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Posts Tagged ‘Dane Lucero’

Two stars, one happy union

Posted in Wedding of the Century, tagged , , , , on May 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Hope Lodell and Dane Lucero 

Two empires have united in our latest Wolf Nation wedding of the century.

This past Sunday, a day after dad Aaron finished coaching the Coupeville High School softball team at the state tourney, Dane Lucero exchanged vows with fellow Wolf grad Hope Lodell.

The duo, who started dating in 2017, have been off-Island in St. Louis the last two years but are now back full-time in Cow Town.

Lodell, a 2018 Coupeville grad, was an Olympic League MVP as a volleyball spiker, and an All-League centerfielder during her softball days.

Plus, she could do a handstand at like three days old and often amused herself by doing pullups on the overhang on the CHS softball dugout.

One of a handful of Wolf athletic greats who I’ve actually known since the day they were born, Hope is a bright, shining supernova of awesomeness.

And her new husband, a 2019 CHS grad, is a pretty good dude, as well.

After arriving from Missouri, he played football, basketball, and baseball for the Wolves and was greatly appreciated by his coaches.

A rock-solid team player who excelled in whatever role he was asked to fill, Dane set a great example for the pack of Lucero sisters who have followed in his footsteps.

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CHS athletes to be appreciated, fed

Posted in awards, tagged , , , , on May 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville basketball guru Kassie O’Neil teaches God’s favorite sport on the same floor where she once played. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

You had me at pizza and cake.

The booster club is holding an athlete appreciation dinner Thursday for Coupeville High School athletes.

Things go down starting at 6:00 PM in the school’s commons, with cake, pizza, games, and gifts on the menu.

Any CHS student who played a sport during the 2022-2023 school year — be it fall, winter, or spring — is invited.

In addition to the free food and gifts, there will be two guest speakers with strong Wolf ties.

Dane Lucero played football, basketball, and baseball for Coupeville, and just graduated from Washington State University.

Kassie O’Neil, currently the JV girls’ basketball coach at CHS, is among the most cold-blooded hoops killers in school history.

She repeatedly made King’s basketball fans cry expensive tears back in the day when she routinely drilled buzzer-beaters against the Knights, which is why she shall forever be known as Killer Kassie.

The athlete appreciation dinner was a yearly event, until the pandemic knocked if off the schedule for a bit.

“We are very excited to bring it back!” said Booster Club board member Jess Lucero.

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Marines, WIAA honor Wolf athletes

Posted in awards, tagged , , , , , , on June 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School senior Ryan Labrador received the US Marine Corp Athletic Achievement award Tuesday night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Emma Smith spent much of her senior year collecting achievements and awards, and Tuesday was no different, as she was honored by the WIAA. (Konni Smith photo)

Dane Lucero joined Emma Smith in receiving the Cliff Gillies award. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Like Labrador, Ema Smith was honored by the Marines.

The awards flew fast and furious at Coupeville High School Tuesday night.

Along with the Male and Female Athlete of the Year winners being announced at the annual pre-graduation awards night, four other athletic honors were bestowed.

Ryan Labrador and Ema Smith received the U.S. Marine Corps Athletic Achievement award, while Dane Lucero and Emma Smith took home the Cliff Gillies Award.

The Marine Corps award recognizes athletes who are “exemplary young citizens and role models for younger students,” while having “exhibited the personal traits of courage, poise, self-confidence, and leadership while performing as a varsity athlete.”

The Gillies award is issued to a male and female athlete at each school in District 1, named in honor of the former Executive Director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Gillies was the head honcho at the WIAA from 1982-93.

A longtime teacher, coach and administrator, he had a sizable impact during his time as Executive Director.

While Gillies fronted the association, it restructured the state football playoff system, developed a drug education program, and started a student scholarship/participation recognition award.

Lucero and Emma Smith were recognized for “their participation in student activities, academic achievement, sportsmanship and citizenship.”

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Wolves enjoy baseball swan song

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on May 31, 2019| Leave a Comment »

CHS baseball coach Chris Smith poses with some of the Wolf seniors who played Thursday at the All-State feeder games in Bellingham. L to r are Matt Hilborn, Shane Losey, and Dane Lucero, while Jake Pease was AWOL at the moment. (Wendi Hilborn photo)

Coupeville’s diamond men got one more night under the lights.

Four Wolf seniors — Dane Lucero, Shane Losey, Jake Pease, and Matt Hilborn — traveled to Bellingham Thursday to participate in the A/B All-State Baseball Feeder games.

While none of the pack made the cut for the big games, held June 8-9 in Yakima, Coupeville made a positive impression.

“They all played really well,” said CHS head baseball coach Chris Smith, who was in the stands at Joe Martin Stadium for the games. “Coupeville was well represented.”

After playing their entire prep careers as teammates, the four Wolves found themselves split up at times Thursday night.

In the opening game, the Nationals, which featured Lucero, Losey, and Hilborn topped Pease’s Americans squad 14-13 in a slug-fest.

Pease anchored third base for the entire game.

“He didn’t have a ton of opportunities, but did make some diving attempts at a couple smoked grounders,” said CHS assistant coach Aaron Lucero.

Hilborn got some work on the mound in the first game, tossing two innings, then moved to shortstop in the nightcap, where the Americans won 7-1 in a game called after six innings due to pitch counts.

“He was lights out at shortstop and had several outs to Dane at first,” Aaron Lucero said. “Lot of tough balls and threw lasers.”

Dane Lucero, who made a sensational full-body extension grab on a hard liner just inside the line at first, also pulled double duty.

After getting loosened up with his work on the bag, where he put in eight innings across the two games, the younger Lucero strolled over to pitch the fifth inning in game two.

Making sure every Wolf had some highlights, Losey was a beast in the outfield.

“Shane almost had a ridiculous awesome diving play in right that just missed by an inch or two,” Aaron Lucero said. “Was ecstatic he got to the ball, not to mention the dive.

“Next hitter hit another shot to right that Shane sprinted to, twisted, hit the ball with his glove, ball popped, and he caught the pop one-handed,” he added.

“The best part was his back was turned to the line ump, ump indicating fair and safe until Shane shows the ball with his back turned for the ump to reverse to an out.”

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Seven straight wins for sizzlin’ diamond men

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on April 27, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Jake Pease beats the tag Friday as Coupeville drills Granite Falls 8-1. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s been like two seasons wrapped in one.

The 2019 campaign has been an unusual one for the Coupeville High School baseball team.

Having lost eight seniors, the new-look Wolves struggled to mount a consistent offensive attack in the early going this spring, scoring just 13 runs while starting the season 0-12.

And then something clicked.

After an 8-1 win Friday over visiting Granite Falls, Coupeville heads to the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak.

During that torrid stretch, the Wolves have plated 66 runners, ultimately cost arch-rival South Whidbey a chance to win a league title, and swept three-game series from Sultan and Granite.

The win which started the redemption arc, a 4-3 shocker over their next-door neighbors, proved to be huge.

If South Whidbey had won that Island rivalry game, it would have entered Friday guaranteed of earning at least a tie for the North Sound Conference pennant with Cedar Park Christian.

Instead, the Falcons faced a winner-takes-all finale in Bothell, and CPC pulled out a 5-4 win thanks to a sixth-inning three-run pinch-hit home run.

Cedar Park, which has been to the state semifinals two years running, finishes 13-2 in league play, while South Whidbey is 12-3.

Coupeville, the hottest team in the conference at the moment, wraps at 7-8 in league action, 7-12 overall, and heads to the playoffs as the #4 NSC team.

The Wolves open the double-elimination bi-district tourney May 4 with a game against Meridian at Sehome High School. Win or lose, CHS plays a second game that afternoon.

But that’s still a week away, and Friday the focus was on honoring Coupeville’s seniors — Bryce Payne, Shane Losey, Jake Pease, Matt Hilborn, and Dane Lucero — while finishing the regular season on a strong note.

Both missions accomplished.

The Wolves jumped on Granite right away, sending 11 hitters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and bringing six of them around to score.

Three walks, with Hilborn and Gavin Knoblich being plunked, set the table, but it was Coupeville’s bats which did the most damage.

Six singles, accounting for 60% of Coupeville’s hits on the day, sent runners scrambling and Granite coaches to weeping silently in their dugout.

Hawthorne Wolfe started the hit parade, and then Pease, Ulrik Wells, Payne, Losey, and Hilborn (in his second at-bat of the inning) all collected base-knocks.

After the early run-fest, Coupeville didn’t need much more, but it did tack on a run in the second, on a Daniel Olson sacrifice bunt, and a final score in the sixth, on an RBI single off the bat of Pease.

The senior starter led the way with three hits in his home swan song, while Hilborn banged out a pair of singles.

Olson, Wolfe, Payne, Wells, and Losey also had hits, Lucero walked three times and a game after smashing up his face during a collision in the outfield, Mason Grove returned to eke out a walk.

While Coupeville pounded the ball to all fields, Granite had no answers for Wolf hurler Hilborn, who came two outs away from tossing a no-hitter.

He finally got touched in the seventh, giving up a one-out double, but was otherwise in control all game, whiffing eight and walking just a single batter.

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