Payton Aparicio, coming to a Hall o’ Fame near you. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Maybe it was fate.
Payton Aparicio springs from a family rich in sports success, from her parents and grandparents to aunts and uncles and cousins galore.
From the Stuurmans trunk in the middle, to the Bepler and Aparicio branches folding around the base, the ol’ family tree is one of the strongest you will find in Coupeville athletics.
But, as talented as her relatives are, I’m going to go out on my own limb here and say Payton is the best the family has produced.
A soaring star in both volleyball and tennis, who could have been a basketball sensation as well if she hadn’t given up the sport after middle school, Ms. Aparicio is an extremely easy pick for induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
So, where that’s where we’re placing her today, as we swing open the doors and welcome her into our lil’ digital institution.
After this, you’ll find her at the top of the blog under the Legends tab, sharing space with dad Mitch.
Payton was somewhat deceptive as an athlete.
I know she worked hard, in practices and games, but she has a rare quality of making every action look effortless.
She was the very definition of smooth, regardless of the sport, almost catching you by surprise when you realized how much of an impact she was having.
And that impact was major.
When Aparicio was named Coupeville High School’s Female Athlete of the Year shortly before graduation last spring, it was a lifetime achievement prize in many ways.
Her senior athletic year had been beyond-solid, but when coaches voted, I am confident they were also looking back at the previous three years.
Remembering her precision, her power, and, this is huge, the manner in which she always carried herself.
Aparicio displayed a quiet confidence, rarely (if ever) appearing shaken by the magnitude of the moment.
Who knows if her brain was yelling madly and bouncing off the walls when she went to serve for a match. If so, she never let us see anything other than a serene, locked-in, spirit.
On the volleyball court, Aparicio could soar to the roof and smash with the best of them, while also being nimble enough to scrape dig after dig off the floor.
Her serving was impeccable, deadly and consistent, and she graduated with the school record for most aces in a single match.
From a freshman who blasted a ball into the rafters at South Whidbey, and got the ball to rest on a beam and never come back down (it may still be up there), to a senior who was team MVP on the first Coupeville squad to go to state in more than a decade, Aparicio was a quiet killer.
Her laser focus, mad skills, and assassin-like demeanor translated beautifully to the tennis court, as well.
From the moment they first stepped on the CHS court as freshmen, she and Sage Renninger were the #1 Wolf doubles duo, and they never, ever let anyone come close to taking their title.
Peppering foe after foe, they mixed precision shot-making with raw power, like when Aparicio pegged a rival with a match-winning shot, inflicting physical and emotional pain with one superbly-placed smash.
The duo ended their tennis, and high school careers, with a 4th place finish at the state tourney, winning three of four matches in the Eastern Washington heat.
Their only loss was a tough three-set affair against a private school duo who went on to win a second-straight title, and no one in the tourney came closer to upending the champs than Aparicio and Renninger.
The 4th place finish was the second-best in CHS tennis history, behind just Mindy Horr and Taniel Lamb’s 2nd place showing in 2005, and it’s fitting all four of those standout netters now share space in the Hall o’ Fame.
When I look back on Payton’s prep sports career, I see talent, I see commitment, I see accomplishment, I see a young woman who always put team first.
What do I see? I see one of the best to ever wear a Wolf uniform, that’s what I see.
