Six years, 50 athletes. Jae LeVine is on the list. Who else made the cut? (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
It’s a lovely day to start an argument.
With Coupeville Sports creeping up on its six-year anniversary (the first of 6,200+ articles hit Aug. 15, 2012), this seems like an ideal time to look back at the athletes who made the biggest impact in these pages.
And rank them!
Oh no … no, no, no, you fool … are you insane? Do you just want to piss people off?
Maybe.
So, yep, defying all rational thought, here we go — two lists which encompass my slap-dash rankings of the 25 best female and male athletes to play for Coupeville High School between Aug. 2012 and July 2018.
Ultimately, it’s a work in progress. Come back tomorrow, and I may have changed my mind about more than one thing.
Even as I was preparing to hit “publish,” I was still arguing with myself over not including Christine Fields, Sage Renninger, Haley Sherman, Morgan Payne, Kailey Kellner, Aaron Trumbull, Marisa Etzell, Jacob Martin, Amanda d’Almeida, Zane Bundy and many, many other very deserving candidates.
Heck, return in a few years, and I’m sure the list will probably look radically different.
For one thing, there are only five active Wolves — four seniors and one junior — who crack the countdown.
Which makes sense. If you’ve put in four years, it paints a much-fuller picture of your career than what one campaign has to offer.
But there are young athletes, some only a year or two into their high school days, who will likely crack the list by the time they’re done.
Scout Smith, Sean Toomey-Stout, Mallory Kortuem, Avalon Renninger, Matt Hilborn, Chelsea Prescott, and Genna Wright, to name a few, have already made a sizable impact, with plenty of action still left in their careers.
Lists like this are an ever-changing thing.
Careers will be reevaluated, legacies polished and my thought-process called into question. Probably often, and possibly, very loudly.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
So, with that out of the way, on to the arguments … I mean, lists.
PS — ** indicates active athlete
BOYS:
25) Gabe Wynn – Four-year varsity basketball player who also made an impact in baseball, football and tennis along the way. Plus, he’s just a good guy who always played his heart out every game.
Risen Johnson: float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
24) Risen Johnson – Brought Showtime to the hardwood, wheeling, dealing, and throwing down impossible buckets during two torrid years in a Wolf uniform.
23) Clay Reilly – Offense, defense, special teams, he could do it all on the gridiron. Same with a baseball field.
22) Joel Walstad – The youngest of three siblings, he made his own mark as a football, basketball and soccer player. Owns school record for TD passes in a season.
21) Jordan Ford – Only had him for one year, but ultimate team player in football and basketball, then shattered school record in pole vault.
20) Caleb Valko – Passionate, outspoken leader in football and basketball, he fought to the final play in every game and never backed down from anyone, no matter what fancy school they attended.
19) Sebastian Davis – Played tennis like a chess grand-master and soccer like a wild man.
18) ** Danny Conlisk – Four trips to state (and counting) as a track and cross country runner, plus he’s competing this week at the national Junior Olympics.
17) William Nelson – If he was ever nervous, I never saw it. Four years of stellar soccer and tennis for “Will the Thrill,” and he never let them see him sweat.
16) Hunter Downes – He broke QB records on the gridiron, emulated Dennis Rodman on the hardwood and cracked heads as a soccer defender.
15) Abraham Leyva – He’d be napping as game time approached, then calmly take the soccer pitch and rattle home a hat trick before halftime. Every dang time.
Dalton Martin (center), ready to unleash the magic.
14) Dalton Martin – Injuries haunted him in football and basketball, but he capped career as the first Wolf to win three throwing medals at the same state meet.
13) CJ Smith – “Captain Cool,” a three-sport standout who pitched the Wolves to their first baseball league crown in 25 years.
12) Cole Payne – The next great football star, until injuries took that (and basketball) away. Rebounded by being The Man on diamond, where he closed baseball run as league MVP.
11) Joey Lippo – A star in tennis, basketball and baseball, plus he was the second-best ballet dancer at CHS, trailing only twin sister Skyy, who is a dance lifer.
10) Cameron Toomey-Stout – Three-sport sensation who proved the doubters wrong and fully earned the moniker “Camtastic.” Best hair, best work ethic, best heart.
9) Jacob Smith – One of only two Wolf track stars (Jon Chittim in 2006 is the other) to bring home four competitive medals from the same state track meet.
8) Ben Etzell – Only Wolf to win a league MVP award in the Cascade Conference (baseball), went to state in tennis, collected 249 bruises chasing basketballs.
7) Aaron Curtin – Went to state tennis tourney in both singles and doubles, splendid basketball player, ace baseball hurler.
6) Lathom Kelley – Frequent injuries were a pain, but dude could do anything, and do it all extremely well. A truly special athlete (when healthy) and a stand-up guy.
5) Wiley Hesselgrave – Ultimate throwback to old-school athletes who just went out, did their thing, then went home. No social media, just four years of kickin’ your fanny in football and basketball.
4) Jake Tumblin – The muddier the football field or baseball diamond, the faster he ran. He’s not stumblin’, he’s rumblin’.
3) Nick Streubel – “The Big Hurt” was a man among boys in football, basketball and track and field. The anchor of both gridiron lines, he got one chance to run with the ball at the end of his junior season, and promptly busted around the corner, where it took eight Chimacum defenders to finally bring him down, a mass of bodies disappearing into a sinkhole full of mud. The only guy to emerge still in one piece? The guy in the Wolf uniform.
2) Josh Bayne – “Awesome Joshsome” broke people in half on gridiron, inspiring coach Chris Tumblin to offer the immortal “Josh had one tackle on a receiver, folded him in half like a cheap hooker who was punched in the gut by her pimp. He had to sit out for awhile and wait for his liver to start working again.” Also a terror on the baseball diamond, where he’s the last Wolf to clear the CHS fence with a round-tripper.
Hunter Smith slices ‘n dices.
1) Hunter Smith – Two-time CHS Male Athlete of the Year, league MVP in baseball, owns seven CHS football records, torched basketball nets. Consistency, consistency, consistency, in everything he did.
GIRLS:
25) Jae LeVine – The biggest heart of any athlete. Could have been miserable when life-long health issues forced her to give up basketball and volleyball. Instead, “Flash” held on to what was left, softball, becoming the ultimate spark-plug.
24) Kacie Kiel – Volleyball and basketball star who embraced every challenge with an epic smile. Hit one of the most cold-blooded buzzer-beating shots I’ve witnessed, forever destroying the psyche of an entire Sequim hoops team.
23) Payton Aparicio – Athlete of the Year winner, volleyball record-setter, tennis ace who made a great run at state tourney.
22) Lauren Rose – As solid as they come, “Mouse/Munchkin/Keebler Elf” was a volleyball, basketball and softball standout who was money from day one to her final swing.
21) Mia Littlejohn – Played like she was from Jersey, bumping and weaving and bobbing, then sticking the dagger in on both the soccer pitch and basketball court.
Maya Toomey-Stout, superstar rising.
20) ** Maya Toomey-Stout – The youngest athlete on our list, “The Gazelle” is the only female Wolf to qualify for the state track meet in four events in one year. Her volleyball spikes are teeth-rattling, basketball fans pray for her return, and, she seems a lock to shoot up these rankings in the next two years.
19) Allie Hanigan – Power and grace personified, a big hitter at the net in volleyball and an ace on the tennis court.
18) ** Kalia Littlejohn – A hot second away from being the CHS soccer career scoring leader, and (when she wants to be) a tornado unleashed on the basketball court.
17) ** Sarah Wright – In the argument for best Wolf softball player of all time, with a season left to really make her case. Toss in successful volleyball, soccer and basketball stints, and you have a natural born leader who combines power and skill with a giddy sense of humor.
16) Amanda Fabrizi – Volleyball standout who was severely underrated as a hoops supernova, tossing in that lil’ running hook time and again, then going full lock-down on defense.
15) Sylvia Hurlburt – Cheer captain and one of the best relay runners in the history of CHS track, a vital part of record-setting, medal-winning units.
14) McKayla Bailey – The Photo Bomb Queen, the best quote machine in the biz and also a dang good softball hurler who could bring the heat (and the power when she was hefting a bat) like few others.
13) Madison Tisa McPhee – A bolt of lightning on the track oval and in the horse-riding arena.
12) Hope Lodell – Record-setting ace machine in volleyball and a walkin’, talkin’ defensive web gem in softball. League MVP in volleyball, also wowed with her sideline gigs, walking everywhere while doing handstands, and ripping off pull-ups on the edge of the dugout during rain delays.
11) Lauren Grove – Promising volleyball player turned stellar soccer goalie. Basketball fireball who was a shut-down defender. A young woman who pointed at the track record board as a freshman, said, “I will be up there,” then backed it up in style.
Julia Myers, AKA “Elbows,” runnin’ the court.
10) Julia Myers – Overcame horrifying injuries to shine as a soccer, basketball and tennis star. “Elbows” was never better than when on the hardwood, attacking the boards and beatin’ the crud out of rivals, then quietly smirking as they crumbled in her wake.
9) Bessie Walstad – Miss Consistency, an absolute rock who anchored volleyball, basketball and softball teams for four years.
8) Hailey Hammer – 12 varsity letters in volleyball, basketball and softball. Capped prep career with movie-like, game-winning double into the fading sun on the prairie in final at-bat.
7) Valen Trujillo – Cartwheeling after runaway volleyballs or chasing down tennis balls into the corner, a beast of an athlete, who always remained the epitome of class. If she didn’t give up basketball after middle school, she might be #2 on this list.
6) Katrina McGranahan – League MVP in two different sports (volleyball, softball). Might have been three, if she had stayed with basketball.
5) ** Lindsey Roberts – Highest-ranked active player. As she enters senior season, the soccer/basketball/track sensation is coming for all the records. All of them.
4) Mikayla Elfrank – She cranked a home run to dead center field in Sequim, denting a carnival ride behind the fence, and just about killed a girl in volleyball with a spike off the face.
3) Breeanna Messner – Team, team, team — she lived and breathed that mantra through volleyball, basketball, softball and cheer.
2) Madeline Strasburg – “Maddie Big Time” once hit the exact same basketball shot from the exact same spot — a buzzer-beating, running three-ball from just inside the half court-line, banking the ball home to end the third quarter — in back-to-back games, a week-and-a-half apart.
Makana Stone, best I’ve ever seen. (Sylvia Hurlburt photo)
1) Makana Stone — Soccer, basketball or track, there’s never been anything like her. Most-electrifying, jaw-dropping, compassionate killer of an athlete I have covered in 28 years of writing about sports, girl or boy, and it’s not even remotely close.
