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CHS athletes return to (limited) action

Posted in coronavirus updates, Everything changes, tagged CHS Wolves, Island County Health Department, spring practice, WIAA, Willie Smith on June 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

After extensive planning, CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith has set up a plan for Wolf athletes to conduct spring practices. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Practice?

We’re talking about practice.

With the stay at home order lifted and Island County in Phase Two of Washington state’s plan for reopening during the COVID-19 pandemic, Coupeville High School athletes will return to action.

Just with a lot of restrictions and no games.

CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith has been a busy man of late, combing through the various guidelines set down by Governor Jay Inslee and his staff, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, and the National Federation of State High School Associations.

After taking everything into consideration, Smith has established a plan for spring practices, and cleared that plan with the Island County Health Department.

Now, CHS coaches will contact their athletes to set up practice times and sites, and the information will be posted on the school’s website.

What we know:

*No practices/workouts are allowed on Coupeville School District property through June 19, since all state schools remain closed through the end of the school year.

*Coaches are allowed to work with no more than five students per week, and it must be the same students the entire week, with no swapping of coaches or students.

Students/coaches can rotate once a new week starts, but that new group must remain consistent for the remainder of the new week.

*Students may only practice with one sport per week.

*Only five students are allowed on site at one time. Coaches can not have different groups of students gathered at the same facility at the same time.

*For sports such as basketball, each student will have their own ball to use, and there will be no sharing of balls.

*Students may not share water bottles, clothing, shoes, or similar items, and social distancing rules need to be followed.

*CHS will require a signed note from a parent/guardian each day a student is practicing, stating that their child’s temperature has been checked that morning and it is normal.

These notes have to be kept in a folder and with the coach at all times.

If a student does not have a signed note they may not participate that day.

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“Classy, pure and simple”

Posted in Girls Tennis, tagged Avalon Renninger, CHS Wolves, girls tennis, Senior Night, Tia Wurzrainer on June 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

This spring was to be the 30th season for Coupeville High School tennis coach Ken Stange. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic closed schools, erased spring sports, and prevented Senior Nights.

With that in mind, we’ve been giving Whidbey Island students and coaches a chance to offer those farewells online instead of in person.

Today, Coupeville High School girls tennis guru Ken Stange swings by to offer some heartfelt words.

In tennis, and in life, there are times when one just knows … knows how things are going to turn out.

Certainty. Well, almost certainty.

After 15 years at the helm of the CHS tennis program (that’s 30 seasons, if you count both the boys and girls), I’ve gotten to the point where I know if someone, or a doubles pair, is a serious threat to earn a state berth.

I knew it with Julia Sierra Castano, the Spanish Assassin.

I knew it with Aaron Curtin and Ben Etzell, and again when Aaron went to state in singles.

I knew it with Payton Aparicio and Sage Renninger.

Like I said, sometimes you just know.

Some seasons, you know it’s a rebuild. Other seasons, you know there’s a deep but inexperienced team.

This year? I knew.

I knew that we had a group of new players that would learn the game from their captains, Avalon (Renninger) and Tia (Wurzrainer).

I knew we were returning all three of our doubles teams.

Jaimee (Masters), Emily (Fiedler), Eryn (Wood), and Abby (Mulholland) were primed to win buckets of matches.

I knew that all three doubles teams were pretty damn good last season, and that this season, our team would challenge for a league title.

I knew we would have competitive matches with our Island rivals, South Whidbey.

I knew that we had a doubles team, in Avalon and Tia, that would challenge for an elusive state berth.

Avalon Renninger swats a lethal left-handed shot.

This was to be our team’s return to the top.

We were going to do it with hard work and style.

It was the 2020 season, and our team was going to be the focus.

Alas, bigger problems took center stage, and our season was over almost as fast as it started.

I know that public health wins over tennis, every time, and I know that we all made our sacrifices, for the greater good.

That said, I’m still mad as hell. I’m very sad, too.

I feel badly for the ladies that were gearing up for a fun and successful season.

I feel bad for the parents, who love to come out in support of their kids, school, and community.

There are two individuals who, in my opinion, lost a little more than everyone else associated with the program.

Avalon and Tia were the heart and soul of CHS tennis.

Tia Wurzrainer keeps the rally alive.

They were two talented and caring players who continued the proud tradition of the CHS ladies’ tennis team.

They worked their butts off.

As sophomores, they were within a couple of points from clinching a state berth.

As juniors, they ran into a few buzzsaws from Seattle, prematurely ending their season.

Going into the senior campaign, they got to work.

My spine was recovered enough so I could actually hit hard balls at them, and they had Drake Borden, who was basically their personal hitting partner.

With the help from Drake and I, along with Av and Tia’s high levels of talent and work ethic, we are well on our way to a successful season.

I just knew.

Knowing that a potentially successful campaign, and a run to state for Avalon and Tia, has been lost, I’m very sad.

I love it when we have a dominant team. It’s always more fun when winning!

What hurts most about the lost season is not that we lost a chance to be dominant.

What hurts most is that my seniors, Avalon and Tia, were two of the classiest players ever to grace the courts at CHS.

They were fierce competitors and best of friends.

They mentored other players and kept their teammates accountable. They were serious about tennis while maintaining a lighthearted attitude.

Classy, pure and simple.

I’d hoped that they would place themselves at or near the top of my all-time best doubles teams, with a solid senior season and a state berth.

They are still at or near the top of my list, though.

As a pair, they were a force to be reckoned with.

As individuals, they were two of my absolute favorites who led their team with grace, class, and fun.

Tia … calm, cool, and collected.

She would probably argue with me, but I think Tia is perfect.

Kind, intelligent, intuitive, and hard working. I don’t think I ever heard a single negative word pass through her lips.

Her work ethic was second to none. Anyone would be happy to have her as a partner, me included.

Avalon … she holds a special place in my heart because she wears her heart on her sleeve. I can relate to that.

It’s completely honest.

She’s cried, she’s celebrated, and she’s worked her tail off to always improve.

Together, they made a lethal doubles combo.

Each knew how to handle the other. They had a fantastic yin and yang.

Av and Tia grew up with my daughter, Oliana. I’ve known them since they were tots.

Watching them grow and evolve from tots to adults has been a treat.

Having them as part of the tennis program has been an honor.

The competition, the conversations, the post-match meals, the road trips…all made better because of Av and Tia.

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Get handles like Hawk

Posted in Basketball, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, dribbling, Hawthorne Wolfe, videos on June 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Hawthorne Wolfe soars in for another bucket. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The court calls you.

The Coupeville Youth Basketball dribbling challenge returns for week five, with four drills intended to make your crossover the snappiest in town.

Hoops phenom and international man of mystery Hawthorne Wolfe is your guide this time out.

Follow along with the action, work on your skills, and post your own response videos on social media.

Skills 13-14:

Skills 15-16:

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Aaron Trumbull, always a stand-up guy

Posted in A freakin' American hero, tagged Aaron Trumbull, baseball, Basketball, Central Kitsap, CHS Wolves, firefighter on May 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville grad Aaron Trumbull is now a fully-pinned member of Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

Trumbull and fiancée Hannah Gluth.

Different uniform, same strong commitment to those around him.

Coupeville grad Aaron Trumbull, who was one of the best to ever pull on a Wolf uniform, never left his teammates high and dry in the many years I watched him play baseball and basketball.

He had talent and drive, but it was the way he always backed up those around him, which impressed me most as he put together a prep career which eventually landed him in the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

A key member of the 2010 Central Whidbey Little League Juniors baseball squad which shocked the hardball world by beating the big city boys to win a state title, Trumbull showed grace and maturity beyond his years.

That came to the forefront one afternoon years later, when he was an established star for Willie Smith’s CHS baseball squad.

That season, the Wolf JV didn’t have enough players to fill out a full nine-man roster, so every game a varsity guy would swing down to fill out the lineup.

Trumbull, a top pitcher and first-baseman, had already done his duty a few days before, and this game, there was a different varsity player scheduled to make the trip to the diamond.

Except, said player threw a public hissy fit about the “demotion.”

There was a brief pause, as Smith’s ears began to turn bright red. A righteous explosion was a’comin’, and I was riveted.

But then, without a word, Trumbull jumped off the bench, snatched the ball away from the whiner, motioned to the JV players to follow him, and headed out to make sure his younger teammates would play.

Even if he never hit a jump shot (and he hit a lot of them), even if he never knocked in the state title winning run (which he did), that day Aaron, with no fanfare, showed why he will always be remembered fondly by teammates, coaches, and fans.

He’s just a stand-up guy.

And now Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue gets to have Trumbull on its team, after the former Wolf made the jump Friday from probationary to being a fully-pinned firefighter.

Central Kitsap just hit a homerun.

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Don’t stop me now (from showing you photos)

Posted in 2018: Looking Back, tagged 2018, CHS Wolves, gold jerry gold, John Fisken photos, Sean Toomey-Stout, Sofia Hassapis on May 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »

It’s a battle for rebounding position and international dominance, as Finland’s Vilma Jurma (15) battles with Coupeville’s Spanish superstar, Julia García Oñoro. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Rollin’ through the pictures in my mind.

With the ongoing pandemic shutdown slowing down sports across the world, it’s provided time to go back and look at the many photos to grace the pages of Coupeville Sports.

We’ve been winding our way up from 2012, the year the blog popped into the world, and today we arrive in 2018.

Are these 20 pics the best that were shot that year?

Maybe.

At the very least, they’re the ones which jump out at me today.

Tomorrow might be a different story. Never know.