Carly Guillory (left) is joined by Drew Chan (top) and Heni Barnes.
Underrated.
The three athletes who comprise the 85th class inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame may not have always gotten the headlines that some of their teammates did, but they were invaluable to what their teams accomplished.
Carly Guillory, Drew Chan and Heni Barnes all left sizable marks during their time at CHS, and all will be remembered for the way they attacked each new day.
So, let’s swing open the doors and welcome them to our little digital world of fame and glory.
After this, you’ll find the trio under the Legends tab at the top of the blog.
Our first inductee, Barnes, was the best female thrower the Wolf track team had during her time in red and black, regularly lofting the shot put, discus and javelin.
She went to districts in two of her three events, but, truth be told, Heni will most be remembered for having the biggest brain this side of some guy named Albert Einstein.
Barnes did everything in her time at CHS — Jazz Band, ASB president, Science Olympiad, National Honor Society, student rep to the School Board, National Humanities Scholar, and that’s just the start — but National History Day was her peak.
She won a gold medal and pocketed $5,000 from the History Channel for her work in crafting the documentary “Striking a Turning Point: The 1917 Pacific Northwest Lumber Strike.”
It stands as one of the great achievements by a Cow Town student, and is the primary driving force behind today’s induction of Heni into the Hall o’ Fame.
A true scholar/athlete, she remains one of the brightest stars to ever blaze across our prairie skies.
Joining her is Guillory, a 2003 CHS grad who spent much of her career traveling to state tournaments.
Playing during the most successful run Wolf athletes have ever had, she didn’t get as much notice as teammates like Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby or Sarah Mouw, but her achievements were invaluable.
On the basketball court, she was a fiend on the boards (who could also drop buckets when gunners like Brianne King needed backup), while on the softball diamond, Guillory cranked out more than her fair share of RBIs.
Carly is actually already in the Hall, as a member of the 2002 CHS softball team, which won four of five (losing a nail-biter to eventual champ Adna) to finish 3rd at state.
In the program’s FIRST year as a fast-pitch program, I might add.
Today, Guillory gets the full treatment, honored for her hustle, worth ethic and willingness to sacrifice for her teammates.
And PS, before anyone mentions it — yes, I’m pretty sure Carly also played volleyball for the Wolves, which would mean she went to state in three different sports.
But I was deep in video store life during her prep days and I can’t find any Whidbey News-Times articles online to prove my hazy memory is true.
First person to tell me I’m right gets a special No Prize … prize.
Our final inductee, Chan, was the absolute embodiment of grit and determination.
A team captain for both baseball and basketball, he, like Barnes, had a ton of academic pursuits going while in school, but what I will most remember him for is one night on the hard-court.
It was opening night, big, bad Blaine was in town and all but one CHS hoops player (the only one to not eat a hamburger during a team outing) was raging sick.
Chan spent the entire JV game lying motionless and green next to the bench, seemingly dead, while all around him the gym was alive with the sound of retching.
Yet, somehow, when it was time for the varsity to take the floor, with all six players who could halfway stand, there was Chan, front and center, refusing to take the night off.
Blaine had a bench of approximately 237 players, and ran them in platoon-style, while Coupeville’s guys took turns coming off and barfing while the other five Wolves flopped around like extras on The Walking Dead.
It remains one of the most memorable evenings I’ve witnessed in the CHS gym (the smell will never leave my nostrils), and not in a good way.
Except I give Chan tremendous credit.
Not just for playing, but for hauling tail down the court every play, even when the game was way out of hand, refusing to back down for any reason.
That was Drew, on the hard-court, on the diamond — where he had a slick glove at second base and an aggressive swing at the plate — and in real life.
Like Barnes and Guillory, Chan was, and is, a gamer, a proud Wolf to his core, and now, a Hall o’ Famer.
UPDATE: Yes, Carly played volleyball. My memory is better than I thought. Her entry under the Legends tab has been updated.
