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Posts Tagged ‘Track’

It’s ovalicious!!

Posted in Track, tagged , , , , on August 17, 2016| Leave a Comment »

(John Fisken photos)

Fresh, fragrant polyurethane as far as the eye can see. (John Fisken photos)

track

And from another angle.

track

A third angle?!?! Sure, why not.

long view

And the long view, looking down across the football field.

You can practically smell the new polyurethane just by looking at the photos.

Once you get done trying to scratch and sniff through your computer or phone screen, you can sit back and let the excitement bubble.

The lanes aren’t marked yet, but Coupeville High School’s new track oval continues to come more into focus with each new day.

When it’s finished, the eye-popping new orange(?) ring, which replaces the old, cracked black one, will once again allow CHS to host track meets.

The school is 17 days away from the first home football game of the new school year (Sept. 3 vs. South Whidbey), so expect finishing the track to be job #1 for everyone between now and then.

You could say they’re … racing … to finish.

Or you could not.

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Mica Shipley a cheerleader for life!!

Posted in Cheer, Track, tagged , , , , , on July 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Mica Shipley

Mica Shipley (Submitted photo)

Mica Shipley knew early on she wanted to be a cheerleader.

“I’ve been doing All-Star cheer since I was six,” she said. “I started because I was so mesmerized by all that was going on and I wanted to do that.”

Shipley will be moving to the next level this fall, when she enters Coupeville High School as a freshman.

A two-sport athlete (she also competes in track and field), she has embraced the opportunity to join the Wolf cheer squad.

“My favorite thing about cheer is tumbling and flying,” Shipley said.

She credits her mom with having “a huge impact in my life” and enjoys spending time with family and friends when she’s not busy with cheer.

“My mom is such an inspiration in my life,” Shipley said. “She is an inspiration because she never gives up and she encourages me to do the same.

“I got hurt very badly a while back and I was going to give up on cheer and if it wasn’t for my mom I wouldn’t be the person or cheerleader that I am today.”

In school, Shipley looks forward to her creative writing class, while away from the classroom she tries to spend as much time at the beach as possible.

While the battle over whether cheer should be viewed as a sport or an activity will probably rage on forever, there is no doubt how the Wolf frosh feels on the subject.

“I think that cheer is a sport, because even though we are not competing against a team we are doing just as much, maybe even more work then the football players,” Shipley said. “For example, we have to lift people in the air, which takes a lot of strength and conditioning.”

There’s also the intensive amount of work the Wolves put in under coach Cheridan Eck.

“We also have to tumble, which means a lot of practice and we have to learn all the cheers perfectly and we have to do jumps which takes a lot of stretching,” Shipley said. “So, even though we do not go against anyone, we practice like we are.

“We are going against ourselves to get better and better each game,” she added. “In my opinion, that’s a sport.”

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“I love being fit and strong!!”

Posted in soccer, Track, tagged , , , , , on July 25, 2016| 1 Comment »

Mallory Kortuem (Photo courtesy Kourtuem)

   Wolf frosh Mallory Kortuem is ready to add to her family’s history of athletic success. (Submitted photo)

Mallory Kortuem is shooting for the stars.

As she prepares for her freshman year at Coupeville High School, she’s ready to make an impact, and fast.

Following in the footsteps of her athletic inspiration — former Wolf great Erin Rosenkranz — Kortuem is aiming to soar in both of her sports.

She’ll kick off the year by joining the CHS girls’ soccer squad, with plans to run track in the spring when the school christens its new oval.

With both sports, Kortuem is ready to jump into the spotlight from day one.

“My goal for track is to get on the number one women’s 4 x 100 relay team freshman year,” she said. “One of my goals for soccer is to make varsity freshman year.”

While she enjoys both sports, it’s the pitch life, where she follows older brother Keegan, that enchants her.

“My favorite sport would be soccer because I have played since I was four years old,” Kortuem said. “And I really enjoy the challenge of contact sports.”

Her brother’s girlfriend, Rosenkranz, a rock for the Wolf soccer and track squads before graduating in 2015, is her biggest inspiration.

“Erin is my role model for sports and school and generally how to be an awesome human being,” Kortuem said.

Away from sports, the Wolf frosh enjoys rock climbing, hiking with her family and dancing with friends.

Musically she bounces from pop to rap to Latin dance music, and movie-wise, teen comedy “The DUFF” is her favorite.

As she makes her run at soccer success this fall, Kortuem is eager to add to her already strong skill-set.

“My strengths are speed and aggressiveness,” she said. “I need to work on ball handling at speed.

“I am working on increasing my overall level of skill.”

And while she may still be young, don’t discount the size of her heart and her burning desire to blaze her own successful trail.

“I love the physical challenge,” Kortuem said. “I love being fit and strong and am a very competitive person.”

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Pretty, pretty, pretty good … but not great!!

Posted in stats, tagged , , , , on July 21, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Lindsey Roberts (John Fisken photo)

   Lindsey Roberts (20) and Lauren Grove (3) were key players last year for both girls basketball and track. (John Fisken photo)

It’s time to take the next step.

Two years ago, Coupeville High School left behind the 1A/2A Cascade Conference and joined Port Townsend, Klahowya and Chimacum in starting the 1A Olympic League.

Since then, the Wolves have acquitted themselves strongly, jumping from 40 league wins and two titles (girls basketball and tennis) in 2014-2015 to 42 wins and a league-best four titles (girls basketball and tennis, plus baseball and boys tennis) this past school year.

CHS, despite trailing Klahowya 445-227 in the latest Washington Interscholastic Activities Association student body counts, has more than held its own with the Eagles, and, as a school, is well ahead of its other two league mates.

Not bad, especially when you realize Coupeville is the 6th-smallest true 1A school, and Klahowya is the 2nd-biggest.

What has been missing for the Wolves, though, is major postseason success.

A study posted today by The Columbian in Vancouver breaks down success at state tournaments across 15 sports, and it finds Coupeville was the 50th most successful 1A school (out of 64) over the past two years.

Not surprisingly, ritzy private school King’s tops the chart (by a lot), while Klahowya is #22.

That’s based largely on state titles won by the Eagles soccer programs, since the chart gives five points for a team championship.

The Wolves racked up three points in two years, earning a single point apiece for three separate teams which finished between 9th and 16th at state.

The CHS girls’ hoops program, which lost to Cashmere in the Regional (final 16) round of the state tourney this winter, nabs one.

The other two points come courtesy the Wolf track teams, with the girls (11th at state this year) and boys (15th) being recognized for their work in Cheney this spring.

So, what’s the positive?

Easy, Coupeville got some points, unlike five schools — Bush, Eastside Prep, Stevenson, River View and Wahluke, which were blanked over the past two years.

That’s got to really sting for Wahluke, which at 422.5 students, is the fifth-biggest 1A school in student body size.

But there’s also a heck of a lot of room for improvement for Coupeville to make.

The Wolves need to make that next step, turning league success into postseason success, much as they did in the early-to-mid 2000s.

A 3rd place finish by the 2002 softball squad.

Three top-eight performances by the girls’ basketball program from 2002-2005.

A long string of success in the Cheney sun by the track teams.

It’s happened before, and it can (and should) happen again.

Coupeville just needs to take that next step.

To see the Columbian story, pop over to:

How prep athletic programs rank statewide in each classification

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Just Jared? Just the best!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Boys Tennis, Happy birthday, Track, tagged , , , , on June 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Jared Helmstadter drives to the hoop. (John Fisken photo)

Jared Helmstadter drives to the hoop. (John Fisken photo)

One more time. And why not?

Traditionally, if you’re an athlete, once you graduate from Coupeville High School, I stop running birthday stories for you here on the blog.

At that point, you’ve moved on, so it’s time to flip the spotlight onto the other 23,000 Wolves trying to elbow their way into the frame.

But, Jared Helmstadter, who celebrates a cake day today, only graduated a couple of weeks ago, and he’s one of the big success stories from our run here at Coupeville Sports, so we’re bending the rules.

Sometimes you need to do that for the great ones.

And Jared is, without a doubt, one of the biggies.

He first skipped into high school right after I kicked off Coupeville Sports in Aug. 2012, and, over the next four years, he was everywhere.

Even when I tried to change his last name to Helmstadler, with an L instead of a T, he never missed a beat.

The kid who shot into the world at week 26 (a modest two pounds at the time) grew up to be the only Wolf in the Class of 2016 to play a full 12 sports in his time at the school.

Four years of tennis, basketball and track later, he exited as arguably the best-liked, most-admired athlete in his class.

And I’m not saying that lightly.

His coaches adored him. His teammates raved about him.

Jared, much like classmate Makana Stone, transcended sports.

When he applied for the scholarships given out by local photographer John Fisken, one of the interview questions the paparazzi asked of each applicant was “If you don’t win, who do you want to see win?”

Every single applicant said the same name. Spoiler alert: it was Jared.

Helmstadter himself would admit he wasn’t the most talented athlete in his class, but he was justifiably proud that he put out as much effort, showed as much heart and cheered for each and every one of his teammates like no other.

When he talked about the best moments of his prep career, he always went to team moments, slices of time when he was part of something bigger than himself.

Through four years of covering Jared, I saw a young man who will not be beaten down by rough times, who will always get up and fight, who will always look for the best in everyone around him.

The guy is, was, and will always be, a true class act and it really was an honor to be a small part of telling the world about him.

Happy birthday, Mr. Helmstadter. May the best be yet to come.

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