight appearance at state track meet.

Valen Trujillo — Broke school career record for digs during volleyball season, #1 singles player on tennis squad.

Julian Welling — Big hitter in football, rising star on baseball squad.

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