Mindy (Horr) Sorenson and Taniel (Lamb) Proctor, back in the day.
Former CHS coach Phyllis Textor (top, blue shirt) and fellow inductees (l to r) Danny Savalza (Bow Down hat), Julia Sierra Castano, Ian Barron and Nick Streubel.
Best class … ever?
Each time I say it, I kind of think it’s true and then I go and put another class together, sit back and say, “Wow, this is the one!”
So, whether the seventh class inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame is the best-ever or not (I’m leaning towards yes…), it is star-studded and memory-making.
The rushing king, a duo who made Coupeville’s biggest-ever splash at the state tennis tourney, another netter who went an entire regular season without dropping a set, and that’s just the start.
Without further ado, we welcome Ian Barron, Mindy (Horr) Sorenson, Taniel (Lamb) Proctor, Julia Sierra Castaño, Phyllis Textor, Danny Savalza and Nick Streubel to the Hall.
In the future, look at the Legends tab atop this blog and that’s where you’ll find them.
To get the crowd going, we open with Savalza, a CHS football/soccer player who is being inducted as a contributor.
While he played his tail off on the field for the Wolves, it was when he wasn’t playing that Danny made his biggest impact.
Donning a thrift store-bought dress and a “Bow Down” hat, he revved school spirit to an all-time high and made the student section bounce to his merry tune.
Never afraid to take the show on the road, outshouting South Whidbey in their own gym, Savalza was a master show man and, as he enters the Hall, we all bow down to his one-of-a-kind spirit and skills.
Joining him is Streubel, AKA The Big Hurt, a three-sport star who, for the moment at least, is being inducted for pulling off a truly memorable play.
It came at the end of a ferocious season-ending battle at Chimacum in a game played on a mud bog of a field that reeked all night like cow manure.
Late in the game, the Wolves were planning on running an offensive play for a lineman, and with senior captain Caleb Valko suddenly sidelined by a jerk of a ref, the ball went to Streubel.
Listed on the roster at six-foot-three and 300 pounds, The Big Hurt carried seven screaming Cowboys on his back as he barreled head-first into a sideline mud puddle that resembled a sink hole.
In the end, it was the mud, and not the tacklers, that finally brought him down, and, when Streubel finally re-emerged, he was covered helmet-to-cleats in muck.
Then he turned towards the sidelines, caught Valko’s eye and silently raised a thumb in salute to his line-mate.
Capping the play?
Coupeville had to run to catch the ferry, so the players didn’t have time to shower, and Streubel chased coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh all the way down the dock, begging for a hug. Several years later, Coach V is still running…
Our third inductee never stopped running, and now, finally, may be getting some long-overdue recognition for his achievements.
When his former teammates describe Barron’s playing style on the football field, they say things like “He was unstoppable. The other teams didn’t want to try and tackle him. They were scared he was going to hurt them.”
Over four years, he rushed for 4,713 yards, more than twice as many yards as any other Wolf running back ever. That he did that while only playing three games as a junior (he broke his foot) is amazing.
Just as eye-popping was Sierra Castaño’s run in 2010 after joining the CHS girls’ tennis squad as a foreign exchange student.
Not only did she go undefeated while playing #1 singles during the regular season, she didn’t drop a set.
Her first loss didn’t come until sub-districts, and she made it through three matches at the state tourney, only being derailed by private school players.
But, maybe even better was the way she embraced her short-time teammates.
A lot of dominant tennis players do what they do, then depart. Not Julia, who stayed until the end of every team match, cheering for the last girl on the roster as they finished their JV contests.
She was class personified, on and off the court, and it is a genuine pleasure to once again hail the Hard Court Assassin of Oviedo.
Our fifth inductee was one of the first coaches I worked with back in my Whidbey News-Times Sports Editor days, a woman who made a huge impact on generations of Wolf athletes and students.
During her run at CHS (1980-2005), Textor did just about everything, from coaching to teaching to being an Athletic Director to being first a vice principal then principal.
She wasn’t showy, never looking for the spotlight, but she was a rock.
Coupeville’s loss became Sehome’s gain, and she has spent the past decade there as a principal, recently announcing that her 35th year in education would be her final one.
I am sure they will honor her this year, but we’re going to get the jump on them. She was Coupeville’s first, and she’ll always have a spot in our hearts.
And then we come to our final inductees, and a twist.
Mindy and Taniel would both make the Hall as individuals, as the duo were superb multi-sport athletes, great leaders, and truly wonderful people. Both had, and still have, a glow that exudes from their inner souls that is breath-taking.
But, instead of breaking them up, we’re going to induct them as a pair, a tribute to 2005, when the dazzling duo came within a set of winning a state tennis title.
CHS has a string of state champions in track, and two in cross country, but jump away from running and the closest any Wolf has come to being a champ came when Sorenson and Proctor faced off with Aimee Silver and Erica Lawrence of Bush for the 1A doubles crown.
The Wolves took the first set 7-5, before the Bush duo rebounded to snatch 6-2 and 6-3 sets for the win.
It was an admirable battle against a juggernaut — Silver and Lawrence captured a second-straight title the next year, before Lawrence added a third title in 2007 with a new partner — and stands as one of the defining moments in Wolf sports history.
In the decade since, Mindy and Taniel have both gotten married and spread joy through the world. Their post-high school accomplishments are staggering, but hardly unexpected.
They have been winners, together and apart, two of the finest this town has ever produced.
