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Posts Tagged ‘Spring Sports Preview’

Track stars chase new success

Posted in Track, tagged , , , , on March 10, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Lexis Drake is one of 17 CHS freshmen to turn out for track and field. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The bar has been set high.

Last spring was one of the best in Coupeville High School track and field history, with the Wolf girls finishing third in the 2B team standings at the state championships.

Meanwhile, the CHS boys earned fifth, with senior Alex Murdy claiming the crown in the long jump.

He was the tenth Wolf in school history to bring home a state title.

But time moves on and Murdy and his fellow Class of 2023 mates are no longer reppin’ the red and black as a new campaign begins.

Which doesn’t mean the cupboard is bare.

CHS head coaches Bob Martin and Elizabeth Bitting have 63 athletes this year — 41 guys and 22 girls.

Coupeville’s seniors lead the pack.

There’s depth and talent, as well.

The depth is shown in the breakdown of the roster, which includes 17 seniors, 16 juniors, 13 sophomores, and 17 freshmen.

Headlining the team are four athletes who brought home state meet medals a year ago.

That’s current juniors Lyla Stuurmans (2nd in the 4 x 400, 7th in the 800, 8th in the 400), Carly Burt (2nd in the 4 x 400), Zac Tackett (7th in the discus) and Cael Wilson (8th in the pole vault).

Also returning are a number of Wolves who scored big at bi-districts.

Junior Katie Marti finished second in both the shot put and javelin last spring, missing a ticket to state by just one slot.

Katie Marti is good at throwing things.

Other bi-district runners-up from a year ago include Aleksia Jump (pole vault), Issabel Johnson (4 x 100), Preston Epp (400), and Aleera Kent (400).

Ayden Wyman (4 x 200), Nehemiah Myles (long jump), and Reese Wilkinson (discus) were third last year, while Hank Milnes (400) and Malachi Somes (1600 and 3200) finished in the top four.

Further depth comes from a strong pack of cross country runners that includes Carson Field, Erica McGrath, Reagan Callahan, and Kenny Jacobsen.

Add in veteran multi-event stars like Nick Guay, Zane Oldenstadt, and Mikey Robinett, and things look bright for the Wolves.

Wolf coaches are psyched for a new season of chasing records and medals.

“Despite the blustery and cold weather conditions, our athletes have shown incredible resilience and determination,” Bob Martin said.

“They are diligently focusing on mastering the basics while keeping their eyes set on league, districts, and the possibility of earning a state championship.”

While last year stands as a high-water mark for the CHS track program, the Wolves aren’t ready to stop there.

“With such a strong foundation and determined athletes, we are confident that this year’s team will achieve similar, if not greater, success,” Martin said.

“We are immensely proud of their dedication, hard work, and sportsmanship both on and off the track.”

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Softball sluggers seek sublime success

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 1, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Teagan Calkins? Born to be a star, baby! (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

“This group will not just phone it in, EVER!”

Softball season is back, complete with the usual rain, wind, and Kevin McGranahan’s belief in his rock-em, sock-em diamond warriors.

With 97 career wins in the bank, and seeking a second trip to state, the Coupeville High School coach is ready to come out all guns blazin’.

And he’s got the lineup to do just that, with a collection of battle-tested veterans who can kill you on offense or defense.

Juniors Madison McMillan (3B), Taylor Brotemarkle (SS), Mia Farris (OF), and Jada Heaton (OF) are back, as is super sophomore Teagan Calkins, who anchors the team while sportin’ catcher’s gear.

All can hit for power and average, and all bring plenty of experience to the diamond.

“We will use them as our leaders throughout the season and help the younger players develop into our program,” McGranahan said.

Wolf sluggers Jada Heaton (purple sweatshirt), Mia Farris (dark grey), and Taylor Brotemarkle (light grey) are ready to make a run at advancing to state.

Danica Strong, a sophomore transfer (and daughter of former CHS Athlete of the Year Danette Beckley), is a key newcomer, while a strong group of 8th graders are expected to make immediate contributions.

They would follow in the big footsteps of current freshman Haylee Armstrong, whose lethal bat and fleet feet in the outfield helped her dazzle while playing high school ball as a middle school student.

As he builds the program to compete for titles today and tomorrow, McGranahan is pleased to see a new pack of youngsters ready to rock.

“It is good to have all of them because we have no seniors this year and will be a young team,” he said. “And we will need to develop those players for next year when we have six seniors.”

As he and his assistant coaches prep for the season, McGranahan embraces the chance to combine younger players with veterans.

“The strength of our team will be its mix between youth — they don’t know what they don’t know and will go headfirst at everything — and our junior leaders that have weathered a few seasons and have seen both the league championship and also missing it by one run.

“Those experiences will help them mold this team into a contender.”

With basketball season complete, Madison McMillan returns to wrecking folks on the softball diamond.

Putting in consistent work, which McGranahan’s teams always do, will be huge.

“We will have to work at everything all season long, you can never be too ready in this game,” he said.

“We have a talented group. We are just going to be young in some positions.”

After dominating the Northwest 2B/1B League and winning titles in their first two seasons in the conference, the Wolves fell just short last season, losing the crown to Friday Harbor.

Still, CHS finished 14-6 and is 42-9 since coming back to 2B after advancing to the 1A state tourney in their final year in the classification.

“Friday Harbor will once again be our main focus as far as league play goes,” McGranahan said. “However, we can’t look past anyone, as Darrington is ready to make a move on the title if we sleep on them.

“Our team goals for this season are the same as every other sport — to win the league title and compete for a state berth.

“With that said, in order to achieve those goals, we need to improve each day and have as much fun as we can while maintaining our focus on the end goal.”

Coupeville is scheduled to play five of eight non-conference games against larger schools, while the 2B matchups are against fierce foes in Forks and Onalaska.

There’s a method to that set-up.

“This is going to be an interesting season as we have a tough non-conference schedule and should be battle tested by the end of the season,” McGranahan said.

“I can promise one thing and that is that these young ladies will be working their tails off to be ready, and if the bigger schools take us lightly, they will be in a dogfight.”

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Sluggers swing for success

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sophomore slugger Madison McMillan is back to launch more dingers. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Never back down.

Coming off of back-to-back Northwest 2B/1B League titles — without a loss in league play — the Coupeville High School softball team heads into a new season intent on continuing its strong work.

Facing a tough non-league schedule, and adjusting to life without standout pitcher Izzy Wells, will give Kevin McGranahan’s squad plenty to overcome, but that’s the plan.

“Our goals remain the same as in every season,” McGranahan said. “Have fun, win the league again, earn a trip to state and compete.

“If we continue to play as a team and for one another then we can accomplish all those goals.”

Coupeville lost four players to graduation, led by Izzy Wells and hot-hitting Audrianna Shaw, who were part of a state tourney team as freshmen.

Also gone is sophomore catcher Savina Wells, now in Florida after a family move.

While the Wolves have five seniors atop the roster — Sofia Peters, Gwen Gustafson, Allie Lucero, Melanie Navarro, and Maya Lucero — they have less on-field experience than previous groups thanks to the pandemic.

Covid swept away their freshman season before it began, then limited them to just a handful of league games as sophomores.

Last season was the first time in three years Coupeville, and its foes, were allowed to play a full season.

Sofia Peters is one of five Wolf seniors.

The current group of seniors is joined by a strong group of younger players, many of whom were starters or key contributors last season.

Current sophomores Madison McMillan, Mia Farris, Chloe Marzocca, Jada Heaton, and Taylor Brotemarkle and freshman Teagan Calkins — who saw varsity action as an 8th grader — form a strong core.

Add in current 8th graders Haylee Armstrong and Capri Anter, as well as 7th grader Rhylin Price — who can practice, but not play in games this season — and the Wolves continue to build for the future while remaining competitive today.

“They are going to be an integral piece for this program the next few seasons as our numbers are ebbing and not flowing at the moment,” McGranahan said.

However the lineup breaks down, the Wolves will retain their normal scrappiness, while finetuning their collective skill sets.

“This team will need to be able to lean on one another and play as a team and play for each other in order to succeed,” McGranahan said. “I think from what I am seeing so far at practice we are taking the right strides and will be very competitive again this year in our league.

“Our strengths will be our never say die attitude and competitiveness.

“We are never going to be out of a game and will compete to the last pitch; that is something these players take pride in.”

Melanie Navarro anchors a hard-hitting lineup.

Six of seven schools in the Northwest 2B/1B League play softball, with Mount Vernon Christian sitting out the season.

Ultimately, though, it’s the games against fellow 2B teams La Conner and Friday Harbor which will dictate Coupeville’s playoff seeding.

“As it goes every year the league title will come down to how we do against Friday Harbor,” McGranahan said.

“The gap has narrowed somewhat but I still feel we have the edge and would take our athletes over theirs all day, every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

“These young ladies never cease to amaze me with how they attack practices and games,” he added.

“We have a huge bullseye on our back — we have to be ready for everyone’s “A” game every time we play.”

To prepare, the Wolves will put in time and effort every day.

“We will be working on our softball IQ this season and creating a standard for this program going forward,” McGranahan said.

“We are always working on the offense and defense in practice but this season we will also focus on the little things and the more technical aspects of the game.

“We chose to schedule a VERY tough out of conference schedule so we can get ourselves ready for the post season and state should we earn a spot,” he added.

“I am challenging these players to answer the call and show us what they have.”

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“We want to be the team of details”

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on February 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf junior Peyton Caveness is a key returning player for CHS baseball. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

They’re chasing that state tourney dream.

The Coupeville High School baseball team came within a play here, a play there of earning the 10th trip to the big dance in program history last spring.

But it wasn’t to be, as the Wolves, coming off of a regular-season Northwest 2B/1B League title, fell 3-2 to Friday Harbor in a winner-to-state, loser-out playoff game.

Jump forward a year, flip out coaches, with former assistant Steve Hilborn taking the reins after Will Thayer’s move to Vegas, and Coupeville is back on the chase.

The Wolves lost five players to graduation, including league MVP Hawthorne Wolfe and All-League picks Xavier Murdy and Cody Roberts.

But Steve Hilborn can still put together a rock-solid lineup which is anchored by All-League players Scott Hilborn and Jonathan Valenzuela and features a wealth of talented young stars.

Some of the names may be different, but the job remains the same.

“Simple, sweep Friday Harbor, win league, go to state,” was Steve Hilborn’s reply when asked about goals.

The schools, which split two regular-season games last spring, are set to play three times this year.

Game #1, on Friday Harbor, is Mar. 28, while the Wolverines travel to Coupeville Apr. 18. Things wrap up May 4 back on Friday Harbor for the regular-season finale.

While that three-game series will likely dictate who wins the league title, Steve Hilborn is not looking past anyone in the seven-team NWL.

“Friday Harbor is the obvious one – I don’t believe they lost too many seniors from last year,” he said.

“But also Mount Vernon Christian, and Orcas had some good young talent and might surprise some teams this year.”

Steve Hilborn expects pitching to be his team’s biggest strength, with seniors Scott Hilborn and Valenzuela teaming up with freshman Chase Anderson to form the core of the staff.

While Anderson is only a fab frosh, he already has extensive varsity experience, having been a starting infielder and pitching for the Wolves as an 8th grader.

“The Magic Man” was the backup QB for the Wolf varsity football team as a freshman, leading the team in the second half of its state playoff game, and was a key member of the CHS varsity boys’ basketball squad.

“I think our pitching will be solid with our three main starters,” Steve Hilborn said. “I don’t think it’s just nepotism, but Scott was a huge part of all aspects of our game last year and we’ll need him to anchor the pitching staff this year.

“I expect Jon and Chase to be our other two main starters, with a few other players carrying the remaining load.”

First-Team All-Conference player Scott Hilborn is back for his senior season.

The team’s biggest question mark is likely behind the plate, with the team having lost the always-steady Murdy.

“Catcher is going to be a huge void to fill with Xavier gone,” Steve Hilborn said.

“We are looking at Peyton (Caveness) and Jon for that spot with Johnny (Porter) in there as well.”

The Wolves would love to see their offense kick things into gear, taking some of the pressure off of their pitching staff. Not every game has to be a low-run thriller.

“When it comes to offense you never know who might surprise you,” Steve Hilborn said. “Cole (White) and Peyton came through with some clutch hits last year and we expect more of that this year.

“Little too early to tell, but historically we haven’t hit that consistently and we want to change that,” he added. “We want every at-bat to have a plan and an approach.

“We might still strike out in a good battle, but, if we follow our approach and don’t flail away at three bad pitches, it can still be a win.”

The first day of practice attracted a solid group of young players, though the Wolves are still interested in adding bodies. At the 2B level, that can include 8th graders.

“We have quite a few freshmen, several of which played as 8th graders last year,” Steve Hilborn said. “At the first practice we had three new faces — Jayme Carranza, Parker Fuller-Hewitt, and David Dominici.

“We would like a few more players to fill out two teams, and we would love some 8th graders if any are interested.”

However the roster breaks down, the Wolves and their new head coach aim to bring a smile to the faces of old-school fans.

“We want to be the team of details,” Steve Hilborn said. “To do the little things right that add up to runs at the plate, outs on defense, and eventually wins.”

Steve Hilborn plots strategy.

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Diamond queens chase sweet success

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , on March 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Senior Mckenna Somes is a key returning player for the Coupeville High School softball squad. (Jackie Saia photos)

How do you follow up perfection?

Hopefully with a lot more of the same.

At least that’s the goal for the Coupeville High School softball program, which is coming off a 12-0 run during a pandemic-shortened 2021 season.

“Big expectations for this season!” said Wolf coach Kevin McGranahan.

“Our goals are to win the league, be the number one seed for districts, and go to state and cause a whole lot of havoc once there.”

The last time any softball teams had a chance to advance to the big dance, way back in 2019, that’s exactly what Coupeville did – cause some havoc.

Playing in the 1A classification at the time, the Wolves, with freshman hurler Izzy Wells firing BB’s from the pitcher’s circle, thrashed highly rated Deer Park and came within a play of upending Cle Elum.

That capped a three-games-in-one-day jaunt which kicked off with a game against eventual state champ Montesano.

Coupeville was primed for more, and then, whammo, pandemic city.

A 2020 season completely erased by Covid, then a 2021 one chopped down to just league contests, with no playoffs.

But as Wells and hard-hitting Audrianna Shaw — the other remaining member of the 2019 state tourney team — take the field for their senior season, things are looking up.

Coupeville has a full 20-game regular-season schedule which includes non-conference matchups with bigger schools such as Lynden Christian and South Whidbey.

Plus, the promise of the postseason is a thing again.

“The girls need this,” McGranahan said. “I hope that we can play a normal season and playoffs and they can finally put this behind them.”

Wells and Shaw are joined by returning players such as senior Mckenna Somes and juniors Allie and Maya Lucero.

“They will anchor our defense and provide the offensive spark we need,” McGranahan said.

Allie Lucero is a weapon on both offense and defense.

Coupeville has a deep roster, with a strong pack of nine freshmen making the jump to high school ball after finishing their little league careers with a fourth-place finish at the state tournament.

Those young Wolves, players like Taylor Brotemarkle, Madison McMillan, and Savina Wells, can contribute today and tomorrow.

“We have 22 girls out this season and every one of them are essential to the program and getting us to our goals,” McGranahan said.

“The freshmen will be key to carry the program into the future seasons and will have big moments this season as well.

While the Wolves crushed their way through the Northwest 2B/1B League last season, outscoring foes 154-41 across those 12 wins, McGranahan takes nothing for granted.

In particular, he has his eye on Friday Harbor, which will be young but also is likely to “be our toughest test in the league.”

Whether the foes hail from the NWL or not, McGranahan and his players will approach each game with an eye on always getting better.

“We need to work on our softball IQ,” he said. “We are a young team and need to get softball smart.

“Great athletes — just need to harness the softball knowledge.”

Coupeville has a power pitcher, strong hitters, steady defenders, and a few secrets, as McGranahan is keeping some things close to the vest.

Asked about his team’s best points, the veteran coach just smiled.

“Everyone will see our strengths soon enough. Not gonna give out that info,” he said with a laugh, before going right back to work.

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