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Savor spring sports schedules

Posted in schedules, tagged , , , , , on February 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Softball sluggers (l to r) Izzy Wells, Audrianna Shaw, and Coral Caveness are heading back to the diamond. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s happening.

Barring any further twists or turns in the Age of Coronavirus, Coupeville High School athletes begin spring sports this coming Monday, February 22.

The first games in a shortened season are set to begin March 4, with play ending April 3.

The last time a CHS sports team competed was Feb. 11, 2020, when the Wolf girls basketball team faced Meridian in a season-ending playoff tilt.

Several weeks later, COVID-19 shut down all Washington state schools, and spring sports were eventually cancelled.

Coupeville, and its new mates in the Northwest 2B/1B League are opening with spring sports, which are all played outdoors, with hopes of then moving to fall (March 29-May 8) and winter (May 3-June 12) seasons.

With the shortened time frame, there is some small overlap with practices for the next season beginning during the last week of the preceding season.

All CHS games will be against league foes, and, in most cases, there won’t be any sort of playoffs this school year.

One early exception to that, however, is track and field, which has a league championship meet scheduled for April 3 in Coupeville.

Looking at the schedule as it sits, Wolf softball has the most games, with 12, followed by baseball (10), girls tennis (6), and track (6).

Baseball and softball both have a pair of doubleheaders, while tennis has just one opponent — Friday Harbor — as none of the other NWL teams field a net squad.

As probably goes without saying at this point, things can and may change.

To stay on top of schedules, check out:

 

School: Calendar – Coupeville School District

League: Northwest 2B/1B Athletics, Northwest 2B/1B Home Page (nw1a2bathletics.com)

 

BASEBALL:

Sat-Mar. 6 — Friday Harbor — (11:00)
Fri-Mar. 12 — La Conner — (DH) — (3:00/4:45)
Tues-Mar. 16 — @ Darrington — (4:00)
Tues-Mar. 23 — @ Orcas Island — (3:00)
Fri-Mar. 26 — Concrete — (4:00)
Tues-Mar. 30 — Mount Vernon Christian — (4:00)
Fri-Apr. 2 — @ Friday Harbor — (DH) — (4:00/5:30)
Sat-Apr. 3 — @ La Conner — (4:00)

 

GIRLS TENNIS:

Sat-Mar. 6 — Friday Harbor — (11:00)
Wed-Mar. 10 — @ Friday Harbor — (4:00)
Wed-Mar. 17 — Friday Harbor — (3:30)
Mon-Mar. 22 — @ Friday Harbor — (4:00)
Fri-Mar. 26 — Friday Harbor — (3:30)
Fri-Apr. 2 — @ Friday Harbor — (4:00)

 

SOFTBALL:

Sat-Mar. 6 — Friday Harbor — (11:00)
Fri-Mar. 12 — La Conner — (DH) — (3:00/4:45)
Sat-Mar. 13 — Orcas Island — (11:30)
Tues-Mar. 16 — @ Darrington — (4:00)
Sat-Mar. 20 — @ Concrete — (TBD)
Tues-Mar. 23 — @ Orcas Island — (DH) — (3:00/4:45)
Fri-Mar. 26 — Concrete — (4:00)
Sat-Mar. 27 — Darrington — (1:00)
Fri-Apr. 2 — @ Friday Harbor — (4:00)
Sat-Apr. 3 — @ La Conner — (4:00)

 

TRACK:

Thur-Mar. 4 — HOME meet — (3:30)
Fri-Mar. 12 — @ Lummi — (3:30)
Thur-Mar. 18 — @ La Conner — (3:30)
Thur-Mar. 25 — @ Mount Vernon Christian — (3:30)
Wed-Mar. 31 — @ La Conner — (3:30)
Sat-Apr. 3 — Northwest 2B/1B League meet @ HOME — (11:30)

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Pandemic reduces CMS athletic opportunities

Posted in Middle School, tagged , , , , on January 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

There won’t be any league basketball games for Coupeville Middle School students like Lyla Stuurmans this school year. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It will likely be a lost year.

While Coupeville High School sports teams continue to work towards a possible return to play during the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears that middle school athletes won’t have the same chances.

CHS/CMS Athletic Director Willie Smith announced Wednesday that he and other league officials have agreed to “make the difficult decision to postpone any official league games this year except for a possible track and field season later in the year.”

During a normal school year — which this is certainly not — CMS athletes would also compete in volleyball, girls and boys cross country, girls and boys basketball, and boys soccer.

Smith said there were many factors considered before the decision to cancel was made.

“The spread of our league schools in counties makes it difficult for any consistent plan in creating equitable playing opportunities,” he said.

“We are split into two separate regions and if half can play and others can’t, is that equitable, and we decided it was not.”

With regions across the state in vastly different places in terms of number of COVID cases and hospitalizations, plans to return students to in-person learning are often radically different from school to school.

Add on the crush of schools possibly trying to play shortened high school seasons, and it became too much.

“The differing plans for return to school for our middle school students is widely varied and transporting middle school students to and from practices, let alone games, would fall mainly upon our parents and we didn’t think that was feasible or equitable for all students,” Smith said.

“We were (also) concerned about field/gym/site availability, as well as a real concern about the availability of officials.”

While the news is certainly downbeat, there is some hope, however.

Smith has worked relentlessly to find ways to get his student athletes back in action, taking advantage of the state opening up the ability to practice.

He and the AD’s for the Oak Harbor and South Whidbey school districts are discussing the possibility of creating a three-team local league for the short term.

“It is very early in the planning stages,” Smith said. “Regardless of the outcome of this, I am also going to be working with our middle school coaches and administration to at least provide some intramural opportunities throughout the remainder of the year for our middle school students.”

With Coupeville moving from 1A to 2B this school year, the school is allowed to use CMS 8th graders to fill out high school teams.

But, Smith cautions this would only happen under certain circumstances.

“The short answer is no, we are not unless we need them to help salvage a program,” he said. “The intent of the rule and our philosophy of the league is that we will not bring up 8th grade students just for the sake of bringing them up, or because they are a good athlete.

“We will only bring them up if we don’t have enough high school students to create a team and participate during the season, and that is what we will do this year.”

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Bow Down to Cow Town, ’80s-style

Posted in Track, tagged , , , , on January 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Marlene Grasser, seen here with husband Jim, was a district track and field champ in 1987. (Photo courtesy Grasser family)

They were on a mission to reclaim their spot atop the podium.

And they did, in blowout fashion.

Jump back to May 15, 1987, and the Coupeville High School boys track and field team was in Stanwood, intent on winning its third District 1 title in four years.

Champs in ’84 and ’85, the Wolves fell short in ’86 as Friday Harbor claimed the team title.

But ’87 was all about Cow Town once more, as CHS rolled up 123 points, finishing well ahead of its closest competitors, Concrete (90) and Watson-Groen (72).

All in all, a much more comfortable win for the Wolf boys than the Watson-Groen girls, who barely held on to claim a 108-106 battle with Friday Harbor.

Those numbers are scrawled in ink pen across the back of a relatively thick program from that year’s district meet, part of a collection of Coupeville sports memorabilia belonging to Sandy Roberts.

The cover of said program features an animated runner reproduced by the finest dot matrix printer in the land, while inside the program are numerous handwritten notes, including some of the times and finishes.

For someone like myself, who was still back in Tumwater in ’87, leafing through the program gave me something to do while waiting for the power to blink back on after a January wind storm.

And now, with electricity once again rippling through the lines, powering computers and cell phones, I pass on my findings to you.

The district meet brought together 11 “B” schools in ’87, from Coupeville (duh) to Lopez Island and La Conner.

Also included were Anderson Creek, Arlington Christian, Concrete, Friday Harbor, Mount Vernon Christian, Mountlake Christian, Snohomish County Christian, and Watson-Groen Christian.

While four of those schools — Concrete, Friday Harbor, MVC, and La Conner — remain key Coupeville rivals as the Wolves return to the Northwest 2B/1B League this year, a couple of others remain question marks for me.

I’ve never, ever heard of Anderson Creek, and can’t seem to find anything indicating it still exists. Anyone out there have a clue?

Anyways, on the day in question, Coupeville was in fine form, claiming seven titles, including five on the boys side of the ledger.

Chad Gale (110 hurdles and triple jump) and Bill Carstensen (100, 200) were the day’s big winners, each taking two individual firsts while also running a leg on a triumphant relay squad.

The zippy duo were joined by Jay Roberts and Allen Weddell on the fastest 4 x 100 unit in the stadium.

Also standing atop the podium were Tina Barker, tops in the 800, and Marlene Grasser, undisputed queen of the 100 hurdles.

But there were other Wolves competing on that spring day as well, so here’s a look back at what went down almost 34 years ago, at least according to the penciled notes on our program.

 

1987 district meet results:

 

GIRLS:

100 — Robyn Rolain (3rd) 14.02; Karen Bailey (4th) NO TIME LISTED

400 — Rolain — NO PLACE OR TIME LISTED

800 — Tina Barker (1st) NO TIME LISTED

100 Hurdles — Marlene Grasser (1st) 16.8

300 Hurdles — Grasser (2nd) 52.8

Long Jump — Barker (6th) NO DISTANCE LISTED; Bailey — NO PLACE OR DISTANCE LISTED

 

BOYS:

100 — Bill Carstensen (1st) 11.00; Karl Mueller (7th) 12.00

200 — Carstensen (1st) 22.6; Mueller (6th) 24.8

400 — Jay Roberts (3rd) 54.4

800 — Trevor Peterson (4th) 2:15.7; Jeff Sobieski (6th) NO TIME LISTED

1600 — Sobieski (4th) 5:05.00

110 Hurdles — Chad Gale (1st) 15.3; Ed Cook (3rd) 17.7; Tony Ford (4th) 17.9

300 Hurdles — Gale (2nd) 43.4, Cook (4th) 45.3

4 x 100 Relay — Roberts, Gale, Allen Weddell, Carstensen (1st) 45.6

4 x 400 Relay — Roberts, David Ford, Cook, Sobieski (5th) 3:52.00

Shot Put — D. Ford (4th) NO DISTANCE LISTED; Dave Cox and Morgan Roehl — NO PLACE OR DISTANCE LISTED

Discus — Joe Tessaro (2nd) 114-00; D. Ford and Roehl — NO PLACE OR DISTANCE LISTED

Javelin — D. Ford (4th) NO DISTANCE LISTED; Eric Gunter and Tessaro — NO PLACE OR DISTANCE LISTED

Pole Vault — Cook (3rd) NO HEIGHT LISTED; Gunter — NO PLACE OR HEIGHT LISTED

High Jump — T. Ford (5th) NO HEIGHT LISTED

Long Jump — Weddell (5th) NO DISTANCE LISTED; Gale — NO PLACE OR DISTANCE LISTED

Triple Jump — Gale (1st) 40-06; T. Ford (5th) NO DISTANCE LISTED

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My pick? The Vicks!

Posted in Hall o' Fame, Track, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on November 19, 2020| 1 Comment »

Raven (left) and Willow Vick – bright, shining superstars. (Maria Reyes photo)

Kindness matters.

Long after the memories of their high school athletic achievements fade, Willow and Raven Vick will be remembered for the grace they showed others.

Through their schools days in Coupeville, from little tots to whip-smart high school grads, the twins amazed and dazzled.

As they grew up, they each found their own path, forged their own personalities, reached their own goals.

But, together or apart, they have one thing very much in common — the way they treat those around them, in good times and bad.

Willow and Raven benefit from having great parents, and Brian and Maria have much to be proud of when they watch their daughters.

That extends to the community which has helped shape them, and been shaped, in a very positive way, by the duo.

As they have followed their path through Cow Town, the Vick sisters have excelled in the classroom, in the music world, and on the sports field.

Always up for a photo shoot with dad. (Brian Vick photo)

They both played volleyball, finishing their prep careers as part of a highly-successful Wolf team which tied the program record for wins a year ago.

Coupeville started 12-1, won 14 matches in all, and claimed its fourth-straight top-two league finish and 10+ win season.

Along the way, the Wolves benefited from Raven’s crackling serves and Willow’s hustle and heart.

While the Vicks were denied a senior track and field season by the COVID-19 shutdown, they both took advantage of their time at the oval in previous seasons.

Raven celebrates after a successful track meet. (Brian Vick photo)

As a junior, Raven threw the shot put, discus, and javelin, competing in the league championships in all three events, and making it to bi-districts in the latter event.

Willow rounded out what would turn out to be her final track season by vying in the discus and javelin as well, along with performances in the 1600 and long jump.

And, like her sister, she qualified for the North Sound Conference Championships in three events.

Earlier in her track career, Willow, who also played for a Central Whidbey Little League juniors softball squad which went 13-3, made a splash.

As a freshman, she bounded past the competition to claim the title in the high jump at the Olympic League JV Championships.

Willow, ready to crank it. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

So, there’s ribbons, and memories, and moments which mattered to Willow and Raven, and to their family, and to their fans.

Add in all the high points in the classroom and with a musical instrument in hand, and you have a pair of young women who exemplify a lot of really great attributes.

They’re strong, they’re committed, they’re smart, they carry themselves with a sense of grace.

But, and in a world where things are out of sorts and 10,000 different versions of suck, Willow and Raven are kind.

Not because they have to be, but because they want to be.

I have seen it in public, with how they interact with their teammates on the court and around the track oval, and I have seen it in private, while sharing a car with them while driving back from volleyball postseason tournaments.

They are the same serene spirits when people are watching, and when they aren’t, and that goes a long way to why I have been so impressed with the twins.

So today, as the duo jointly celebrate their 19th birthday, I want to give back at least a little to them by inducting them into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

After this, if you pop up to the top of the blog, under the Legends tab, you’ll find them there.

Our Hall of Fame, since it’s picked by one person, has no set rules for who gets through the doors.

Sometimes, selection is for awe-inspiring play and big stats. Other times, it’s for being the absolute best you can be, in whatever way you can be.

Willow and Raven make Coupeville a better place. It’s as simple as that.

Through their actions over the years, the twins have soared as high as any prep athletes I have written about, and I know, without a doubt, their accomplishments in the future will likely be extraordinary.

So, Miss Vick, and Miss Vick, thank you.

Thank you for choosing to reach for greatness, and for always being the best of what Coupeville has to offer.

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Joy and light for the win

Posted in Hall o' Fame, Track, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on October 5, 2020| 1 Comment »

Lucy Sandahl radiates joy, on the court and off. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Lucy Sandahl brings light, happiness, and joy into the world.

And those are things we really need right now.

As the country, and, to some extent, our town, rips itself apart, marinating in ugly arguments, it’s hard at times to see the positives.

Which means we need to look harder, go deeper, and actively seek out things to celebrate.

Today, that spotlight falls on Lucy, and our praise for her is highly deserved.

With that praise comes induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

After this, if you pop up to the top of the blog and look under the Legends tab, that’s where she’ll be enshrined as a member of a select group.

Passing on the game to the next generation. (Cory Whitmore photo)

Lucy graduated from CHS last spring (which seems like four lifetimes ago), and is currently attending Seattle Pacific University with sister Sophie.

Now, I don’t think I will hurt Lucy’s feelings too deeply when I say that, based on her career stats as a Wolf volleyball player and track and field competitor, she’s not necessarily someone who immediately jumps to mind for Hall o’ Fame induction.

But she more than earned her spot in our digital clubhouse of honor because of her spirit, because of her grace, and because there was never a moment when she gave less than her best.

Lucy, as much as anyone I have written about, seemed to take such great joy in being an athlete.

She radiated it, in every photo snapped of her in action, and every time I saw her play in person.

When you’ve just smacked a spicy service ace for an undefeated Wolf volleyball squad, and your teammates are thumping their feet on the floor around you in celebration, it’s easy to look joyous.

One ace, comin’ up. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

But it’s not so easy when you’re battling to keep your lunch down after hitting the tape at the end of a brutal long-distance race on the track oval.

And yet, look at the assembled runners, most bent over in pain, some regretting their choices in life, and there would be Lucy, the smile never far away from resurfacing.

She was hurting, and yet being out there, seizing the opportunity to get the most possible out of her high school experience, running for her friends and family, meant so much to her.

“Is that seven laps … or eight laps?”

We like to say that heart matters in sports, and, if that’s true, Lucy is the perfect example of someone whose heart was three times as big as the young woman herself.

You can call her a role player, and there is nothing but respect in that assessment, because she fully embraced her status.

Which doesn’t mean Lucy didn’t work as hard as possible, in practice or games, forever trying to perfect her craft on the court or oval.

Cause she did.

What I mean is that she was not one to pout or complain about playing time.

Instead, she asked, “What can I do?” and then she pushed herself to deliver.

Lucy believed in her team, always, and was ready to do whatever was needed to help her athletic sisters prosper.

Or at least that’s how it seemed to me as I sat in the stands over the years, watching her career unfold once she and her family arrived on Whidbey after a move here from South Carolina.

It is very easy to root for Lucy, even for those of us who are supposed to be (sort of) impartial, and very easy to come away thinking she is truly a remarkable young woman.

She is a success with the books – the Salutatorian of her class – a success in the sports world, and, most importantly, a success as a kind, generous human being.

Lucy Sandahl is a Hall o’ Famer every day, in every way, and Coupeville is a better town for her having been here.

Senior Night festivities with mom Jeannie, sis Sophie, and dad Michael.

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