The woman. The myth. The always-smiling legend. Kacie Kiel.
Hall o’ Fame inductees (clockwise from left) Kim Andrews, Jodi (Christensen) Crimmins, Virgil Roehl, Amanda (Streubel) Jones and Casey Larson.
Passion.
A simple word that means so much, seven letters that unite the members of the fifth class to be inducted into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
There have been athletes with more talent, perhaps. Who have bigger trophies, perhaps.
But, if you measure them by the size of their hearts, few can match up to today’s honorees — Jodi (Christensen) Crimmins, Virgil Roehl, Casey Larson, Amanda (Streubel) Jones, Kacie Kiel and Kim Andrews.
First up is the one who is rolling her eyes super-hard at me right now, the one-time power behind the throne, the “retired”-but-never-forgotten Mrs. Andrews.
A sports scheduler extraordinaire, Kim is being honored as a contributor for two reasons.
One, she was the person who kept CHS sports events clicking along with crack precision during her time in the athletic office.
But, maybe more importantly, she is the person most responsible for making me stop and look at the direction I was headed in the early days of Coupeville Sports.
With a few subtle words, she made me reconsider my early love of attacking other schools, such as South Whidbey, and nudged me in the direction of reaching out and being far more inclusive.
Without beating me with a stick — though she probably considered it at times — Kim convinced me I’d get a bigger readership by being a uniter and not a divider.
And you know what? As always, she was right.
Our second honoree, Amanda Streubel, was a standout student, a devoted big sister to The Big Hurt (Wolf football man mountain Nick Streubel) and a stellar cheerleader.
But she goes in to the hall in a way no other CHS athlete may ever repeat — as a swimmer.
We don’t have a pool in Cow Town (well, at least not at the high school), but, for a few years, the Wolves were allowed to swim with Oak Harbor.
During that time, Streubel, though only a sophomore, went to state in the 100 backstroke at the state’s highest level, class 4A.
It was an impressive achievement, not equaled before or after by a Wolf swimmer. For that, and for the grace she showed under fire, Amanda splashes into the Hall.
Up third is Casey Larson, a multi-sport athlete who goes in for football.
He was nominated by current CHS assistant football coach Ryan King, who played under Friday Night lights with Casey.
King’s thoughts on his former teammate:
Casey and I graduated together in 2007 and I played football with him for three years and man, you talk about one of the toughest players to wear a Wolves jersey, it had to be Casey.
He was a big part of our success in our last two years making the playoffs. He was our (Josh) Bayne and (Jake) Tumblin. Granted, probably not as fast, but that boy was tough.
He was an all-around running back (though he played fullback) and he was a great outside linebacker.
He was the definition of iron man football; there were a few games Casey wouldn’t leave the field.
He never quit on us.
He was a captain with me our senior year; he, like me, cared a lot about our team and he was a very inspirational leader and a very vocal leader.
Our next two athletes, Virgil and Jodi, impressed me greatly during my early days as a Sports Editor at the Whidbey News-Times.
Roehl played his heart out in every sport, but his greatest accomplishment came during his hardest season.
With a coaching change setting the table, the Wolf boys’ basketball team lost any potential senior leadership prior to his freshman season.
A painfully young, inexperienced team got thrown on the floor that year, and they endured some horrifying beatings en route to an 0-20 season.
Roehl, though, never backed down.
He battled, he fought, he took the brunt of the abuse from rival teams and never wavered. And, slowly, that team jelled around him and when they won the next year, it made for a beautiful moment.
Coupeville went uphill each year after that 0-20 mark, and Roehl grew as a leader each season. But, for me, his grit and commitment under duress had already marked him as a winner.
Jodi is a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
Off the basketball court, she is, arguably, the single nicest person I have ever met in my life. As wonderful a human as you will ever meet, full of joy and life and sunshine exploding out of every dimple.
On the court, though, she was a beast unleashed. And it was freakin’ beautiful.
Every loose ball was hers. Every rebound belonged to her.
Get in her way and she would rip your head off (even if you were her teammate and best friend), elbows flying like razor-tipped daggers as she cleared a carnage-riddled path.
If every Wolf played like Jodi, the banners on the gym wall would never end.
Of course, the early ’90s were a different time, when refs let players play and swallowed their whistles a lot more. In today’s ultra-sensitive era, she would probably foul out in the first minute of the game.
But dang, it would be a one heck of a first minute!
And then we arrive at our final honoree, our headliner, a young woman whose CHS career ended just a heart-beat ago.
There may be some who will say it is too early to honor Kacie. To them I say, with great sincerity, blow it out your pie hole.
Miss Kiel was a talented volleyball and basketball player, and she never shied away from the big moment.
Her three-point bomb at the buzzer to cap a comeback for the ages against Sequim during her senior hoops season will live in our memory banks for a very long time.
But she goes in on this day because I can honestly say I don’t think I have ever seen a player enjoy themselves more than Kacie did.
She loved, loved, LOVED to have her picture taken with her teammates before games, but, if you look at the shots taken DURING those games, that’s where you’ll see what I mean.
In the toughest moments, under the most pressure, when those around her threatened to crack, every picture of Kiel in action shows the same thing — an epic, radiant, quietly confident grin.
The joy of competing, the joy of being out there with her sisters, the joy of being tough, of being strong, of being proud of all she and her friends accomplished, the joy of seizing every moment, floods those photos.
When her time as a Wolf was done, Kacie cried.
But they weren’t tears of regret, but of joy, shed by an incredibly brilliant young woman who will look back on her time in the red and black with a huge smile.
Almost as big of a smile as the rest of us had watching her play.
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