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Posts Tagged ‘CHS Wolves’

Mallory Kortuem (John Fisken photos)

   Frosh Mallory Kortuem becomes the latest in a long line of Wolf athletic stars to spring from her family. (John Fisken photos)

Mia Littlejohn

Mia Littlejohn hits second gear and shreds the turf.

Anna Dion

Anna Dion shadows an Oak Harbor player during the night’s second game.

trio

   Wolf volleyball players (l to r) Payton Aparicio, Lauren Rose and Ally Roberts enjoy their night outside the gym.

Ema Smith

No soccer balls allowed! CHS goalie Ema Smith keeps her net neat and tidy.

Sage Renninger

Sage Renninger (back) moves in to steal the ball away from a hands-on Falcon.

team

   With a number of players still needing to get their practices in, Thursday’s jamboree featured a partial Wolf team.

Mckenzie Meyer

Mckenzie Meyer finds ways to amuse herself while hanging out in the bleachers.

Fall sports is on the stage.

The start of school is still several days away, but Coupeville High School cracked the seal on the 2016-2017 sports year Thursday, sending its girls’ soccer squad to Oak Harbor for a four-team jamboree.

While there the Wolves beat 1A rival South Whidbey 1-0 and fell 3-0 to their 3A Wildcat hosts. Lake Stevens rounded out the quartet.

Poppin’ over from his Oak Harbor abode, wanderin’ paparazzi John Fisken snapped the pics seen above.

To view more of his work (a percentage of each purchase helps fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes) pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/GS-20160901-Coupeville-vs-Sout/

To also see Oak Harbor, Lake Stevens and South Whidbey in action, try:

http://www.cascadeathletics.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=11766&league=2&page_name=photo_store&pid=0.3.17.0.206&school=17&sport=0

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Coupeville running legend Abby Parker (left) imparts wisdom to her young prodigy. (Kathy O'Brien photo)

   Coupeville running Jedi Abby Parker (left) teaches her moves to her young padawan. (Kathy O’Brien photo)

Parker

   Parker, who runs faster when her shoelaces are untied, works on hand-offs with CHS relay mate Mckenzie Meyer. (John Fisken photos)

Parker

Imparting joy to the universe (and volleyball teammate Kayla Rose).

Joy, above all.

Abby Parker is the real deal — a smart, strong young woman already super successful at 17, and headed to unimaginable achievements.

But the first thing you notice about the Coupeville High School junior, before you see her determination, her commitment, her grit, her spine of steel, is how she interacts with others.

With her teammates, her friends, her family or with random people she passes while she’s busy doing the million-and-a-half things she seems to accomplish every day.

And what you see, every time, is the joy she brings to this world, and others in it.

It’s not just mere happiness, though she pretty much always seems happy, but something far deeper.

Abby seems to approach every challenge, every obstacle, with a can-do attitude, and the joy she exhibits is truly infectious.

Running, which seems to have become her sport of choice (she’s also skilled in volleyball, basketball and probably any activity you might pick), is not for the faint of heart.

It can rip your body up, tear away at your legs, your muscles, your psyche.

It can deliver huge highs and huge lows, and it takes a special kind of person to embrace it the way Parker does.

Look at the photos of her in action during track season or at one of the many real-world running events she haunts on a regular basis, and you’ll see both sides.

I’ve seen photos of Abby leaving her soul on the oval, trying to trim one more second, lean just a bit harder, reach for a PR at any cost.

In those photos, her face shows the strain, but also (and this is bigger) her willpower. She does not back down, ever.

In other photos, you see the joy she gets from competing, whether she’s flying down a track or splashing through bubbles or clouds of paint.

And we’re right back to joy, which is never far away when Parker is nearby.

As she celebrates her birthday today and prepares to head into another school year, let’s wish her all the best.

Because that’s what she is — one of the best.

Abby, you are a sparkling ray of sunshine, and Coupeville would not be the same without you.

Happy birthday, Miss Parker, and may you always get back just as much joy as you give to the world.

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Sophomore Ema Smith made her debut in goal Thursday and was highly-praised by her coach afterwards. (John Fisken photos)

   Sophomore Ema Smith made her debut in goal Thursday and was highly-praised by her coach afterwards. (John Fisken photos)

Sisters Mia (left) and Kalia Littlejohn bond before kickin' fanny and taking names on the pitch.

   Sisters Mia (left) and Kalia Littlejohn bond before kickin’ fanny and taking names on the pitch.

They kicked things off with a bang.

Ushering in the 2016-2017 prep sports year, the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer team went into jamboree play Thursday with a thin roster, yet emerged happy with the results.

Despite only having 11 eligible players (four of them freshmen) as everyone scrambles to get enough practices in, the Wolves beat arch-rival South Whidbey and held their own for much of the game with host Oak Harbor.

Sparring with the Falcons, who they will meet in the regular season opener (Sept. 8 in Coupeville), the CHS booters pulled off a dazzling goal en route to a 1-0 win.

Junior captain Sage Renninger crushed the ball which deflated the heart of South Whidbey’s defense, but the play was first set-up by a wild back-and-forth passing effort.

Lindsey Roberts dropped a dead-eye pass to Kalia Littlejohn, who worked a give-and-go with freshman Avalon Renninger.

With the ball back on her foot, Littlejohn, “who impressed the whole crowd with some unbelievable ball skills that would have made David Copperfield blush!!” according to coach Troy Cowan, set up Renninger.

“Sage drove a ball that never hit the ground into the back of the net like a Scud missile!!!,” wailed the happily-hyperventilating coach.

Facing off with Oak Harbor, a much-bigger 3A squad, the scrappy 1A Wolves mixed their lineup around and got valuable pitch time for their younger players.

While Coupeville fell 3-0, it showed off “an awesome display of perseverance and never die soccer.”

Cowan hailed the play of veteran Mia Littlejohn, who “consistently made runs and initiated our counterattacks” and fleet-footed frosh Mallory Kortuem, who sizzled in her high school debut.

Capping the night was the performance of sophomore Ema Smith in goal.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t say our jamboree MVP would be Ema,” Cowan said. “This courageous young lady donned the goalie jersey for the very first time in her young career and with really one day to practice!!!

“Well done Ema, you did a terrific job!”

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Risen Johnson, floatin' like a butterfly, stingin' like a bee. (John Fisken photo)

Risen Johnson, floatin’ like a butterfly, stingin’ like a bee. (John Fisken photo)

So, you find yourself here, on a Thursday afternoon, desperately looking for a way to make it through the day.

As long as your job doesn’t prevent you from accessing YouTube (mine doesn’t, but Coupeville Sports World Headquarters is my house…), I have a quick answer.

Go spend the next seven minutes and 18 seconds basking in some of the best plays thrown down last season by Risen Johnson.

The electrifying one, who graduated this spring from CHS, gave us two years of basketball good times, and enough spectacular moments to fuel a highlight reel.

Obviously.

One of the classiest guys I’ve covered, and one of the most entertaining to watch, Risen was a thriller and a killer.

He’ll be missed, but we’ll have the memories, and now, thanks to Trent Diamanti, a reel of Risen slicin’ ‘n dicin’ which will live on the internet for all eternity.

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The Coupeville Booster Club -- doing solid business since back in the days when Ron Bagby was still rockin' the short shorts. (Photo courtesy Scott Losey)

   The Coupeville Booster Club — doing solid business since back in the days when Ron Bagby was still rockin’ the short shorts. (Photo courtesy Scott Losey)

You can change the world.

Yes, you, the one sitting there eating crackers in your pajamas while reading this.

With a new school sports year officially starting tonight, as the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer squad plays in a jamboree up Oak Harbor way (6 PM at Wildcat Stadium), now is the time for everyone to answer the call of their nation.

And by that, I mean Wolf Nation.

The power behind the throne — the Coupeville Booster Club — is putting out a call for new members, and it’s like they’ve sent you an engraved invitation.

Want to help guide the athletic future of the Wolves?

Be creative? Industrious? Packed with enough spirit that you elevate a couple of inches off the ground when you walk?

Or just want to write a check and sit back in your easy chair, content to eat crackers again, knowing you’ve done your bit?

Either way, this is most certainly for you.

The Booster Club, which is essentially a rollicking lil’ club of like-minded folks who band together to keep Coupeville athletics rolling, is absolutely essential.

From funding scholarships to buying varsity letters to providing snacks for teams stuck on long bus and ferry trips to clothing Wolf coaches in snazzy polo shirts, they are the people who make the magic happen.

In my own case, they were invaluable, both with a financial donation and extensive behind the scenes support, when I was working on my year-long project to install a Wall of Fame in the CHS gym.

Without their help and support, and their ability to calm me down whenever I started ranting about how we should get AC/DC to play the unveiling ceremony (while strobe lights and a fog machine waged war in the gym), the project would have veered off the road about 2,419 times.

But now, you’re asking yourself, why me?

Because every fan, whether you’re a Wolf parent or not, has valuable opinions and can bring a different perspective to the club.

New ideas, new energy, is what keeps the Booster Club hoppin’ as it keeps up with an ever-changing athletic world.

Join and you get access to the inner circle, a feeling of accomplishment and pride, a chance to make Coupeville athletics shine even brighter in the days to come, maybe even a pat on the head.

And candy.

Cause there’s usually candy at the club meetings. Just saying.

Whether you want to rise in the ranks to being one of those who guide the day-to-day business or you’re content to be the wind beneath their wings while staying in the background, now is the time.

How do you join? So, so easy. Thanks for asking.

There are four membership levels:

$25 makes you a Wolf backer.

$50 buys you an individual membership.

$75 nets you a family membership.

$125 gets you a business membership (with Wolf flag included).

PS — The secret fifth membership, known informally as the “Bill Gates level,” is if you step in and personally finance an entirely new football field or gym on your own.

Do that and the community gives you a parade and carries you through town on its shoulders, shouting your name as roses and chocolate rain down from the skies above for hours on end.

Could happen. You never know.

To join the Booster Club, there’s a couple of quick and easy options.

You could mail a check (written to “Coupeville Booster Club”) to P.O. Box 452, Coupeville, WA 98239, pop over to the Club’s Facebook page (see below) and use a credit card or swing by the club’s booth at Wolf games.

If you are Bill Gates, though, maybe use option three.

Don’t want to lose any million-dollar-plus checks in the mail now, do we?

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coupeville-Booster-Club/83614917107

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