Valen Trujillo: a Hall of Famer on the court and in life.
This is sort of odd, if you think about it.
Today, as I hold my weekly induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, the 72nd class is comprised of one lone athlete going in by herself.
And yet that athlete, maybe as much as any I have covered in my years of writing, is the very embodiment of a true team player.
Every step of the way, from the first time I watched her play basketball in middle school until the final time she dove on a floor and cartwheeled Saturday, trying to keep her prep volleyball career alive as long as possible, Valen Trujillo was all about her team.
Even when she’s on a tennis court playing singles, one of the ultimate solitary athletic pursuits, she always wants to know how her fellow players are doing.
Win or lose (and she usually wins), she always stays to watch and support her classmates and friends, whether they’re fighting for a varsity win or playing way down on the JV ladder.
It is an enduring testament to her spirit, which has always soared far above her stellar athletic talent.
And yes, I know she’s not done with her high school sports career.
Valen will be back on the tennis court this spring for one final run at net glory (and who knows, she might shock me and return to basketball when practice starts in a week — I’m not holding my breath … or am I?).
But the end of the volleyball season Saturday is one of those seminal moments that will echo for some time, and I say, why wait to induct her?
It was on the volleyball court where she has lived and died (metaphorically, at least) and left a fair amount of her skin.
Trujillo was a libero, the rock anchoring the back line, and her stats can stand with any Wolf to ever put on the uniform.
When the volleyball record board is updated, her name will tower large on it, as she smashed numerous records during her four-year run.
But more than the records, it was her love for the game which will endure in our memories.
The way she poured out her heart on every play.
Whether crouched low on the court, awaiting a serve, like a wild cat ready to pounce, or madly bouncing off a wall as she sprinted full-bore after a ball her mind (but not her heart) already knew was long gone, Valen never, ever gave you less than her best.
Every coach she had spoke of Trujillo with a reverence which is rare.
It was a universal reaction I have witnessed with only a handful of other Wolf athletes, fellow Hall of Famers such as Makana Stone, Nick Streubel and Breeanna Messner.
There are great athletes and great people, and when the two meet, it is something special.
Valen is something special.
The first time I put a face to the name was at a middle school girls basketball game five years ago.
Trujillo smiled and politely said hello to the five King’s players on the other side of the court before tip-off, then made two of those rivals run out of the gym crying once the game started.
She wasn’t a dirty player, but she was a bulldog, one who brought back memories of the immortal Baddest Woman Alive herself, Jodi (Christensen) Crimmins, who once gave a CHS hoops teammate a black eye during a battle for a rebound.
Valen, like Jodi, believed without a doubt that EVERY loose ball belonged to her, and that no girl, now or forever, was going to take it away from her.
And then, after the game, after Coupeville won and Trujillo went down the line hugging each and every one of her teammates, she passed by as she went to her parents, Craig and Amy, who were seated in the stands not far from where I was.
Stopping for a second, this young woman, who I had never met before, looked at me and said “Thank you for coming to my game.”
For a second I thought she was being sarcastic.
Five years, and a few thousand other “thank you for coming to my games” have taught me that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
My greatest disappointment in my run here at Coupeville Sports was that Trujillo left basketball behind when she entered high school. It would have been glorious!
But I understand her desire to focus on schoolwork and singing, and I’ve dealt with it.
Plus, the home-made cookies and chips and salsa Valen gave me certainly helped ease the “pain…”
Baker, warbler, guitar picker, student, athlete, bright shining beacon of light and love to everyone she meets, Miss Trujillo is a rare gem.
It’s not much in the grand scheme of things, but today, I welcome her to my lil’ digital hall of honor.
As long as Coupeville Sports exists on the internet, Valen Trujillo will live on, up at the top of the blog under the Legends tab.
So, let me flip it around on you.
“Thank you, Miss Trujillo, for letting me come to your games.”
