Coupeville Sports

   Gabe Eck (top) and Ty Eck join Lauren Grove in celebrating a cake day today. (John Fisken photos)

Dec. 27 is a red-letter day for Wolf Nation.

At least five current and former Coupeville athletic stars popped into the world on this date, and that’s just the ones I know about.

Tennis/basketball two-way terror Marie Hesselgrave and soccer whiz kid Will Butela have moved on from CHS, so today we’ll restrict the focus to the trio who were still smack-dab in the middle of their prep sports careers — rising stars Gabe and Ty Eck and established record holder Lauren Grove.

The Ecks are only freshmen, yet have already had an impact from day one.

Both were immediate starters for the Wolf varsity football team in the fall, with Ty excelling as both a defensive back and receiver.

After an early-season injury to Hunter Downes, Gabe stepped into the most pressure-laden role on the field, quarterbacking a squad that had more than its share of problems blocking.

Despite running for his life a good deal of the season, the young hurler put up impressive numbers while learning under fire — stats which weren’t that far off from what senior Joel Walstad had compiled the season before.

Now the talented duo are deep into basketball season, and, after that, it’s expected they’ll punch their three-sport-athletes card with soccer.

Both brothers have talent for days, and, as they continue to get seasoned and fully discover what they can do, should become leaders on all their teams.

That’s a status Grove has already grown into, having matured from a talented young athlete to a confident, seasoned “old pro.”

Lauren is the very prototype of the three-sport athlete, having played something in all eight seasons she’s been in high school.

After two years of volleyball, she transitioned to soccer this fall and shocked a few people by becoming an immediate shut-down goaltender, despite having little experience.

Everyone knew she had speed (more on that later) but she also demonstrated smooth hands and an ability to read (and turn away) opposing shooters, and her growth as the season progressed was one of the biggest takeaways from a Wolf pitch squad which tied the school record for wins.

Now she’s a vital part of a CHS girls’ hoops squad which is cruising at 5-2 (including a tourney title at the Friday Harbor Tip-Off Classic) headed into a showdown with perennial power La Conner.

A ferocious ball-hawk, Grove gives the Wolves a zing on defense, while also beginning to show a willingness to step up and drop buckets on folks.

The perfect complement to Coupeville’s Big Three (Makana Stone, Mia Littlejohn, Kailey Kellner), it’s scrappy role players like Lauren who will decide how far this edition of the Wolves go.

And we haven’t even gotten to her real claim to fame, which is track.

An elegant, explosive runner, Grove already sits on the school’s record board, after being part of a transcendent relay team as a sophomore.

Before she made that cut, Lauren walked past me in the CHS gym hallway one day and pointed up at the school records, some of which have stood for three decades.

“That’s where my name is going to be,” she said, then softly smiled and skipped away.

Then she went out and backed up the (slight) boast in style, accepting congratulations but never crowing about how she had been right.

And that’s Lauren, a low-key, super-friendly (she’s never met a camera she couldn’t charm) young woman, fiercely loyal to her family and friends, one of the true bright, shining stars of Coupeville sports, for her spirit as much as her undeniable skills.

She is very easy to root for, because she is, at her core, just a great person first, and, if the Ecks want a role model as they begin their rise up the ladder, they couldn’t go wrong with emulating the girl who shares their birthday.

So, to all three of you, the established legend and the fast-rising stars of tomorrow, happy birthday. I look forward to all the highlights still to come.

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