Lucy Sandahl radiates joy, on the court and off. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Lucy Sandahl brings light, happiness, and joy into the world.
And those are things we really need right now.
As the country, and, to some extent, our town, rips itself apart, marinating in ugly arguments, it’s hard at times to see the positives.
Which means we need to look harder, go deeper, and actively seek out things to celebrate.
Today, that spotlight falls on Lucy, and our praise for her is highly deserved.
With that praise comes induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
After this, if you pop up to the top of the blog and look under the Legends tab, that’s where she’ll be enshrined as a member of a select group.
Passing on the game to the next generation. (Cory Whitmore photo)
Lucy graduated from CHS last spring (which seems like four lifetimes ago), and is currently attending Seattle Pacific University with sister Sophie.
Now, I don’t think I will hurt Lucy’s feelings too deeply when I say that, based on her career stats as a Wolf volleyball player and track and field competitor, she’s not necessarily someone who immediately jumps to mind for Hall o’ Fame induction.
But she more than earned her spot in our digital clubhouse of honor because of her spirit, because of her grace, and because there was never a moment when she gave less than her best.
Lucy, as much as anyone I have written about, seemed to take such great joy in being an athlete.
She radiated it, in every photo snapped of her in action, and every time I saw her play in person.
When you’ve just smacked a spicy service ace for an undefeated Wolf volleyball squad, and your teammates are thumping their feet on the floor around you in celebration, it’s easy to look joyous.
One ace, comin’ up. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
But it’s not so easy when you’re battling to keep your lunch down after hitting the tape at the end of a brutal long-distance race on the track oval.
And yet, look at the assembled runners, most bent over in pain, some regretting their choices in life, and there would be Lucy, the smile never far away from resurfacing.
She was hurting, and yet being out there, seizing the opportunity to get the most possible out of her high school experience, running for her friends and family, meant so much to her.
“Is that seven laps … or eight laps?”
We like to say that heart matters in sports, and, if that’s true, Lucy is the perfect example of someone whose heart was three times as big as the young woman herself.
You can call her a role player, and there is nothing but respect in that assessment, because she fully embraced her status.
Which doesn’t mean Lucy didn’t work as hard as possible, in practice or games, forever trying to perfect her craft on the court or oval.
Cause she did.
What I mean is that she was not one to pout or complain about playing time.
Instead, she asked, “What can I do?” and then she pushed herself to deliver.
Lucy believed in her team, always, and was ready to do whatever was needed to help her athletic sisters prosper.
Or at least that’s how it seemed to me as I sat in the stands over the years, watching her career unfold once she and her family arrived on Whidbey after a move here from South Carolina.
It is very easy to root for Lucy, even for those of us who are supposed to be (sort of) impartial, and very easy to come away thinking she is truly a remarkable young woman.
She is a success with the books – the Salutatorian of her class – a success in the sports world, and, most importantly, a success as a kind, generous human being.
Lucy Sandahl is a Hall o’ Famer every day, in every way, and Coupeville is a better town for her having been here.
Senior Night festivities with mom Jeannie, sis Sophie, and dad Michael.
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