Tyler King | Coupeville Sports

Posts Tagged ‘Tyler King’

Still the trail King!!

Posted in Cross Country, tagged 1A state meet, CHS Wolves, cross country, Kenneth Rooks, Tyler King on July 16, 2018| Leave a Comment »

In 21 seasons of the 1A state cross country meet being a 5K, no one has run the course as fast as Coupeville’s Tyler King did in 2010. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s a new day on the trail.

As Coupeville High School relaunches its cross country program this fall, it’s the first time in two decades-plus that Wolf harriers have been able to compete without having to train and travel with another school.

So, it would be easy to assume CHS doesn’t have much of a history in the sport.

To which I say, au contraire, mon frère.

The Wolves have two individual state champs in the sport, one of whom, Natasha Bamberger (1985), is the new head coach for the runners.

The other top-of-the-podium finisher was Tyler King, who won the boys crown in 2010.

That’s the most-recent state title for any Wolf, in any sport, but his performance that year stands out for another reason.

Since the WIAA bumped the state meet from three miles to a 5K (3.10686 miles) before the 1997 season, no runner at the 1A level, boy or girl, has covered the ground in Pasco as quickly as King.

He stormed to the title in 15 minutes, 16.9 seconds, blitzing runner-up Todd Jackson of Elma (15:47.5) by half-a-minute.

Between 1997 and 2009, the fastest 1A runner had hit the tape at 15:38, while only two of the seven winners since King graduated have broken 15:30.

Both of those have come in the last two years, with College Place senior Kenneth Rooks coming the closest last fall, when he covered the course in 15:18.8.

While Rooks made a significant run at King’s mark, the former Wolf still stands as the best in 1A through 21 seasons of 5K state meets.

And it almost didn’t happen.

Through the first three years of his prep career, King trained, traveled and COMPETED with Oak Harbor, since Coupeville didn’t have a cross country program.

Facing off with 4A runners, he steadily improved, finishing 98th (17:40) at state as a freshman, 22nd (16:05) as a sophomore and 5th (15:33) as a junior.

Then, OHHS dropped from 4A to 3A and busted up its deal with CHS.

King (and any other Wolves) could still train and travel with the Wildcats.

But, once the postseason began, he broke apart and ran in a Coupeville uniform, returning to the same 1A level he normally competed in during basketball and track.

After that revamped deal was later scotched, Coupeville set up a deal with fellow 1A school South Whidbey, allowing a handful of runners to train and travel with the Falcons, but compete as Wolves.

Now that CHS is back in the game full-time, harriers like Danny Conlisk, who, last fall, was the first Wolf to make it to state since King’s title, can try to build on the legacy he left behind.

A legacy that starts with a record no other 1A runner has touched in 21 seasons.

1A boys individual state champs 1997-2017 (the 5K years):

1997 – Ned Miller (Darrington) 16:04.6
1998 – John Russell (Freeman) 15:47
1999 – Todd Arnold (Ocosta) 16:08
2000 – Adam Roe (King’s) 16:47
2001 – Reid Carrell (Freeman) 16:12
2002 – Brandon Thompson (King’s) 16:26
2003 – Tom Wyatt (Charles Wright) 15:38
2004 – Alex Crabill (Charles Wright) 16:09
2005 – Peter Browne (Charles Wright) 16:36
2006 – Rigoberto Jimenez (Royal) 16:17
2007 – Huberto Jimenez (Royal) 16:18
2008 – Quinton Decker (Port Townsend) 15:56
2009 – Bereket Piatt (Port Townsend) 16:10
2010 – Tyler King (Coupeville) 15:16.9
2011 – Hap Emmons (King’s) 15:44
2012 – Dillon Quintana (Mount Baker) 15:50
2013 – Graham Peet (Northwest) 15:50.78
2014 – Ryan Clarke (Port Townsend) 15:37.4
2015 – Tibebu Proctor (Northwest) 15:32.10
2016 – Tibebu Proctor (Northwest) 15:22.3
2017 – Kenneth Rooks (College Place) 15:18.8

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CHS cross country reborn?!!

Posted in Cross Country, tagged CHS Wolves, cross country, Natasha Bamberger, revival, Tyler King on April 20, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Is cross country returning to Coupeville High School? The agenda for Monday’s School Board meeting says it’s likely. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The Wolves may reclaim the trail.

One of the most storied athletic programs at Coupeville High School is a quick vote away from being reborn.

When the agenda for Monday’s School Board meeting hit the internets tonight, buried down deep under new business was this little nugget:

“Approve proposed High School Cross Country Program, Fall 2018.”

That means, barring a last-second plot twist from board members, which is doubtful since the proposal arrives with the full support of Athletic Director Willie Smith, Coupeville’s harriers will once again operate out of their own school.

Wolf cross country boasts state title winners in Natasha Bamberger and Tyler King and has 10 tiles on the school’s Wall of Fame, covering league, district and state meet accomplishments.

But there hasn’t been an active program operating out of CHS since the late ’90s.

When King ran, he trained and traveled with Oak Harbor, competing as part of the OHHS program until his senior year.

That season there was a change in the agreement between the two Island schools, and King pulled back on a Coupeville uniform.

After running alongside the Wildcats in the regular season, he went on his own for the postseason, capping his career with a 1A state title.

The past two seasons the Wolves have sent a handful of runners to South Whidbey, where they trained and traveled with the Falcons but competed as Coupeville athletes.

Two of the three harriers from this past fall, Danny Conlisk and Sam Wynn, currently a junior and freshman, respectively, are likely to anchor the new team if it’s approved.

The new cross country program would begin as Coupeville jumps to the new 1A North Sound Conference in the fall.

After a four-year run in the Olympic League, the Wolves are uniting with King’s, South Whidbey, Granite Falls, Sultan and Cedar Park Christian (Bothell) to form a new league.

Bamberger is the most-decorated harrier in CHS history, helping the 1982 Wolf girls squad win a league title and place 4th at state as a team during her freshman season.

Three years later, she won a state title as a senior.

Hearing the news of a revival, her smile was as quick as her legs used to be as they churned down trails.

“That is awesome,” Bamberger said. “So exciting!”

Coupeville cross country history:

1975 — Boys — 9th at State

1976 — Boys — 5th at State

1977 — Boys — Cascade League champs

1977 — Boys — District champs

1977 — Boys — 5th at State

1981 — Girls — 8th at State

1982 — Girls — Cascade League champs

1982 — Girls — 4th at State

1985 — Natasha Bamberger — State Champ

2010 — Tyler King — State Champ

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The students become the teachers!!

Posted in Cross Country, tagged Adrianna Royal, CHS Wolves, cross country, Sacramento State, Seattle University, Southern Oregon, track and field, Tyler King, U-Dub on October 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Oak Harbor grad Adrianna Royal is in her second season as a cross country and track coach at Southern Oregon University. (Dena Royal photo)

Tyler King, who has the most state track meet medals in Coupeville High school history, has joined the coaching staff at Seattle University. (Photo property of SU Track and Field)

Two of the best runners to spring from Whidbey Island, Tyler King and Adrianna Royal, have finished their days as college standouts.

But that doesn’t mean they’ve left the track and trails too far behind.

King, who won three state titles for Coupeville High School, two in track (1600 and 3200) and one in cross country, finished his prep career with 11 state meet medals, the most in school history.

That attracted the interest of the University of Washington, where he went on to become an NCAA All-American while competing in both sports for the Huskies.

King was the captain of the 2016 U-Dub harriers, who placed 8th at the national meet, and graduated in 2016.

These days, he’s an assistant coach in both sports for Seattle University, having joined the staff of first-year Redhawk coach Kelly Sullivan.

While it might be his debut at SU, the head coach has a distinguished career, giving King an opportunity to learn from a legend.

A longtime track and cross country coach at Oregon State, after stints at Willamette and Auburn, Sullivan owns 24 Coach of the Year awards.

Royal, who competed for Oak Harbor High School and Sacramento State, has a prominent place on the list of “Wolves who could have been.”

After running in Coupeville during her early days, she took her sterling skills off to the bright lights of Oak Town, where she went to state in the 800 and 1600.

Steeplechase was Royal’s prime sport, however, and she twice placed second in the nation at the Junior Olympics.

When college swung around, she joined premier programs at Sacramento State, where she was a vital part of four straight Big Sky Conference outdoor track and field titles.

Royal graduated in 2016 holding the seventh-best 3,000 meter steeplechase time in school history.

As a coach, she’s a year ahead of King, having accepted a position at Southern Oregon University last year, where she’s an assistant distance running and steeplechase coach.

In Royal’s first year, the Raiders men’s cross country squad won the NAIA title. During track season, four of her distance runners hit All-American times, while one captured a title at 5,000 meters.

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“The Gazelle” glides into history!!

Posted in Track, tagged CHS Wolves, Jon Chittim, Maya Toomey-Stout, Track, Tyler King on May 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Freshman Maya Toomey-Stout will be the first Wolf track athlete since 2010 to compete at state in four events in one season. (Maria Reyes photo)

The question loomed large at the start of spring.

Which way would “The Gazelle” run?

During her middle school days, Maya Toomey-Stout was a standout in both track and softball, equally capable of stunning foes on the oval or the base-paths.

In Coupeville’s version of The Decision, the Wolf freshman followed up volleyball and basketball stints by choosing to spend her rain-filled spring helping debut the new CHS track facilities.

And it paid off (maybe not for softball coach Kevin McGranahan), as the serene supernova blitzed the field, qualifying for state in four different events.

When she and her teammates land in Cheney this weekend, Toomey-Stout is slated to run in the 100 and 200, while also running a leg on 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 squads.

She’s one of two Whidbey Island athletes to qualify in four events, along with South Whidbey junior Sophia Nielsen, who punched her ticket in the 100 and 300 hurdles, triple jump and long jump.

For Coupeville, Toomey-Stout is the first Wolf to pull off the feat since Tyler King ran in the 800 and 4 x 400, while winning titles in the 1600 and 3200 back in 2010.

Jon Chittim set the gold standard for CHS track athletes, remaining the only Wolf to medal in four events at the same state track meet.

He was a part of three titles (200, 400, 4 x 400) in 2006, while also finishing 7th in the 100, just a second off of a fourth championship.

As far as I can tell from my research, Toomey-Stout is the first Coupeville girl to compete at state in four events in one season.

With the Wolves sitting less than 19 hours from departure for Cheney (7:30 AM Thursday), that tidbit tops our list of facts you can casually drop into conversation if you want to appear to be a track savant.

Other fast facts:

Coupeville finished 12th (girls) and 15th (boys) in the team standings at state last season.

Best finishes in school history? The Wolf boys were 4th in 2006 and 2008, the girls 5th in 1984.

Sparking the solid team numbers last year were second-place finishes in the 400 (Makana Stone) and discus (Dalton Martin), two of Coupeville’s nine medals (five boys, four girls).

That was the school’s best showing since 2008.

That year the Wolf boys claimed seven medals, including a title in the 3200 from Kyle King, and the girls brought home two, led by Kyra Ilyankoff’s second-place finish in the javelin.

CHS boasts 15 state titles in track all-time (with another two in cross country).

Best year? 2006, when the Wolf boys stood atop the podium in the 200, 400, 3200 and 4 x 400.

Boys have won 10 of the 15 titles, including the last nine.

Most successful event? The 3200, where Natasha Bamberger (3), Kyle King (3), Tyler King (1) and Jeff Fielding (1) combined to bring home eight titles.

After that, it’s the 1600, with three titles (one each from Bamberger and both King boys), then one title apiece in the 800 (Amy Mouw), 200 and 400 (Chittim) and 4 x 400 (Chittim, Kyle King, Steven McDonald and Chris Hutchinson).

It’s been 2,552 days since a Coupeville boy (Tyler King in 2010) stood atop the podium at state, and 5,107 days since a Wolf girl (Mouw in 2003) gazed down on the track world.

Also, two of the 10 Wolves going to state this year have relatives who own state meet medals.

Sophomore Lindsey Roberts, who brought home three medals as a frosh, is the niece of Jay Roberts, who earned 3rd and 4th place medals in the 4 x 100, in 1986 and ’87, respectively.

Meanwhile, junior Ariah Bepler, making his first trip to Cheney after winning the high jump at districts, needs only to look across the living room to see history.

His dad Mark placed 4th in the discus in ’86.

The senior Bepler also rightfully held the school record in the event for many years (regardless of what the CHS record board said), until Martin passed his mark last spring.

But, that’s a story for another day.

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Medal mania mounts!!

Posted in Track, tagged CHS Wolves, medals, Natasha Bamberger, track and field, Tyler King on May 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Lindsey Roberts won three medals at the state track meet as a freshman. She’s looking to double that this weekend. (Sherry Roberts photo)

If Wolf senior Lauren Grove can add two medals this year, she’d exit as one of just nine Wolves to ever bring home five or more medals. (Mindy Grove photo)

They’re running for history.

Of the 10 Coupeville High School athletes headed to the 1A state track and field meet May 25-27, three have previously brought medals home from Cheney.

Junior Jacob Smith, who’s competing in three events this year (100, 200, 4 x 400) finished 4th in the 200 last season.

Two of his traveling companions, senior Lauren Grove and sophomore Lindsey Roberts, are a couple of steps ahead of him, however.

They’re part of an elite group that thrives on excellence.

Take all the countless girls and boys who have competed for CHS track over the decades, and only 21 have claimed three or more state meet medals.

Now, with a strong weekend, the duo can leapfrog their way further up that list.

Grove is running a leg on 4 x 100 and 4 x 200 relay units, both of which head to state ranked in the top eight, which is where the medal cutoff sits these days.

If she and her teammates do medal in both events, she’d exit CHS as one of just nine Wolves to bring home five medals all-time.

Meanwhile, Roberts is on a fast track to oval immortality.

Having brought home three medals as a freshman, she’s set to run with Grove on both relay teams, as well as compete in the 100 hurdles.

Snatch medals in all three events and Roberts — who already has one more medal than uncle Jay, an accomplished relay runner himself in the late ’80s — would reach the halfway point of her high school career in fine fashion.

With six medals, she’d sit in a tie for fourth-best all-time, just one away from tying the mark for a female Wolf track star.

After poring over endless on-line records (Coupeville, Oroville and Ritzville start to blend together), and getting help from Facebook sleuths while tracking down ’80s relay teams, I feel confident the list below is at least 12% correct.

Cue the corrections in five, four, three…

Most state track and field medals in CHS history:

Tyler King (11) – Two state titles, five 2nds, two 4ths, one 6th, one 8th

Kyle King (10) – Five state titles, two 2nds, one 4th, one 5th, one 6th

Makana Stone (7) – Two 2nds, two 3rds, one 4th, one 5th, one 6th

Natasha Bamberger (6) – Four state titles, one 2nd, one 3rd

Chad Gale (6) – One 2nd, three 3rds, one 4th, one 6th

Bill Carstensen (5) – One 3rd, three 4ths, one 6th

Jon Chittim (5) – Three state titles, one 2nd, one 7th

Yashmeen Knox (5) – One 4th, one 6th, two 7ths, one 8th

Jeff Fielding (4) – One state title, one 2nd, two 5ths

Sylvia Hurlburt (4) – Two 3rds, one 5th, one 6th