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You say you want a war?!!

Posted in Athlete Supreme, tagged , , , , on May 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   25 CHS athletes (16 seniors, five juniors, three sophomores and one freshman) enter the arena and one emerges Monday as the 2018 Athlete Supreme.

It’s time for everyone to get a little mad.

That crackle of energy you feel in the air, the sense that my page hit numbers are about to explode, that certainty that someone, somewhere, will pitch a fit about a contest with no rules, it’s all here.

Welcome to the 6th annual battle royal for the Coupeville Sports Athlete Supreme.

In which the winner gets absolutely nothing but a warm glow in their chest.

Anyway, for those new to May’s most polarizing event, here’s a breakdown.

I nominate 25 Coupeville High School athletes, you get 100 hours to vote, with no rules or restrictions, and then we declare a winner.

Simple, yet sure to drive people insane.

The previous winners, in case you’ve forgotten:

2013 – Nick Streubel
2014 – Amanda Fabrizi
2015 – CJ Smith
2016 – Hunter Smith
2017 – Joey Lippo

How did I come up with this year’s nominees?

There’s one hard and fast rule – you must have made a SIZABLE impact on TWO VARSITY teams at CHS during the 2017-2018 school year.

With much respect to Derek and Aram Leyva (soccer), Veronica Crownover (softball), Jacob Smith (track), Ashley Menges (volleyball) and other one-sport standouts, you’re stars, you’re just not eligible for my fake award.

And yes, the final cut-down from 30 to 25 was brutal, and yes, I once again threatened to punch myself during the heated argument.

Anyway, on to the poll itself.

Voting starts 9 AM Thursday, May 10 and closes 1 PM Monday, May 14.

Vote as many times as your lil’ heart desires. There are no restrictions, no caps, no cool-down periods — at least from me.

Welcome to Thunderdome.

 

Your nominees (in alphabetic order):

Payton Aparicio (SR) — Team MVP in volleyball, set school single-game record for service aces; team captain in tennis, won third straight league doubles crown.

Kyla Briscoe (SR) — Led volleyball in kills, lock-down defensive ace who hit her share of big buckets in basketball.

Danny Conlisk (JR) — First CHS cross country runner to advance to state since 2010; well on his way to returning to state in track for third straight season.

Hunter Downes (SR) — Broke school career records as a QB, led basketball team in rebounding, key defender on soccer team which won first playoff game in six years.

Mikayla Elfrank (SR) — Ferocious hitter in volleyball who almost killed a girl with a spike to the face; #1 scorer in basketball until an injury.

Matt Hilborn (JR) — Two-way star in football, one of the top pitchers and hitters on a baseball team which rolled to a league title.

Jake Hoagland (SR) — Solid contributor in football and baseball who was on receiving end of strike from Downes which broke school career TD passes record.

Mallory Kortuem (SO) — Key defender on soccer squad, standout track star in multiple events who shattered school record in pole vault.

Joey Lippo (SR) — Front-line player on three teams (tennis, basketball, baseball) and a league champ in tennis.

Hope Lodell (SR) — Olympic League MVP in volleyball, where Wolves won all 27 sets played; four-year starter in softball, where she’s a defensive demon in center.

Katrina McGranahan (SR) — Killer at the net and killer at the service stripe for a volleyball team which went to state for first time since 2004; rolling towards a second-straight Olympic League MVP award in softball.

William Nelson (SR) — League champ in tennis, captain (and #3 scorer) on boys soccer squad which destroyed five-time state champ Bellevue Christian in playoff opener.

Sage Renninger (SR) — Ever-steady captain in soccer and tennis; won third-straight league doubles title in tennis.

Lindsey Roberts (JR) — Top defender in soccer (who also can score from distance), #1 scorer and rebounder in basketball, on her way to winning the most state track medals of any girl in CHS history. 

Kyle Rockwell (SR) — Had a season-defining play in three sports. Forced and recovered fumble in football finale, had rebound and put-back to deny Klahowya basketball title and threw out runner at the plate to end game and propel baseball to league crown. 

Lauren Rose (SR) — Team spark-plug in volleyball and softball who capped an amazing four-year athletic run by leading both her squads to league titles.

Emma Smith (JR) — Among team leaders in kills and blocks for volleyball team; emerged as track team’s top thrower, where she’s headed to districts in shot put and discus.

Hunter Smith (SR) — Owns seven CHS football records, finished as 12th highest career scorer in boys basketball history, stone-cold lock for Olympic League MVP in baseball.

Scout Smith (SO) — Major contributor in three sports (volleyball, basketball, softball) who is battling for the team lead in hits as diamond season unfolds.

Ethan Spark (SR) — Deadly three-point marksman and #2 scorer during basketball season, captain on the soccer squad. 

Cameron Toomey-Stout (SR) — From a kid who wasn’t 100 pounds as a freshman, finished career as one of Coupeville’s best receivers/defensive backs, ever. Brought insane energy to basketball, currently running towards first trip to state in track and field.

Sean Toomey-Stout (SO) — A beast in the first half of football, among state leaders in tackles and Coupeville’s #1 rusher until an injury. Returned to crush people in track and field alongside siblings.

Julian Welling (SR) — Anchored both lines in football, among team leaders in baseball in RBIs, average, intentional walks and being plunked.

Genna Wright (FR) — Shattered CHS girls soccer single-season record for most goals by a freshman, then picked up a tennis racket for first time and rose to #1 singles by postseason.

Sarah Wright (JR) — Starting goalie in soccer, force in the paint in basketball, superstar in softball, where she leads team in almost every offensive category and is vocal team leader.

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It’s dandy to be Randy!!

Posted in Polls, tagged , , , , on April 18, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   CHS track guru Randy King unleashes a voting tsunami. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

“It’s good to be the king, baby!”

Randy King’s fan club stays up late.

When I went to bed Tuesday night, the battle in the 2nd annual CHS Coach Supreme poll was a very-close, three-person tussle.

By the time I emerged from my covers Wednesday morning, the Wolf track guru had emerged as a solid winner, holding off the combined forces of softball coaches Kevin and Justine McGranahan.

King, who has the most seasons of any active coach at the school, covering past stints in basketball and football and his current run in track, follows in the wake of Ryan King (no relation), who won the poll in its inaugural season.

Despite the fact I’m 99.99% certain he didn’t cast a single vote for himself, Randy loyalists got their man a totally prestigious, and totally imaginary, award.

He finished with 1,024 votes, which accounted for 22.82% of the 4,487 cast.

Rounding out the top five were Kevin McGranahan (605), Justine McGranahan (580), track assistant Sylvia Hurlburt (400) and volleyball head man Cory Whitmore (363).

There was a field of 30 coaches in the poll, covering everyone who was a head or assistant coach at Coupeville High School during the 2017-2018 school year.

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Choose your adventure!!

Posted in Polls, tagged , , , , on December 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville’s athletic future, like this basketball, is up for grabs. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

First, the bomb hit. Now, the hot takes are raining down, as everyone and their mother chimes in with an opinion.

If you were asleep at the wheel Wednesday, here’s the break-down:

Coupeville High School is leaving the 1A Olympic League at the end of the school year. Come next fall, Wolf athletes will have a new batch of rivals.

Washington state divides athletics into six classifications (4A, 3A, 2A, 1A, 2B and 1B), and, moving forward, CHS has two primary options.

One, which is ongoing, is a bid to move back down to 2B, where Coupeville lived and prospered for decades.

CHS has always been one of the smallest 1A schools in the state, and, currently, its student body numbers for grades 9-11 fit nicely into 2B parameters.

But, Washington Interscholastic Activities Association classification counts last for four years. With the last one in 2016, Coupeville is locked-in as a 1A school until 2020 … unless the WIAA grants a reprieve.

That decision arrives Jan. 28.

If CHS gets approval, it’s likely bound for its old time stomping grounds, the Northwest League, which currently houses 2B schools La Conner, Concrete, Darrington, Orcas Island and Friday Harbor and 1B Mount Vernon Christian.

Instead of giving up 75-250 students to almost all of our main rivals, we would be facing schools which are mirror images of Coupeville. Or, in a lot of cases, smaller.

Plus, it would reignite long-time rivalries with schools that current Wolf athlete’s parents and grandparents once faced on a regular basis.

If the WIAA says no, you’re 1A until 2020, then CHS likely heads in the direction of its other old time stomping grounds, the Cascade Conference.

Or, more appropriately, what is rising from that league’s ashes.

King’s, Granite Falls, Sultan, South Whidbey and Granite Falls (all 1A schools if Granite Falls gets WIAA approval to drop down from 2A) have defected, shedding 2A schools Cedarcrest and Archbishop Thomas Murphy.

Next fall, those five schools (and possibly Coupeville) will launch the 1A North Sound Conference.

Reuniting with Island arch-rival South Whidbey in a league setting is the main selling point of that scenario. Also, there’s always something to be said for competing at the highest possible level.

I know what direction I hope we go in, but, since there’s a poll below, I’m staying neutral.

So, here’s where I ask you, the reader, what do you hope to see?

The decision will come down to the WIAA and Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith.

The former is a fickle master (witness its fleeting “punishment” of Bellevue football), but I have complete faith in the latter, so we’re good.

But, until our path is set, you can vent and dream and argue all you want. So get at it. Choose what you want Coupeville’s next athletic adventure to be.

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Pick your pic!!

Posted in Photos, tagged , , , , , on November 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »

“I can touch the moon, mom!” (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

“I … am … outta here!!”

“That’s gonna leave a mark.”

“And then South Whidbey said they could beat us…”

“She’s like a freakin’ Terminator out there…”

“They gave us sass, so we made ’em eat grass!!”

“We’re going to state!” (Konni Smith photo)

“Eat hot death from above!!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“I love you, sis.” (Beth Stout photo)

   “Hey coach, I found your old MySpace account … wait, is that a mullet!?!?!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

I’ve written a lot of words here on Coupeville Sports, but I realize where my page hits really come from.

Photos. Photos. And, yes, more photos.

Whether snapped by Shelli Trumbull or John Fisken or David Stern or any of a thousand Wolf moms (and dads), glossy pics are the real power behind the throne.

So, as we head into a new sports season, I decided to take a quick look back at the one which just finished, and do something I haven’t done before — pick my favorite pics.

These 10 aren’t necessarily the ones which got the most clicks (team photos are always a magnet), and they don’t cover every fall sport.

But, at this moment, they are some of my personal favorites — ones which I think capture the essence of high school sports in a special way.

So, which one do you like the most? Let me know.

Our poll for the “Photo of the Fall” kicks off at 7 PM Sunday and goes 48 hours, ending at 7 PM Tuesday.

Vote as often as you like. Wild West rules, no restrictions whatsoever.

What does the winner get? A nice warm glow in their chest(s), so, they got that going for them, which is nice.

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Time to hoop it up!!

Posted in Basketball, Polls, tagged , , , , on July 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   The shorts were shorter, the three-ball was non-existent and #35 set scoring records in the ’60s which I think we will find still stand. (Photo courtesy Jeff Stone)

It was a donnybrook.

Five sports entered the polling arena, and an hour later it was apparent we were locked in a death battle.

My little 48-hour poll to determine which CHS program deserved to get the first push in an effort to add to the school’s current record boards (track, volleyball, football) drew a lot of attention, and a fair amount of votes.

7,173 of them.

When the voting booth closed at 9 AM Friday morning, these were the final stats:

Basketball – 3,721
Softball – 3,044
Baseball – 198
Tennis – 188
Soccer – 22

That capped a battle where softball was up by 300+ votes, basketball flipped the tables to take a 400+ vote lead, softball cut the margin to a mere three votes Thursday night, then basketball put on a full-court press for the “win.”

So, what does that mean?

It does NOT mean softball or any of the other sports will not get their own record board.

My hope is to one day see glossy record boards raised for every CHS sport, a way to document the best achievements of the past while giving current Wolves something to aim at.

But, as was shown in the effort to bring football’s board up to date, there’s a lot of work involved in making these things a reality.

This poll was a way to give the people a say in which sport I direct my attention at first.

Researching 117 years of CHS history is not a simple task, especially when there is no magical “stat room” where a chain-smoking secretary of olden days faithfully filed away info.

We have to track down score books (or at least the ones which didn’t get thrown away), go through newspaper stories and be detectives.

Do all that, and then it’s time to harass the Booster Club into footing the bill for new boards and school officials into letting us hang them in the gym.

It’s a process, but one which hopefully will flow easy now that I’ve trod this path twice — once for the mammoth Wall of Fame in the CHS gym and then again with the football records.

So, I have my mission.

From Jeff Stone to Makana Stone, leave no stone unturned as we document basketball’s rich history in Cow Town.

How can you help?

First, if you have any CHS basketball info from any era — score-books, clippings, stat sheets, photos, etc. — send them my way.

My email is davidsvien@hotmail.com and my mailing address is 165 N. Sherman, Coupeville, WA 98239.

Second, take a moment to reach out to Keven R. Graves, the head honcho at the Whidbey News-Times and call upon his sense of civic duty.

Email him at kgraves@whidbeynewsgroup.com and maybe say:

We know your “prodigal son,” David, is an idiot, and he needs to stop making critical comments about the Whidbey newspapers he once happily cashed checks from.

But don’t let his lack of social skills stand in the way of the two of you continuing to work together to embrace and celebrate Coupeville sports history.

Don’t close the News-Times archives to him.

Cause, if nothing else, it’s easier to throw things at him when he’s sitting a mere five feet away from your office.

And finally, when you support Coupeville Sports, through donations, ads or purchases of my book, you keep me out of the dish pits and give me time and support to keep on writing while also accomplishing side projects like this.

Together, we can shine a spotlight on our local sports history, honor the past, inspire the present and spark the future.

A new game begins. Time for tip-off.

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