“We await the ruling down on the field. Who are the nine best Wolf athletes from 2012-2021?” (David Stern photo)
This blog turns nine years old August 15, and to mark the occasion, I’m picking what I view as the best nine Wolf athletes from each active CHS sport.
To be eligible, you had to play for the Wolves between Aug. 2012-Aug. 2021, AKA the “Coupeville Sports” years.
So here we go. Each day between Aug. 1-15, a different sport and (probably) a different argument.
And thus we arrive at the end of our little exercise.
Having selected the top nine players from each active sport at Coupeville High School, or at least the top nine from my blogging days, we land on the actual birthday of this here site.
With that, we pull back, cast an eye on all sports, and select the best nine athletes at CHS between 2012-2021, period.
This time it’s not just a battle but a full-on war, male and female athletes pitted against each other
Many enter the arena, but these nine are the ones to exit, forming our dream team.
And unlike the previous stories, where I listed athletes in alphabetic order, this time I’m going #9-#1.
Let the bodies hit the floor, and the arguments never end.
Valen Trujillo (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
#9 — Valen Trujillo
Record-setter in volleyball, top ace on the tennis court, but there’s a third sport which puts her over the top, pushing her just ahead of a pack of really strong contenders.
And it’s a sport she never played in high school.
One of my saddest days as a sportswriter was when Valen “retired” from basketball — where she was a wild woman who made two different King’s players cry during middle school games.
I understood her choice, but it doesn’t mean I can’t mourn what was lost.
Lathom Kelley
#8 — Lathom Kelley
Dude could do anything, and always with a daredevil smile on his face.
Ferocious on the football field, able to pick up and dominate any event in the world of track and field, and prone to doing flying backflips off of gym walls just to amuse bystanders.
Plus, he once came barreling down from the stands to fill in for missing parents during a basketball Senior Night, grabbing the lonely player in a bearhug while screaming, “My boy, you’ve made me so proud!!”
The Man.
Lindsey Roberts
#7 — Lindsey Roberts
A 12-time letter winner who never spent a second on JV in any of her three sports, she also has the most state track and field medals of any girl in Coupeville High School history.
Joined both mom Sherry Bonacci and dad Jon Roberts in being honored as a CHS Athlete of the Year, while being an impact player from the first day of middle school to her final track meet in high school.
One game to win, who do you call? Lou, that’s who.
Sean Toomey-Stout
#6 — Sean Toomey-Stout
Second most-talented twin in his family, a viral video star (for outracing a deer during a 95-yard touchdown run vs. King’s) who’s now on the U-Dub football roster.
Did everything on the football field, filled every stat box on the basketball court, and ran like a jaguar for the Wolf track and field team.
All while training like a madman, and being the guy who tried to sneak back on the field, while injured, so he could support his teammates in the final seconds of a game long before decided.
Maya Toomey-Stout
#5 — Maya Toomey-Stout
“The Gazelle,” because she flowed when she ran, on the track oval, on the basketball court, and on the softball field, where she stole base after base in little league.
All those purloined bags? Accomplished without ever garnering a throw from the catcher, as she would be camped on second before the catcher could spring from their crouch.
And we haven’t even discussed volleyball, where she would bound in the air, reach over her head to snag a wayward ball, then smash the life out of the orb before softly floating back to Earth.
Madeline Strasburg
#4 — Madeline Strasburg
The female version of Lathom Kelley, a young woman who could play any sport and be genuinely electrifying at it with little to no practice.
Soared on the volleyball court, the basketball court, and the softball field.
She was Maddie Big Time because she feared no rival, never seemed bothered by stress, and bopped through life to her own sweet tune.
Awesome in the extreme.
Josh Bayne
#3 — Josh Bayne
The best 1A football player in the state as a senior, no matter what big-city voters might have thought, mixing barn-burner speed with deft hands, and the ability to destroy souls every time he slammed into a rival player.
On the baseball field, he had power, speed, and rock star charisma.
The only thing which keeps him at #3? He chose to not play basketball, allowing the three-sport star ahead of him to slip past by the narrowest of margins.
Hunter Smith
#2 — Hunter Smith
Record setter in football — on both sides of the ball — one of the best scorers in CHS basketball history, and arguably the top Wolf baseball player since Bob Rea was striking out 27 batters in a single game decades ago.
Through it all, the two-time CHS Athlete of the year remained one of the most humble teenagers I’ve ever met, more concerned with making sure his teammates and siblings got their proper due than worrying about his own PR.
Class with a capitol C.
Makana Stone
#1 — Makana Stone
The best, male or female, I have written about, not just in the blog years, but going all the way back to my first story in the Whidbey News-Times in 1990.
As an athlete, and a person.
It’s not just what she accomplished as a soccer, basketball, and track star, in high school and college, but of how high the numbers could have gone if she didn’t care so much about her teammates.
She fought for her own success, and it means a great deal to her, but Kana’s smile is the biggest when those around her prosper and get their fair share of the limelight.
The athlete every young Wolf, boy or girl, should emulate.
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