The fleet-footed (and always comfortable) Lauren Grove. (John Fisken photos)
Lauren Bayne (WSU shirt), Mitchell Losey (headband) and Grey Rische (right) come thundering down the back stretch.
You won’t be able to see her perform at home, but the best athlete Coupeville High School has should loom large over the spring.
Wolf junior Makana Stone, who placed second in the 400 at the state meet a year ago, is back to break new records and grab more medals.
“Makana has significantly increased her strength from last year and it is really going to be exciting to see what she can accomplish,” said CHS track coach Randy King. “Her endurance is great and stronger generally means faster!”
And she’s not the only fleet-footed weapon the Wolves will deploy as they criss-cross the state for a season spent on the road (the Coupeville track is not up to par to host home meets).
Marisa Etzell, Sylvia Hurlburt, Lauren Grove and Kirsten Pelroy all have speed to burn, and, as a group, have significant postseason experience of their own.
Not to be outdone, the boys side of the roster offers blazers in Lathom Kelley and Jared Helmstadter, both of whom would like to join Stone in heading to Cheney at the end of the season.
“Jared never backs down from a running challenge and has also added the javelin to his event list this year,” King said. “Lathom is a decathlete hanging out at Coupeville.
“He can pretty much do any event he chooses and be one of the league’s best,” he added. “He is experimenting at lots of events; generally the sprints are his favorite. I hope he keeps trying all sorts of events.”
While the Wolves do not have the depth to win team meets, they do have a strong mix of veterans and newbies and King’s goal, as always, is to see those athletes progress and improve week after week.
Nailing a PR, then snapping it again and again, is the goal for all Wolf athletes.
Stone will anchor the sprints and relays, with Hurlburt (“Sylvia is absolutely determined in her march towards the top of the times list in the 100 meters”), Grove and Etzell joining her.
Grove is also putting in considerable time in the sandpit, where she competes in the long jump and triple jump.
Skyler Lawrence and Amanda Foley are the team’s primary weapons when it comes to throwing events.
“Amanda is really showing a lot of improvement in the discus and javelin, her marks will go way up from last year,” King said. “Skyler loves to throw. Her form is much improved on the discus and she is working without pause on the javelin and shot.”
The core group will be joined by newcomers including freshmen Lauren Bayne, Allison Wenzel and Abby Parker and sophomores Delaney Armstrong, Naika Hallam, Alexxis Otto and Sandra Lund-Olsen, all of whom will compete in a number of events.
Kelley and Helmstadter are joined by throwers Dalton Martin and Grey Rische, jumper/sprinters Mitchell Carroll and Connor Thompson and sprinter/thrower Mitchell Losey.
Martin, who was a strong competitor along side the departed Nick Streubel last year, has an especially bright future.
“Dalton is a really good technician and understands the dance that is the discus,” King said.
Rounding out the squad are freshmen Luke Carlson (throws), Jesse Hester (hurdles/javelin), Kenny Johnson (sprints) and Jacob Smith (sprints.)
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