CJ Smith, your 2014-2015 Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme. (John Fisken photos)
Julia Myers, second in the voting but first in the hearts of Judy Nation.
Past winners Nick Streubel and Amanda Fabrizi.
CJ Smith destroys polls.
The Coupeville High School junior — and his fervent fan club — outlasted, outwitted and outvoted the field (again), sweeping to victory in Coupeville Sports 3rd annual battle to be named Athlete Supreme.
Smith, who played football, basketball and baseball for the Wolves in 2014-2015, edged out soccer/basketball star Julia Myers with a strong second-half performance.
With 24 hours left in the 3.5-day voting period, Myers held a razor-thin two-vote advantage, but Smith stormed back to win 4,253-3,514.
Overall, 15,385 votes were cast, with Jacki Ginnings (1,660), Matt Shank (1,066) and Valen Trujillo (940) rounding out the top five.
With the win, Smith joins past winners Nick Streubel (2012-2013) and Amanda Fabrizi (2013-2014) in winning an award that has no real trophy (yet) but gets you about seven seconds of fame.
Now, the only question remaining, can CJ defend his crown as a senior and become the first repeat winner in Athlete Supreme history, or is there a Wolf out there preparing to take him down?
To do so, you’ll need two things — a strong athletic year (you’re more likely to be nominated if you play multiple sports) and a really fast voting finger.
To see the complete results and vote totals for all 16 contestants, pop over to:
Clockwise, from top left, Valen Trujillo, Lauren Rose, Madeline Strasburg, Jacki Ginnings, Kacie Kiel, Julia Myers, Hailey Hammer, Makana Stone.
Clockwise, from top left, Aaron Curtin, Wiley Hesselgrave, CJ Smith, Matt Shank, Josh Bayne, Lathom Kelley, Sebastian Davis, Joel Walstad.
Wild West rules.
That’s what we’re going with as we kick off our 3rd annual Athlete Supreme battle, honoring those who played for Coupeville High School in 2014-2015.
You can vote as many times as your little voting finger can handle. Seriously.
So don’t complain if someone else goes wild.
Either get in there and scrap or take the high road and lose. Up to each of you.
From the moment the poll opens (that’s now) until noon Thursday, it’s open warfare.
Then we’ll declare a victor and someone will get a brief giddy rush of joy in joining former winners Nick Streubel and Amanda Fabrizi in claiming a contest with no real trophy, but some bragging rights.
In the first two years of the contest I went with 12 nominees (six Wolf girls and six boys), but this year I bumped it to 16.
Even so, a lot of very deserving CHS athletes got left off the list, starting with those who only played one sport or were limited by injuries.
But I had to cut somewhere, and even if I chose 61 and not 16, someone would be snubbed.
So remember, it’s a silly contest. But feel free to mentally cuss me out if it makes you feel better.
The nominees (alphabetically):
Josh Bayne — Olympic League MVP in football. All-State pick on both sides of the ball. Star baseball player.
Aaron Curtin — Going to state for second straight year in tennis. Threw a no-hitter in baseball. Star basketball player.
Sebastian Davis — Very strong tennis season. #2 scorer in soccer in his first season in the sport.
Jacki Ginnings — Team leader in soccer. #1 singles player and winner of league tourney in tennis.
Hailey Hammer — Capping 12-letter career (volleyball, basketball, softball) with another strong year. Hit an out-of-the-park grand slam against Klahowya.
Wiley Hesselgrave — All-League in football and basketball. Led basketball team in scoring.
Lathom Kelley — Big hitter/power rusher in football. Team’s fastest (and most versatile) male athlete in track.
Kacie Kiel — Volleyball and basketball star who played every game with a huge smile. Hit an epically clutch three-pointer in wildest game of the season.
Julia Myers — Anchored soccer’s defense in goal, then dropped elbows (and a lot of buckets) for league champs in basketball.
Lauren Rose — Starter at key positions (setter in volleyball, catcher in softball) for two varsity teams — as a freshman. Helped lead JV basketball squad to 9-0 league record.
Matt Shank — Rock-solid football lineman and basketball big man.
CJ Smith — Fast-emerging star in three sports (football, basketball, baseball).
Makana Stone — Olympic League MVP in basketball. Scored 367 points in 22 games (best by a CHS girl since 2003). Busting records every day as she heads towards a third straight trip to state as a track runner.
Madeline Strasburg — Volleyball star, electrifying force of nature on the basketball court.
Valen Trujillo — Queen of the floor burns as a volleyball player, hard-charging singles sensation in tennis.
Joel Walstad — Put up impressive numbers as starting QB in football (and got a college scholarship out of it), team leader in basketball and soccer.
Amanda Fabrizi, the 2013-2014 coupevillesports.com Athlete Supreme. (John Fisken photos)
Fabrizi sits on her throne with an assist from volleyball teammates Megan Oakes (left) and Haley Sherman.
Fabrizi and mom Fawn Gustafson during Senior Night for volleyball.
It was High Noon in Internet City, and Amanda Fabrizi and her fans had the fastest trigger fingers Sunday.
Capping a furious final day of voting, in which all the rules were suspended and voters were allowed to stuff the ballot box for the final 12 hours, Coupeville Sports can now proudly announce the winner of our 2013-2014 Athlete Supreme, and it is Miss Fabrizi.
The recent Wolf grad, who was a standout volleyball player and a deadly scorer for the CHS girls’ basketball squad, came storming out of a second place tie Sunday morning and never looked back.
She roared past fellow Class of 2014 grad Jake Tumblin, who had led since the poll debuted Wednesday, eventually building a margin of more than 500 votes before the gridiron giant staged a late rally.
Fabrizi ultimately claimed a 237-vote win over Tumblin, while CHS junior football/baseball star Josh Bayne jumped from 10th to 3rd over the final hours of the poll.
Defending champ Nick Streubel was a non-factor the second time around, despite being selected as an All-State football player.
One suspects big sis Amanda, who carried him to voting victory last year, was too busy with her own college graduation to spend much time mashing computer keys.
Three nominees in one photo — (l to r) Ben Etzell, Breeanna Messner and Nick Streubel. (Robert Bishop photo)
Julia “Elbows” Myers. (John Fisken photos)
Maddie Big Time.
Let’s get it on.
Coupeville High School has given out its athletic awards, but now comes the one you, the readers, control — the 2nd annual coupevillesports.com Athlete Supreme.
Nick Streubel edged Caleb Valko last year in the inaugural battle for a title that is worth a few bragging points and not much else.
Though, with the way the vote got super-intense at the end last time, you would have thought there was money on the line.
While we still haven’t come up with a trophy yet, this year’s winner will take over the banner photo across the top of this blog for a period of time. So there’s that.
A distinguished panel of judges (me and a plate of chocolate chip cookies…) chose 12 nominees, six girls and six boys.
Some were slam dunks while the battle for the sixth slot on each side was brutal.
After much debate (and some milk to go with the cookies), I decided to NOT nominate any one-sport athletes.
While Abraham Leyva scorched the soccer net and Christine Fields ripped up the golf course, it was hard to ignore those who chose to play two or three sports and excel in them all.
Leyva and Fields had great seasons (so did softball player Madeline Roberts), but the 12 athletes I finally narrowed my list down to had great years. My call, and I’m sticking to it.
But now it’s your call.
The vote ends Sunday, June 8 when I get home from work (so that’s late at night) and I’ll announce the winner first thing Monday morning.
With apologies to McKayla Bailey, Kacie Kiel, Lathom Kelley, Aaron Trumbull and several other almost-nominees (next year can be yours!) here are my 12:
Josh Bayne — Two-way threat in football and a Second-Team All-Conference baseball player.
Aaron Curtin — Went to state in both of his sports, tennis and baseball.
Ben Etzell — First CHS player ever picked as an MVP in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference, honored for a baseball season in which he threw a no-hitter in one game, struck out 15 in another and tossed 143 pitches in a third. Went to state in baseball and as Curtin’s doubles partner.
Amanda Fabrizi — Standout volleyball and basketball player who became a big-time scorer on the hardwood during her senior season.
Hailey Hammer — Has been so consistent for so long, this three-sport star (volleyball, basketball, softball) sometimes gets overlooked. Shouldn’t.
Wiley Hesselgrave — Huge hitter on the gridiron and a rampaging force of nature on the basketball court.
Breeanna Messner — Miss Consistency. Four-sport star (volleyball, cheer, basketball, softball) who led CHS softball to state for the first time in 12 seasons.
Julia Myers — MVP of soccer squad after returning from an injury that cost her a season, then emulated Dennis Rodman on the basketball court, where she was a defensive beast.
Makana Stone — Smooth soccer player, high-flying, high-scoring basketball whiz and a record-bustin’ track phenom who is on her way to rewriting the CHS record book. Placed second in the 400 at the state track meet.
Madeline Strasburg — AKA Maddie Big Time. Big hitter in volleyball who made her name by nailing mirror image half-court three-point bombs from the left side at the third-quarter buzzer in back-to-back basketball games. Then crushed home runs at home and away to help propel softball to state.
Nick Streubel — All-State lineman in football, he signed a scholarship with Central Washington. Went on to be one of the leading scorers on the boys’ hoops team and the Wolves’ top thrower during track season.
Jake Tumblin — Rushed for 1,000+ yards while limited by injuries as a two-way football threat, then anchored baseball with his speed at the plate and his game-calling as the team’s catcher.
Coupeville Sports 