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Posts Tagged ‘Happy birthday’

Happy cake day, sandwich man!!

Posted in A freakin' American hero, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , on March 28, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Mitchell Losey (John Fisken photo)

Mitchell Losey, ready to bust some heads. (John Fisken photo)

(Kristin Hurlburt photos)

   Losey (and an epic sandwich) shares a moment at a track meet with Wolf mom Eileen Stone. (Kristin Hurlburt photos)

He’s the Easy Rider.

For the last four years, Mitchell Losey has made it look easy, cruising through life with a grin on his face and a low-key attitude that is refreshing.

The Coupeville High School senior, who celebrates a birthday today, has had an impact both on the football field and the track oval for the Wolves, continuing a proud family tradition that stretches back several generations.

Through it all, he has never been one to thump his chest and demand his time in the spotlight.

Losey has been the ultimate team warrior, a guy willing to get down in the trenches and do the hard work, the dirty work.

His teammates and coaches know what kind of player he is, and accord him respect, and so should we as fans.

Mitchell has been the very definition of solid, on and off the field, and he has represented the family legacy very well.

He may be handing over the keys to the kingdom to younger brother Shane and getting ready to head off into the real world, but he’ll always be a Wolf first and foremost.

Parents Scott and Melissa should be proud of the solid young man they have raised.

Mitchell is a class act (and he stars in one of my favorite photos ever snapped) and I want to wish him all the best on his cake day.

Happy birthday, Mr. Losey. Keep on keepin’ on.

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A winner for all seasons!!

Posted in Baseball, Basketball, Happy birthday, tagged , , , , on March 28, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The many moods of Ben Olson.

The many moods of Ben Olson.

Not so very long from now, we’re going to reach a point in time when we’ll start to talk about video stores, and kids will be like, “Huh, what?”

Doesn’t matter that I spent 15 years being well paid to goof off in them, and that they are a key part of my life.

As Netflix, streaming, and downloads, legal and otherwise, eventually erase all memories of Videoville, David’s DVD Den and (gag me) Blockbuster, a new generation will be culturally bereft.

So, it’s a good thing we’ll still have folks like Ben Olson to hold on to a few of those memories.

The young Mr. Olson, who celebrates a birthday today, grew up in those video store aisles before going on to become a basketball and baseball player at Coupeville High School.

Ben and lil’ bro Daniel, now a middle school hoops star, were regular fixtures at both video stores I worked at, and both usually spent more time behind the counter than in front of it.

Which worked out nicely for me.

Need to collect a late fee? Always easier to do with the rock-em-sock-em Olson boys as my backup.

With Daniel on the computer and Ben on the till, I had even less work to do than normal, which, if you know anything about me, was just fine and dandy.

Once the second video store closed, we parted paths for a bit as I headed out to slave away on the prairie.

But when I came back to the world of school sports coverage, there they were, a little older, a lot taller (especially Ben) and still just as outgoing and friendly.

It’s been nice to see them still following the path of success they were already on years earlier.

While injuries have hampered Ben’s ability to dominate the court lately, he’s slid into working as a coach with Daniel’s SWISH basketball team and seems born to the job.

As he celebrates his cake day today, Olson remains one of the best CHS has to offer, a bright, adventurous dude with huge potential.

So happy birthday, Ben.

The video stores may be gone, but it’s always nice to see our alumni, official or unofficial, continuing to light up the world.

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Joy to the world (Rally Ally style)!!

Posted in Happy birthday, Horse sports, Volleyball, tagged , , , , , on March 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Ally Roberts

   Ally Roberts and her trusty steed, Tiger, prepare to win all the ribbons. All of them, I said. (Jennifer Roberts photo)

crab feed

   Roberts hangs out with Lauren Bayne and Co. at the Coupeville Booster Club’s crab feed auction. (John Fisken photos)

vball

   The Spike Crew is (l to r) Kyla Briscoe, Sarah Wright, Tiffany Briscoe, Valen Trujillo and Roberts.

spike

Impact!

Ally Roberts is sunshine come to life.

Now, it’s very possible the Coupeville High School junior, who celebrates a birthday today, may be grumpy some times.

Who among us is not from time to time?

But, if that’s true, I have yet to see it.

A standout volleyball and horse athlete who also shows up to root for her classmates at absolutely every sports event played in town, Roberts always comes across as supremely happy.

Giddy grin sliding across her face, Ally is frequently up to shenanigans when she sees wandering cameramen (and women) in the area, and she remains one of the two or three most dependable go-to people when you need a pic with a little something extra.

Put her on the big stage and she delivers, as well.

Able to angle her body at a moment’s notice in mid-flight, Roberts can be a ferocious hitter on the volleyball court, which helped Coupeville’s spikers soar to their first playoff win in several seasons in the fall.

She was #2 on the Wolves in kill percentage and hitting percentage, #3 in kills and assists, #4 in blocks and #1 in leading mid-game dance celebrations.

Equally adept when you put her astride a horse, Ally (and her trusty steed, Tiger) have amassed an astounding collection of ribbons in the world of horse sports, where she is a state meet vet.

But take her out of the world of sports (for a second or two, at least) and she has always struck me as one of the friendliest, brightest, most outgoing of all Coupeville teens.

Easygoing, yet fiercely loyal to her (ginormous) family and friends, Ally projects such joy in everything she does it would be impossible not to root for her just a bit more (OK, a lot more) than your average athlete.

It’s her sunshine-drenched world, and we’re all just lucky to be a small part of it.

Happy birthday, Miss Roberts! May your grin go on and on for many years to come.

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Dynamic duo win the day!!

Posted in Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , , , on March 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Birthday boys Sebastian Davis (S) and Jacob Smith (J) team up for a collage. (John Fisken and Wendy McCormick photos)

   Birthday boys Sebastian Davis (S) and Jacob Smith (J) team up for a collage full of excitement. (John Fisken and Wendy McCormick photos)

Birthday fever is bouncing around out of control in Coupeville today.

Two of the most energetic of all Wolf athletes — CHS senior Sebastian Davis and sophomore Jacob Smith — share a cake day, and a style of attacking the day, every day.

Regardless of the sport (Davis plays tennis and soccer currently while Smith careens around the gridiron and track oval), the duo are explosive, highly entertaining hard workers.

They’re also exceptionally smart, very outgoing and primed to do big things in the outside world when they step away from Whidbey Island.

Sebastian, who I’ve known since he was a little guy hanging out at Videoville and Miriam’s Espresso, does it all.

The lead in (nearly) every school play, a Science Olympiad whiz kid who could teach the judges a few things and a video game player who ruthlessly defends his sprawling on-line empire against any who would dare to come for his crown, he puts the talent in multi-talented.

I know Jacob primarily from watching him work in the world of athletics, where he comes across as a super-friendly, dedicated guy, the kind of player who still takes the football field when his arm is encased in a cast so he won’t leave his teammates hanging.

Track is where he’s making his biggest splash, with back-to-back PRs in the 100 to kick off the new season.

Both Smith and Davis also show a noticeable flair for school spirit, playing The Joker and Captain Kirk, respectively, on their classes floats during the most recent Homecoming parade.

Jacob turned his hair green for the part, while Sebastian had every one of William Shatner’s tics down cold, and both played to the audience as the parade wound its way around the track at halftime.

As the dynamic duo celebrate their big days (no word on whether they’re sharing cake), we just want to take a moment to wish both of them well.

They are two of the brightest shining lights in this small town, as athletes, scholars and people, and they deserve a big round of applause from us all.

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Birthday buddies: Kailey kills!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Happy birthday, Softball, tagged , , , , , on March 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Kailey Kellner

   Kailey Kellner: Killer … with a heart of gold. (John Fisken, Sylvia Hurlburt, Amy King photos)

The first day she stepped into the Coupeville High School gym, she looked hesitant, shy, a little lost.

Having just jumped from England to a cow town in the middle of a prairie on a rock in the Pacific Northwest, Kailey Kellner had her whole world shook up midway through her freshman year.

Now, a little more than two years later, it is hard to think of a Wolf sports world that does not include her.

Kellner, who celebrates her 17th birthday today, has blossomed into a stone-cold killer on the basketball court, a three-ball droppin’ assassin who will fly into the paint in pursuit of rebounds and drop a girl on her butt when needed.

Running along side Makana Stone and Mia Littlejohn, she was a captain, a leader, a role model for a very young Wolf hoops team, which just happened to take the program back to state for the first time in a decade this season.

But it’s not just basketball for Kailey.

She’s become a strong softball player, who can pull off a slick unassisted double play, whack a key hit in crunch time and pick up her teammates with her bench chatter.

As the volleyball manager, she kept things humming smoothly, a word for one player, a hug for another, a playful slap on the back of the head for yet another.

Kellner was welcomed with open arms by her new coaches and teammates (playing for Amy King, who creates a true family atmosphere, was the perfect introduction to her new town and school) and the transformation has been phenomenal.

Her smile lighting up the entire gym, Kailey has become part of the very fabric of Wolf Nation. A very important, very treasured part.

Goofing off for the cameras with her friends or droppin’ daggers on the athletic stage, she has proven to be a truly amazing young woman, and watching her grow, not only in athletic skill, but as a person, has been fun.

She’s far from done, and I’m pretty certain the best is yet to come.

Families come and families go, and every once in awhile, we luck out and win the lottery.

Kailey walked into that gym a complete unknown.

The day she walks out, she will do so as one of the best we have been blessed to witness.

Her skills are becoming legendary.

Kailey’s soaring spirit, the loveliness of her soul, though? That tops whatever she might do with a basketball or a softball bat in her hands.

Happy birthday, Miss Kellner. Thank you for giving us the chance to come along for part of your journey.

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