After missing her junior season with a leg injury, Kyla Briscoe returns to add even more depth to a very-good CHS volleyball squad. (John Fisken photo)
Work continues on the CHS tennis courts. (Mike Lodell photo)
Hunter Smith is on the cusp of breaking three CHS career football records. (Fisken photo)
No, it’s not too early to look ahead at fall sports.
I know, it’s only Aug. 2, it’s hot ‘n hazy outside (thanks to off-Island forest fires) and the first day of school is more than a month off.
But, we’re only two weeks away from the start of practice (football kicks off Aug. 16 while volleyball, tennis and soccer start Aug. 21), and I’ve never been overly patient.
So we’re taking a premature look at the biggest fall sports story-lines which loom for Coupeville High School fans.
1 — Will all the work be done:
Maintenance crews have been busy plugging away, but a lot remains in flux.
Last year, the hubbub centered around a new track oval and facilities, while this year tennis courts are being redone and new football bleachers are being installed.
When it’s done, home fans will sit in front of the apartments, right next to the parking lot, while road fans will (finally) be forced to walk all the way to the other side.
While the local guys have prepared the ground, a date for actual installation of the bleachers remains up in the air.
“We are waiting on contractors,” said CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith. “What this means is that we will start the season in the same place we were last year until the stands are completed, hopefully sooner, rather than later.
“The construction area will be cordoned off and we will figure out a plan for the visiting side.”
Having gone without a press box last year, I was looking forward to getting back under cover.
Smith, who doubles as the football announcer, is far hardier, and laughs at any hint we might be left out in the elements for more games.
“Hey, The Farmer’s Almanac says it’s supposed to be a rainy September, so bring your galoshes and yellow rain gear!”
2 — New coaches arrive (eventually):
Cory Whitmore (volleyball) and Jon Atkins (football) enter their second season at the helm of their programs, while tennis guru Ken Stange is deep into his second decade on the job.
The lone new varsity head coach this fall is hardly a newbie, as CHS boys soccer coach Kyle Nelson doubles his duties, taking over the girls soccer squad.
The biggest question mark looms for volleyball, which, 19 days before practice starts, is still looking for a JV coach to replace Kristen Bridges, who went 12-2 (9-0 in league) then took time off to bring a super-cute baby boy into the world.
3 — All your records are (maybe) ours:
Hunter Smith had a great junior year, winning the CHS Male Athlete of the Year while being a three-sport star.
During the 2016 football season, he set single-season marks for receiving yards (916) and touchdowns (11), while tying the single-game record with three receiving TD’s.
Toss in seven interceptions as a sophomore, and he shares the single-season record for that defensive stat with Dan Nieder.
Entering his final gridiron campaign Smith is on the cusp of thoroughly blowing up the board, needing just 11 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns and three interceptions to claim CHS career records.
He trails Chad Gale 1,345-1,335 in yards and 17-13 in touchdowns, and sits right behind Josh Bayne (12-10) in picks.
Wolf QB Hunter Downes, who tied the school single-game mark with four touchdown passes at Bellevue Christian last year, has more ground to cover than Smith for career marks, but expect him to come out flinging.
The senior signal caller would need 1,773 yards and 16 TD’s this fall (he amassed 1,569 and 17 as a junior) to catch the man who now coaches him, Brad Sherman.
Downes has 1,841 yards and 18 TDs, while Sherman sits with 3,613 and 33.
4 — Even more records:
Wolf spiker Hope Lodell owns the single-season (110) and career (141) marks for service aces. How high can she take those marks during her senior campaign?
Also, expect junior booter Kalia Littlejohn to come out firing as she chases older sister Mia and Abraham Leyva in the soccer record books.
Mia, who transferred to Garfield for her senior season, scored 27 goals last year, running her three-year total to 35, while Leyva graduated with 45 career goals in three seasons of play on the boys side.
Kalia sits at 18, scoring 10 as a freshman and another eight as a sophomore.
5 — Defend your titles:
Boys tennis (4-0 in league play, as two other matches were rained out) swept to a second straight league crown last fall, while volleyball captured the program’s first conference title since 2004.
The spikers finished 11-6 (8-1 in league), just missing the ’04 team’s high-water mark of 13 wins.
6 — Make some history:
Soccer finished 8-7-1 (6-3 in league), the first winning record in 13 seasons for a CHS girls soccer team.
The next goal — after three consecutive second-place finishes in the 1A Olympic League, take down Klahowya, which has yet to lose a league contest in the sport.
For football, a 3-7 mark (2-5 in league) was two plays away from 5-5, as the Wolves lost to league rivals Charles Wright Academy and Bellevue Christian by less than a touchdown.
Both those losses came on the road, so redemption can come at home in ’17, as CHS tries to end a major drought — the Wolves haven’t had a winning football season since 2005.
7 — Back from injury:
Kyla Briscoe was a standout volleyball player as a sophomore, then missed her entire junior season with a devastating leg injury.
After battling back, she’s healthy, hard at work in the school’s weight-training program and ready to close her net career in style.
8 — Run, run far away:
Cross country has a rich history at CHS, but no active team. That may be changing.
Wolf harriers Danny Conlisk and Henry Wynn will train and travel with South Whidbey for a second year, with Sam Wynn making it a trio this year, but talk of reviving the program in Coupeville is picking up steam.
May I make a suggestion?
Natasha Bamberger, the winningest runner in school history (five individual state titles — one in XC and four in track) is back home and ready to coach. Just sayin’.
So, there you be, some story-lines to keep in mind as we head into the great unknown.
Of course, like every year, who knows what surprises await and what will really be the talk of the town this fall.
Will there be a surprise transfer, a modern-day twist on an Amanda Allmer or Sarah Mouw or Linda Cheshier, dominant athletes who suddenly showed up in Cow Town for one incredible year before graduating?
Or, maybe, there’s a Coupeville native, someone we already know, maybe a lower-level athlete, who spent the summer getting bigger, faster or stronger, who will come in and shock us all.
And hey, we still have 30 days until the first game of the season — football vs. South Whidbey Sept. 1 — more than enough time for a major scandal or two to erupt.
As I contemplate what to write the next couple of weeks, I can only hope and dream.
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