Makana Stone (23) and the Wolf girls’ hoops squad have ruled their new league with an iron fist. (John Fisken photos)
Former Wolf AD Lori Stolee deserves a large chunk of the credit for working tirelessly to get Coupeville, the smallest 1A school in the state, into a new league.
This has been a school year unlike any in recent memory at Coupeville High School.
After a decade of taking a systematic beating at the hands of large 2A schools and private schools with athletic scholarships while a member of the 2A/1A Cascade Conference, the Wolves were set free.
Thanks largely to the hard work of former CHS Athletic Director Lori Stolee (now part of the administration at Marysville-Pilchuck), Coupeville, the smallest 1A school in the state, jumped to the newly-formed 1A Olympic League.
Joining Port Townsend and Chimacum, which are much closer in size to Coupeville and are similarly public, rural, fairly isolated schools, and Klahowya (admittedly larger, but not a private sports academy), the Wolves have recaptured something that was missing for several years — a true fighting chance.
Now, it’s true. Last spring was a watershed moment for CHS, as it sent its baseball and softball teams to state, with tennis players Ben Etzell and Aaron Curtin, track star Makana Stone and golfer Christine Fields also making trips to the Big Dance.
But that achievement was attained in the postseason against other 1A schools, after the Wolves struggled mightily at times during their conference schedules.
It was a start, a great start, but the new league has been the next step that was sorely needed.
Look at the six sports which have played this year (we’re not counting any like swim in which Coupeville doesn’t have a team) — football, volleyball, boys’ tennis, girls’ soccer and boys’ and girls’ basketball.
The Wolves have 18 varsity conference wins across those sports so far, second only to Klahowya’s 27. Port Townsend has 14 and Chimacum 10.
The highlight, of course, is the Wolf girls’ basketball team, which is 6-0 in league play with three games left. They will hoist the school’s first new league championship banner since 2002.
Add in the fact the JV girls are also 6-0 and the future is a bright one for what is, right now, Coupeville’s premier program.
But it’s not just a one-team affair.
The Wolves posted a winning record in tennis (then upset Klahowya in the postseason), was competitive with eventual state champ Klahowya in soccer and came within a play of making the playoffs in football.
Even when they posted losing records, as they did in volleyball and are currently doing in boys’ basketball, it has not been the routs of before.
With King’s and Archbishop Thomas Murphy gone, a psychological block has been lifted.
Win or lose, you can see it in the eyes of the Coupeville athletes. They can compete with these schools, and it is a huge deal.
When you put banners up, you inspire the kids coming up behind you.
When you compete on a nightly basis, regardless of the sport, you draw more fan interest, you push athletes who were wavering to commit.
You build your numbers, you build your base, you build your spirit.
Do the games start earlier now? Often, yes. Are the travel arrangements still in flux? Certainly.
But those are minor things compared to what the change in leagues has given the Wolves.
Hope.
It burns again in Coupeville, and we should thank Lori Stolee for going the extra mile to bring that back before she had to leave us.
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