Coupeville Sports

Sylvia Hurlburt poses with the new school records she helped set last year as a freshman.

The young guns, fleet-footed freshmen (l to r) Lauren Grove, Mattea Miller, Carlie Rosenkrance and Valen Trujillo (who has jumped to tennis as a high schooler).

Randy King is on the hunt.

The veteran Coupeville High School track coach had 41 athletes turn out for the first day of practice Monday, but he’d always like to add some more depth.

“There are still a few capable athletes out there in the halls of Coupeville not doing other sports and we are still actively looking, hoping, and trying to persuade more girls to come on out!,” King said.

The 17 girls he already has include three returning state meet veterans in sophomores Makana Stone and Sylvia Hurlburt and junior Marisa Etzell.

That trio was part of a unit that smashed school records, tore up the Cascade Conference and claimed fifth place in the 4 x 200 at the 1A state meet. The Wolf girls finished 26th out of 47 teams in Cheney.

Stone also won the first 32 races of her high school career — best debut ever, by far, for a Wolf — and broke or helped break four school records (200, 4 x 100, 4 x 200, 4 x 400). Etzell and Hurlburt each ran on two of the record relay teams.

“They really enjoyed their experience in the relays and are looking forward to some new sprint relay team members,” King said.

The loss to graduation of sprinters Jai’Lysa Hoskins and Madison Tisa McPhee is huge, but a strong young group led by freshmen Lauren Grove and Carlie Rosenkrance is ready to step in.

First-timers Nene Maxie Stokes and Amanda Foley will also vie for spots on the sprint teams.

Junior Erin Rosenkranz returns to anchor the distance runners, while freshman Mattea Miller will join her.

Veteran throwers Heni Barnes and Briess Potter will be joined by a pack of newcomers, as CHS has a deeper-than-normal group of female athletes picking up the shot put and discus. Sophia Jebrail, Joye Jackson, Ashlyn Miller and Skyler Lawrence are also in the mix.

On the boys side, there are deeper numbers, with 11 of the 24 being returning athletes.

Senior thrower Nick Streubel and sprinter/jumper Josiah Campbell, who missed qualifying for state by one place in the 100 as a junior, anchor the squad.

Sophomore sprinters Jared Helmstadter and Lathom Kelley, junior distance runner Matthew Hampton and senior hurdler/sprinter Brandon Kelley provide depth.

When he wasn’t doing cartwheels off the gym walls, the irrepressible Lathom Kelley, also a gridiron standout, was working hard on building his body into a force of nature.

“Lathom’s speed, which was on display during football season, has taken an explosive jump due to his hard work in the weight room and he may jump to the front of this group,” King said. “Jared loves track, just came off a successful basketball season and is going to be one of our fastest as well.”

And who knows what gems may be lurking in the newcomers?

“We have quite a large group of boys out for the first time and they are enthusiastic and in some cases pretty talented,” King said. “It’s going to be a great year.”

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