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Posts Tagged ‘Ethan Spark’

“We have to go back, Kate!!”

Posted in Graduation, tagged , , , , on June 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Jacob Smith catches a ride with Sofia Hassapis at the lock-in before the Senior trip. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The Class of 2018 boasted a strong class of athletes, including (l to r) Hunter Downes, Nick Etzell, Hunter Smith, William Nelson, Ethan Spark and Cameron Toomey-Stout.

Julian Welling takes Katrina McGranahan for a spin.

Maddy Hilkey was on hand to celebrate Spark’s graduation.

Homecoming King Dylan Hummel snags a photo op with Abby Parker (left) and Kyla Briscoe.

Homecoming Queen Mira Mostafavinassab celebrates graduation with mom Jen.

Toomey-Stout wows the lil’ kids as Wolf seniors walk the hallways at Coupeville Elementary.

   New grad Claire Mietus has the full backing of her family as she takes the next step in her life.

   Ariah Bepler (left) and Jesse Hester join Parker and Briscoe for Senior Brunch at Camp Casey.

   One family, two graduations. Allison Wenzel (high school) gives big sis Rachel (college) a tour of the dock.

We’re playing a little game of catch-up here.

My month-long “vacation” kicked off right after the state track meet, so I missed running any graduation pics for the Coupeville High School Class of 2018.

Well, better late than never.

Sort of like using the headline above, which references Lost, a TV show which debuted way back in 2004 … before this year’s seniors were even in school.

 

Want to see more? Pop over to:

Senior parade and brunch:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Events/2018-Coupeville-Senior-Parade-and-Brunch/

Graduation:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Events/Coupeville-graduation-2018/

Lock-in before senior trip:

https://www.johnsphotos.net/Events/2018-Graduation-Lock-in/

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Light a Spark, set off a blaze!!

Posted in Athlete Supreme, tagged , , , , on May 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Ethan Spark rolled to a win in the 6th annual Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme poll. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The early days of a future champ.

Early in his high school basketball career, Ethan Spark blew up an entire bench.

Chasing a loose ball, he exploded through a wall of chairs, knocking other players left and right, before ultimately spinning and completely destroying a large water jug that was minding its own business.

In the aftermath, with bodies, chairs and water everywhere, Spark surveyed the scene and a small smile graced his face.

I’d like to think he was wearing the same face over the past 100 hours as his fan club carved a bloody path through the voting for the 6th annual Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme.

Team Spark hit hard and fast, built a pretty-insurmountable 8,000 vote lead for its Wolf senior, went quiet for a bit, then dropped the hammer in the final stages.

The supporters of sophomore Scout Smith, trying to carry her to a win like older brothers CJ and Hunter, made a sustained 24-hour run to carve the lead in half.

But, once the lead dipped below 4,000 votes, Spark’s support crew went ballistic.

Throwing down 100 votes in 10 seconds at one point (seriously) they made sure their guy would come out on top.

And, of course he did, joining Nick Streubel, Amanda Fabrizi, CJ Smith, Hunter Smith and Joey Lippo (who still holds the record for most votes tallied in a single year) as “winners” of a totally fake award.

After 100 hours of voting, the top five from a field of 25 were:

Spark (18,374 votes)

Scout Smith (8,787)

Danny Conlisk (1,300)

Kyle Rockwell (782)

Matt Hilborn (746)

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Injuries plague plucky booters!!

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on April 20, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   An ankle injury has kept CHS soccer captain Ethan Spark sidelined for the last week-and-a-half. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Three men down, they came up two goals short.

Missing starters Ethan Spark, James Wood and Sam Wynn, who have combined for eight goals this season, the Coupeville High School boys soccer squad fell 5-3 Friday in a high-scoring affair at Port Townsend.

The loss drops the Wolves to 3-3 in Olympic League play, 4-6-2 overall, and into a tie with the RedHawks (3-3, 3-7) for second-place in the four-team conference.

With Coupeville’s defeat, Klahowya (6-0, 9-2-1), which has a three-game lead with three to play, and holds tiebreakers on CHS and PTHS, clinches its fourth-straight league crown.

With Chimacum (0-6, 0-8) mired in the basement, both the Wolves and RedHawks seem likely to earn playoff berths, but the rubber game of their three-game season series will likely decide who gets the #2 playoff seed.

In an unusual twist of scheduling, that game arrives almost immediately, as Port Townsend travels to Coupeville Tuesday for a 4 PM game.

Barring a miracle, the Wolves will almost certainly be without Spark for that clash.

The senior captain severely sprained an ankle competing for a ball in practice a week-and-a-half ago, said mom Kali Barrio, and has been unable to bear weight on the leg ever since.

The one positive is x-rays came back negative on a fracture.

“We’re hoping for no torn ligaments, but only time will tell and a possible MRI,” Barrio said.

Missing key players, the Wolves came out a bit flat.

“We failed to match their energy and intensity, and Port Townsend seemed to get the lucky bounce,” said CHS coach Kyle Nelson.

Down 2-1 at the half, the Wolves swapped goals with the RedHawks in the second half and were still within 4-3 with 15 minutes on the clock.

Coupeville was unable to get the equalizer, however, and gave up a final score in the waning moments.

One bright spot Friday came courtesy sophomore sensation Derek Leyva, who torched the RedHawks for two goals while playing on his birthday.

The scores were #19 and #20 on the season for the first-year Wolf, and the second tally ties him with cousin Abraham Leyva for the CHS boys single-season scoring record.

Coupeville’s other score was helped along by its rivals, as Port Townsend inadvertently scored an “own goal.”

With 44 goals and three regular-season games remaining, this year’s team is in hot pursuit of the 2016 Wolf booters.

That squad, led by Abraham Leyva’s record-setting senior season, scored 48 goals, the most CHS has recorded in the past decade.

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Wolf booters gunnin’ for the top!!

Posted in Boys Soccer, tagged , , , , on March 2, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Junior goaltender Brian Roberts is one of 11 returning letter winners for the CHS boys soccer squad. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

One last chance to take down the big dog.

As the Coupeville High School boys soccer team enters its fourth, and final, season in the 1A Olympic League, the Wolves will once again be on the chase to topple Klahowya.

The Eagles have been the dominant program in the conference, and boast a 21-0 mark in league play across the past three seasons.

Meanwhile, the Wolf booters have three consecutive third-place finishes, meaning they need to knock off Port Townsend as well as KSS.

“Klahowya has qualified for the state tournament the last few years and is always the team to beat in our league,” said Coupeville coach Kyle Nelson.

“Port Townsend has had our number the last couple of years, but we will be looking forward to our continued tight rivalry.”

The Wolves have a 15-game schedule, kicking off the season by helping debut their school’s new stadium Saturday, Mar. 10 against 2A Olympic.

Growth and development will go hand-in-hand with trying to notch wins.

“My goal is to form a well-organized, disciplined, exciting to watch squad,” Kyle Nelson said. “And with anyone who watches us play this year seeing improvement through the course of the season.

“I would like to finish with a winning record and a berth to the district playoffs.”

Coupeville’s biggest strength will be its veteran players, as the Wolves return 11 letter winners from last year’s squad.

Senior midfielders William Nelson, a three-time All-Conference pick, and Ethan Spark head up the team as captains.

Joining them are senior defenders Laurence Boado, Hunter Downes and Axel Partida, junior defenders Uriah Kastner and Teo Keilwitz and junior goaltenders Dewitt Cole and Brian Roberts.

Sophomore midfielders Aram Leyva and James Wood round out the key returnees.

“We are returning quite a few starting varsity players in most positions on the field,” Kyle Nelson said. “We also have a number of players who played with a select team in the off-season.

“So, we have experience on our side this year.”

Leyva and Spark are the top returning goal scorers, as each beat rival goalies six times a year ago.

William Nelson (4), Downes (2), Wood (2) and Boado (1) also found the back of the net in 2017.

Coupeville’s coaching staff, which includes first-year assistant Luke Pelant, a former All-Conference player for the Wolves before his graduation in 2013, is also hopeful of getting help from several newcomers.

“We will also be looking to incorporate some new players who look to be important to our team,” Kyle Nelson said. “But it can take a while for both the defense and the new players to fully integrate.”

Three who have a solid shot at seeing consistent playing time are foreign exchange student Pedro Gamarra, sophomore Derek Leyva and freshman Sam Wynn.

The first two can slide between playing at the forward and midfield slots, while the young gun is a defender.

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Wolves net hoops honors!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 22, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Hunter Smith led Coupeville in scoring, steals and assists, netting team MVP honors and recognition as a First-Team All-League player. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

   Hunter Downes, who paced the Wolves in rebounding, was one of six seniors honored for their defensive prowess at a season-ending awards banquet.

They were a potent one-two punch and everyone noticed.

Senior gunners Hunter Smith and Ethan Spark combined to score 598 of Coupeville’s 923 points during basketball season, and that helped the duo earn First-Team All-Conference honors when Olympic League coaches voted.

Kaiden Parcher, a beast all season for league champ Port Townsend, claimed conference MVP.

Smith, whose 382 points was the most scored by a Wolf in a season since Mike Bagby netted 414 in 2004-2005, was named team MVP Thursday when CHS held its season-ending awards banquet.

With 847 career points, he finished as the 12th highest scorer in program history, while also leading his squad in steals and assists as a senior.

Coupeville coach Brad Sherman broke down Smith’s strengths:

“Talented floor manager, unique ability to get to the rim and draw contact (102 points from the free-throw line this season), difficult to defend, handles the ball well against pressure, great mid-range game, which is very rare in today’s high school basketball game.

“Quiet leader, amazing competitor.”

Senior Cameron Toomey-Stout collected the Wolf Pack Award, which honors a player who exemplifies “a team-first mentality, commitment and reliability, a positive and encouraging attitude on and off the basketball court, effort and work ethic, and all-around character.”

“His work ethic, character, and level of commitment are clear to anyone who has worked with or knows Cam,” Sherman said.

When it came time to honor the Defensive Player of the Year, Sherman mixed things up a bit, spreading love to all of his seniors — Hunter Downes, Kyle Rockwell, Joey Lippo, Smith, Spark and Toomey-Stout.

“We stressed all year setting the tone with our defensive intensity and five players moving and communicating as one,” Sherman said. “We recorded 217 steals and had 177 deflections and played well on defense as a group.

“When we sat down to determine one defensive player of the year based on several statistical factors, it became difficult to pick one, which is a good thing,” he added. “Ultimately we felt the senior group as a whole deserved to be recognized for the way they worked together to disrupt teams on defense.”

Smith led in steals, Lippo in blocks and deflected passes, Downes in rebounds, Toomey-Stout “was a defensive workhorse,” Spark recorded 48 steals and 30 deflected passes and Rockwell was “a skilled shot blocker and came up huge at the end of the season.”

In fact, that effort at the end netted Rockwell the Play of the Year for an offensive rebound and put-back which sealed an upset of first-place Klahowya on Coupeville’s Senior Night.

Rounding out the awards, Spark notched Sharp Shooter honors, for draining the most three-balls, while Chris Ruck was named Most Inspirational for the JV squad.

“I’m really proud of this group and thought they played so hard this season,” Sherman said. “Had some successes and moments that they can remember for years to come — 101-year anniversary, big win on Senior Night, winning record in league.

“Looking forward, we take this year’s positives and continue to build on them,” he added. “We lose a lot of seniors this year and our entire starting five, but with that comes a great deal of opportunity for our younger guys – and we have a talented group of young players that we are excited about.

“This will be a big off-season for us to develop and grow as a team, and Coach (Chris) Smith and I are really looking forward to what the future holds for this group of athletes.”

Varsity letter winners:

Jered Brown
Hunter Downes
Mason Grove
Gavin Knoblich
Joey Lippo
Dane Lucero
Kyle Rockwell
Hunter Smith
Ethan Spark
Cameron Toomey-Stout
James Vidoni

Varsity participation:

Jacobi Pilgrim
Ulrik Wells

JV participation:

Trevor Bell
Koa Davison
Sage Downes
Mason Grove
Tucker Hall
Alex Jimenez
Gavin Knoblich
Ryan Labrador
Jean Lund-Olsen
Daniel Olson
Jon Partida
Jake Pease
Jacobi Pilgrim
David Prescott
Chris Ruck
Matt Stevens
James Vidoni
Ulrik Wells

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