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Posts Tagged ‘Year in Review’

Year of mystery, year of achievement

Posted in 2021: Looking Back, tagged , , , , on December 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Carolyn Lhamon runs in 2021’s first high school athletic event — which didn’t happen until March. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

We’re going to (mostly) ignore the elephant in the room.

Covid, in all its many mutations, touched all sports activity in 2021.

The ongoing pandemic pushed the start of games until March, compressed the first round of seasons, and started endless arguments.

Now, as we sit hours away from the arrival of 2022, we’re still stuck in unstable times, with several recent basketball games postponed.

But, as much as possible, this year in review story is going to focus on what happened between the lines when athletes were allowed to play, sometimes in masks, sometimes not.

The first athletic event for a Coupeville High School team arrived March 4, when the Wolf track team hosted an eight-team meet with no fans allowed in the stands.

That broke a run of 387 days without a school sporting event of any kind held in Central Whidbey, while track and field had been inactive for 650 days.

And yes, spring sports went first in the compressed 2020-2021 school athletic year, payback for those programs completely losing seasons in 2019.

The first time out, senior Logan Martin claimed shot put and discus titles, while Catherine Lhamon (1600), Carolyn Lhamon (shot put), and a 4 x 100 relay squad (Sam Wynn, Reiley Araceley, Dominic Coffman, and Ben Smith) also won.

Martin repeated those wins at the Northwest 2B/1B League championships, with Catherine Lhamon (3200), Wynn (100), and the 4 x 100 team — now with Aidan Wilson in the mix — standing atop the podium.

It was a strong spring overall for Coupeville, with Wolf softball (12-0) and girls tennis (6-0) rolling to league titles, while baseball (7-3) finished second in a seven-team race.

The diamond dandies were brutally-efficient, outscoring foes 154-41, while trailing a grand total of just one time all season.

Covering all spring sports, CHS claimed 25 league wins, while the other six NWL schools combined to net just 27.

With one compressed season slamming into another, the Wolves began fall sports even as the spring session was still wrapping up.

Boys tennis failed to field a team, something which would repeat later in 2021, but other sports shone brightly.

Cross country hosted a home meet for the first time in 30+ years, while Catherine Lhamon won a league title.

Catherine Lhamon, Northwest 2B/1B League champ. (Helene Lhamon photo)

Meanwhile, Wolf volleyball finished 6-3, with its only losses to two-time defending state champs La Conner, and Kylie Chernikoff and Chelsea Prescott were tabbed as First-Team All-League picks.

Football finished 3-2, claiming a second-straight winning season, while Cael Wilson became the first eighth grader to score a goal in a CHS varsity soccer game.

The Wolves finally got a chance to reclaim the hardwood for the finale of the 2020-2021 school year.

Sunlight flooded into the gym in May and June, creating a different atmosphere than the normal mid-winter feel embraced by hoops.

Hawthorne Wolfe dropped 38 points on Mount Vernon Christian, best by any Coupeville player since the 2003-2004 season, then made sure we knew it wasn’t a fluke by repeating the feat against Orcas Island.

The Wolf boys won six of their final seven games to finish 8-4, earning the program’s first winning season since 2010.

They also came agonizingly close to winning a league title, finishing a half-game off of MVC (8-3) — who they beat twice — with the Hurricanes benefiting from not playing a 12th game.

Lyla Stuurmans rumbles on the hardwood. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

While the CHS girls finished 5-7, they did make history, with Savina Wells and Lyla Stuurmans the first 8th graders to suit up in a varsity game.

Wells finished #2 on the team in scoring, even while being run ragged by bouncing between high school basketball and little league softball near the end.

The highly-compressed school athletic year came to an end with Xavier Murdy and Chelsea Prescott named as CHS Athlete of the Year winners, while a former two-time winner of that award ascended to a higher level.

Having wrapped a torrid first year of basketball in England playing for Loughborough University, Makana Stone signed a pro contract with the Leicester Riders.

Back on Whidbey, Wells was a vital part of the Whidbey Inferno, an All-Star Juniors softball squad built out of a mix of Coupeville and Oak Harbor players.

Mia Farris (center) and the Whidbey Island Inferno All-Stars Juniors softball squad finished 4th at state. (Jackie Saia photo)

After sweeping to a district title, the Inferno won two games at the state tourney, thunking Puyallup and Mukilteo en route to finishing 4th at the big dance.

The biggest bop at state came courtesy Madison McMillan, who crushed the very soul out of the ball with a game-changing, over-the-fence home run at a moment where the Inferno found itself on the edge of elimination.

And then we were back to school sports, only this time in a semi-normal phase. Sort of.

Fall sports reverted to being first on the docket, with mostly-full schedules again, and the promise of playoffs, which hadn’t happened during the compressed seasons.

CHS cross country made some serious noise, with Helen Strelow following in the footsteps of Catherine Lhamon, winning a NWL title.

Helen Strelow, league champ. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Strelow, Claire Mayne, and Mitchell Hall advanced to state, giving the Wolf harriers their most participants in a single season since the ’80s.

Wolf volleyball, playing without a senior on the roster, went 11-6 overall, 10-2 in league play.

Again, Coupeville’s biggest stumbling block was La Conner, which swept three matches from the Wolves, including eliminating CHS in the district finals.

To no one’s surprise, the Braves went on to win a third-straight state title, the sixth in program history.

Both Wolf soccer teams were competitive against schools featuring tons of travel ball players, while CHS football left everything on the field in a triple-overtime loss to Friday Harbor with a playoff berth on the line.

Brian Casey holds his ground. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Eddy Perera, a member of the Wolf soccer squad, proved adept with the trombone, and was named to the All-State Honor Band.

Some of the most-positive news arrived late in the year, with Nancy Conard, Morgan White, and Sherry Phay all elected to the school board.

Which means Coupeville Sports went 3-for-3 in political endorsements. Something to remember when the next election rolls around…

Our school board is in good hands. (Photo courtesy Morgan White)

With winter storms starting to savage Whidbey (first wind, then snow and ice), we sailed into the start of another basketball season, one which has gotten off to a stellar start.

The Wolf boys are 5-0 heading into 2022, which includes a 70-64 upset of 3A Oak Harbor, which will hear about the defeat to a 2B school for decades.

Meanwhile, the Coupeville girls, in their first season under former Wolf star Megan Smith, are 4-2 and looking for more.

As are we all.

Less Covid, more games. That’s a good place to start with New Year’s wishes.

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Look back with pride!!

Posted in Year in Review, tagged , , , , , , on December 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Mikayla Elfrank spent last spring thumping home runs, including one which dented a carnival ride in Sequim. (Photo by Jordan Ford)

   Jacob Smith and McKenzie Meyer both set school records during track season. (Deb Smith photo)

   Maya “The Gazelle” Toomey-Stout, here with brother Cameron, AKA “Camtastic,” advanced to the state track meet in four events. (Beth Stout photo)

   Spikers (l to r) Emma Smith, Ashley Menges and Toomey-Stout celebrate after CHS punches its ticket to state for the first time since 2004. (Konni Smith photo)

Departures, arrivals, births of new stars and coronations of established ones.

The sports year that was 2017 contained a little bit of everything.

And, while Coupeville High School is still seeking that elusive first team state title, there was plenty to discuss and reminisce about.

In somewhat random order, the 17 stories which defined prairie sports in 2017:

“Bye, Bye, Bye” — On to the next adventure, as CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith announces the school is ending a four-year partnership and leaving the 1A Olympic League at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.

Will the Wolves revert to 2B and return to their old stomping grounds in the Northwest Conference or stay 1A and join South Whidbey in launching a new league born out of the steaming carcass of the Cascade Conference?

Check back at the end of Jan. for that answer.

“Home, sweet home” — After two years of using temporary stands, CHS has a shiny new covered grandstand for football, track and soccer.

It was finished a couple of days AFTER football’s final home game, and that press box needs some window work, but still a big step.

“Girls rule!” — Coupeville’s best teams were powered by a strong core of female athletes.

Basketball capped a third-straight 9-0 run through league play last winter, softball won 19 games and came within a strike  of advancing to state, tennis captured a third-straight league title and volleyball didn’t drop a set in winning a second-straight league crown.

The spikers made it to the big dance in Yakima, as well, the first time the Wolf volleyball program had gone to state since 2004.

“Run to glory” — Coupeville junior Danny Conlisk, after training and traveling with South Whidbey, became the first Wolf cross country runner to punch a ticket to state since Tyler King won the boy’s title in 2010.

“A new outlook” — Chris Smith took the reigns of the CHS baseball team in mid-season, while Brad Sherman (boys basketball), Kyle Nelson (girls soccer), Kimberly Bepler and Sarah Lyngra (middle school volleyball), Dante Mitchell (middle school boys basketball) and Emily Stevens (cheer) stepped into new head coaching positions.

“Stop hurting yourself” — After a strong start, Coupeville’s football season took hit after hit, as a rash of injuries decimated the Wolves.

Top play-makers Hunter Smith, Sean Toomey-Stout, Matt Hilborn, Chris Battaglia and Andrew Martin were just the tip of the iceberg, with CHS finishing the season with more players in street clothes than at any time in recent memory.

“Records are made to be broken” — While they were still upright, the Wolf football players rewrote the record-books.

Senior quarterback Hunter Downes broke Sherman’s record for career touchdown passes, while Smith, even missing the final five games of his final season, departs with at least a share of seven game, season or career marks.

“Let it rain” — Wolf sophomore Mason Grove kicked off the 2017-2018 basketball season with a performance for the ages.

Playing against Port Townsend in a JV game, he nailed 10 three-balls (the school’s varsity record is seven), recording 34 points.

The only reason Grove hasn’t re-broken the record? He’s now playing varsity minutes as well, which limits his JV floor time.

“The alumni are alright” — Former Wolf stars took their games to the next stage, with Makana Stone playing a major role as a freshman on a Whitman College women’s basketball squad which came within a play or two of the NCAA D-III Final Four.

She’s leading the Blues in scoring as a sophomore, while former classmate Nick Streubel, a red-shirt sophomore at Central Washington University, was a First-Team All-Conference offensive lineman on a Wildcat football team which went 11-1 and won a league title.

Toss in Ben Etzell, an All-Conference baseball pitcher at Saint John’s (Minnesota), Kailey Kellner, playing hoops at D’Youville College, and several others, and the Wolves are well-represented on the college sports scene.

“Mitch is a pro” — Having finished a strong college career at Montana Western, former Wolf Mitch Pelroy was drafted by the Atlantic Sharks of the Rivals Professional Football League. He starts his new journey of being paid to play Feb. 1.

“MVP, MVP, MVP!!” — Coupeville senior Hope Lodell capped a record-busting run as a volleyball player by being tabbed as the Olympic League’s most valuable player in season-ending voting by coaches.

Having moved over to replace Valen Trujillo at libero, Lodell, who owns the CHS season and career service ace records, was the glue which held the Wolves together during a 13-win season.

Last spring, Katrina McGranahan, a two-way terror in the pitcher’s circle and at the plate, was named softball MVP by league coaches. That capped an extraordinary junior year, as she was also league MVP in volleyball.

“She’s a beast” — Mikayla Elfrank is one of the most electrifying athletes in Wolf Nation and she lights up the volleyball and basketball courts, as well as the softball diamond.

Last spring, she outdid even herself, though, smashing out-of-the-park home runs on consecutive pitches against Sequim, in games eight days apart in different towns.

After launching a moon shot in Coupeville, right before lightning ended play, Elfrank picked things right back up on the road.

Jumping on the very first pitch she saw, the Wolf slugger launched a ball over the center field fence in Sequim, denting a carnival ride being set up behind the fence, and earning free ice cream from the rival coach in the process.

“We’re back” — After losing their grip on the title last year, Coupeville’s Red Pride, an alumni basketball team featuring a who’s-who of late ’90s stars, stormed back to reclaim honors at the Roehl Roundball Classic.

While 2016 saw an Oak Harbor squad abscond with the trophy, 2017 was an all-Wolf affair, as the championship match featured Red Pride out-dueling the Coupeville Cows, whose players mainly hail from the early 2000’s.

“Our bucket (remix)” — Coupeville football, playing at full-strength, opened the 2017 campaign by drilling South Whidbey 18-0 in Langley.

It marked the first time the Wolves had beaten the Falcons in back-to-back years since the two schools started playing for The Bucket — a somewhat-battered, but deeply-valued, trophy presented to the victor of the Island rivalry clash.

“New oval, same old dominance” — CHS debuted its new track and field facilities, then its athletes went out and tore up the record books.

Among the record-busters was Jacob Smith, who finished 3rd at state in the 200, topping his own record-setting time from a season before.

Lindsey Roberts (100 hurdles) and Mitchell Carroll (triple jump) went a little further back, shattering school-best marks which had stood since 1999 and 1994, respectively.

And, while she didn’t bust any school record times (yet), freshman Maya Toomey-Stout became the first Wolf girl to advance to state in four events (100, 200, 4 x 100, 4 x 200) in the same season.

“Joltin’ Jae is here to save the day” — One of the defining wins of 2017 came when Coupeville softball knocked off Klahowya, a particular thorn in its side. The Wolves ended up sweeping three games from the Eagles, but the first one was the dazzler.

A home run from Tiffany Briscoe and big hits from Veronica Crownover and Sarah Wright put the Wolves up 5-0 at home, but KSS roared back to take a 6-5 lead late in the game.

Enter senior second baseman Jae LeVine, AKA the woman of a thousand nicknames (The Mighty Mite, Flash, Joltin’ Jae) and the biggest heart in the game.

Delivering her third, and biggest hit of the afternoon, she ripped a game-winning RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning, then danced atop the bag, flashing thumbs-up at her fan section.

“Don’t call it a comeback … OK, you can call it a comeback” — The kind of win which can make a season.

Facing defending league champ Port Townsend at home Dec. 12, the Coupeville boys basketball team overcame a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit, survived a wild finish, then won in overtime.

For a senior-dominated squad which has endured some rough times getting here, exiting 2017 on top of the league standings has to be especially sweet.

Now, it’s time for all the Wolves to jump feet-first in to 2018 and write a new year’s worth of success stories.

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16 (big stories) for ’16!!

Posted in 2016, tagged , , , , , on December 24, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Some of the people and events which shaped Coupeville Sports in 2016. (John Fisken photos)

   Some of the people and events which shaped Coupeville Sports in 2016. (John Fisken and Shelli Trumbull photos)

High points. Low points. Moments in between.

2016, like every year, was a mixed bag, and that carried over to sports accomplishments.

Having put some research time in (not a lot, but some), here’s my personal picks for the 16 most memorable moments from ’16.

16) Paul Schmakeit, a former CHS athlete and member of the Central Whidbey Little League junior baseball team that won a state title in 2010, pleads guilty for his role in a home burglary that left a man paralyzed.

He’s currently serving a sentence of a year and eight months. After starting at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, he was recently transferred to the Monroe Correctional Complex.

15) Willie Smith returns to reclaim the Athletic Director role at CHS.

The longtime coach, quote king and bon vivant immediately slaps the unwieldy school sports schedule into shape and brings the district volleyball tourney to Cow Town. Millions rejoice in the streets (well, I do, at least).

14) Five-foot-four sharpshooter Mason Grove drops seven three-balls in one game, propelling the Wolf JV boys basketball squad to a wild win over arch-rival South Whidbey and its two 6’5 freshmen.

13) They had to stretch the sign-up time just to field a roster, but once Central Whidbey Little League had a juniors softball squad in place, things went peachy keen.

Under the direction of diamond gurus Charlotte Young and Connie Lippo, the Venom, led by Chelsea Prescott, Scout Smith and Mollie Bailey, finish 13-3, outscoring foes 185-85.

12) Hunter Smith hits the stone-cold, ice-water-in-your-veins shot of the year, nailing a trey from the corner at the buzzer in Klahowya, lifting the Wolves to a 54-53 win in the regular season finale of the 2015-2016 campaign.

11) Mia Littlejohn rips up the record book, throwing down 27 goals on the soccer pitch this fall and earning co-MVP honors in the 1A Olympic League.

The Wolf booters put together the first winning season in program history, while their captain smashed program (Kalia Littlejohn-10) and school (Abraham Leyva-20) scoring marks.

10) Makana Stone caps her stellar prep hoops career by signing a letter of intent to play college ball at Whitman.

After compiling 1,000+ points, 800+ rebounds and 200+ steals as a Wolf, she’s now the first player off the bench for a Blues team which is off to a 10-0 start and ranked in the top 25 in the nation.

9) Before she leaves CHS, Stone leads her team to state, the first time a CHS hoops squad has made it to the big dance in a decade.

The Wolves shred Seattle Christian at districts to stun the Sumner crowd, then fall to Cashmere at regionals, finishing 16-6.

8) After two years of going on its own, the 1A Olympic League hooks up with the Nisqually League to create an eight-team football-only conference.

Cascade Christian claims the inaugural title, while Coupeville wins two league games (Vashon, Chimacum) and comes within a play of winning two others (Bellevue Christian, Charles Wright).

7) The Wolves continue to surge to the front of their league, winning girls basketball, baseball, girls tennis, volleyball and boys tennis titles in 2016.

The volleyball title is the first for Coupeville since 2004, while the baseball team notches its first league title since 1990.

6) The coaching shuffle continues, with the biggest moves involving new head coaches for volleyball (Cory Whitmore) and football (Jon Atkins) and an involuntary exit for cheer coach Cheridan Eck.

Atkins wins three games in his first go-round, an improvement on the previous regime, which won a single game in 2015, while Whitmore launches what looks like the start of a volleyball dynasty.

Eck vanishes from the sidelines midway through the season, school officials refuse to comment and, as of a few days ago, the school is accepting applications for the position.

5) Racing the end of the summer and the start of football, CHS puts the finishing touches on its brand new track. Funded by a successful levy, it will allow the Wolves to host home track meets for the first time since their old track began to crumble back into the Earth.

4) Playing under Atkins for the first time, the Wolf football squad thrashes visiting South Whidbey 41-10 on opening night to bring The Bucket home.

The trophy is a bit dented, as the Falcons take out their frustration on Coupeville’s logo, but dent or no dent, The Bucket is back where it belongs.

3) Records fell left and right, from Littlejohn on the pitch to the track big board being rewritten by Jacob Smith, Jordan Ford, Dalton Martin, Stone, Sylvia Hurlburt, Lauren Grove and Lindsey Roberts.

Not to be outdone, Hunter Smith smashes football single-season marks for receiving yards and touchdowns and Hope Lodell records more service aces in one SEASON (110) than any Wolf spiker amassed in their entire CAREER.

2) CHS track has a long and storied history, but the Wolves performance at the state track meet last spring stands as one of the best the school has ever put together.

It would take forever to go through all the accomplishments, but two things really stand out.

Stone and Roberts became the first Wolf girls to ever win three medals at one state meet, while Martin was the first CHS athlete, male or female, to win three medals in the throwing events.

1) This one is personal.

After much work, research, fundraising and arm-twisting, we reclaim 116 years worth of CHS sports history, creating a Wall of Fame in the school’s gym.

Honoring all league and district titles, top 10 state performances by Wolf teams and individual state titles from 1900-2016, it’s a start.

Now, about that football record board…

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What a year!!

Posted in 2015: Looking back, tagged , , , , , on December 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Sebastian Davis didn't quite make my Top 20, but he did star in one of the year's best photos. (John Fisken photo)

   The thrill of the goal, as Wolf booter Sebastian Davis celebrates in one of the year’s best pics. (John Fisken photos)

The fastest 4 x 200 relay team in school history

   The fastest 4 x 200 relay team in school history (and they’re pretty good at taking photos, too). L to r, Lauren Grove, Marisa Etzell, Sylvia Hurlburt and Makana Stone.

A lot happened in 2015.

Not all of it was awesome, but, for now, we’re going to ignore death, arrests and controversies and focus on the positives with a list of sports moments which will live large in the collective memory of Wolf Nation.

It’s not a definitive list, by any means (as soon as I print this, someone will bring up something big I overlooked) but it’s a good jumping-off point.

With that being said, the semi-official Coupeville Sports Top 20 Moments of 2015:

20) CHS boys’ basketball beats Concrete 66-60 Dec. 18 as four Wolves (Wiley Hesselgrave, Jordan Ford, Gabe Wynn and Hunter Smith) go for double figures.

The team’s third straight win, it lifts them to 4-3, the first time Coupeville has been over .500 in Anthony Smith’s five seasons as head coach.

19) The future is now, as CMS 8th grader Jake Mitten torches Chimacum for 28 points in a win Dec. 17. It’s the most points scored this year by any Wolf hoops player, high school or middle school.

18) Freshman Kalia Littlejohn bursts on the scene, racking up a Wolf girls’ soccer record 10 goals in her debut. Her reward? A First-Team All-Conference nod along with big sis Mia.

17) CHS junior Clay Reilly wasn’t even the punter when the season started, but once he takes over the job, he goes bonkers.

With almost 1,200 yards, he earns All-Conference honors. With one epic 70-yard boot against Port Townsend in October, he becomes a legend.

16) Still the BMOCs. Six CHS grads (Jordan Schisel, Gavin Keohane, Scott Stuurmans, Michael Vaughan, Pete Petrov and Greg White) and one young gun from Marysville (Dom Kiblinger) roll to a title at last weekend’s 8th annual Tom Roehl Roundball Classic.

It’s the fourth title in five years for the core of the squad.

15) Abraham Leyva has tallied 25 goals in two years of running the pitch for the Wolf boys’ soccer squad, including a program-record 14 this past spring.

His best day? A four goal, four assist gem against Chimacum in mid-April.

14) When freshman CHS quarterback Gabe Eck stepped on to the field for his first-ever start in the season’s third game Sept. 18, he had four completions to his name — all coming in mop-up duty.

By the time the game was over that night, he had torched host Chimacum for 403 yards and three touchdowns on 19-34 passing.

How big was that performance?

Eck’s predecessor, Joel Walstad, threw for 1,600 yards as a senior, but never topped 400 in a game. For that matter, neither did Brad Sherman, who holds the school’s career passing mark, regardless of what the record board might say.

13) Wolf sophomore Hunter Smith was a two-way terror on the gridiron, but he makes this list for hauling down seven interceptions from his defensive back position, a new school single-season record.

12) Three-sport star Aaron Curtin caps a stellar career by jumping back into tennis only a few moments after ending his final baseball season.

Fighting off private school prodigies and Eastern Washington heat, he claims an 8th place medal at the 1A tourney, the best finish by a Wolf boy in memory.

11) It was a good year overall for CHS tennis coach Ken Stange, who won league titles with both the girls’ and boys’ squads. Unlike in the past, when the school was fond of overlooking the netters, this time they will have the banners to back their boasts.

10) Makana Stone, the gold standard for CHS track athletes, won 13 races in two seasons at the middle school level. Last spring, CMS 8th grader Lindsey Roberts won 20 in ONE season.

Roberts was 18-0 when she ran the 200, 1600 and hurdles, and she and her teammates split the 4 x 100 relays they ran in, with two firsts and two seconds (both by less than a second.)

9) Saving his best heave for last, Wolf junior Dalton Martin grabs fifth-place at the state meet in the discus.

With his final throw, he beat his PR by an astonishing eight feet, setting himself up for a final run for glory (and possible college scholarships) in ’16.

8) Hailey Hammer, the young woman who never played a second of JV, garnering 12 letters across volleyball, basketball and softball, goes out on top.

Final game of the regular season, bottom of the seventh, bases juiced, two outs, Wolves down 4-2 to La Conner.

And Hammer Time gets the Hollywood ending, absolutely crushing a game-winning, walk-off three-run double on the final swing she would ever unleash on her home softball field. Goose bumps.

7) Capping a phenomenal junior campaign, Makana Stone is tabbed as 1A Olympic League MVP for girls’ basketball. The easiest vote in the history of easy votes.

6) Senior duffer Christine Fields caps her career with a sixth-place finish at state, after sweeping the league and district titles. The master of consistency, she finished in the top 15 at state all four years, breaking the top 10 three times.

5) By the time she’s done, the record will be way out of reach. The queen of the floor burn, perpetual motion machine Valen Trujillo, shatters the CHS career record for digs, helping propel her volleyball squad to the playoffs.

4) The Man exits, as the King of the Golden Quote, Willie Smith, resigns after 19 years as CHS head baseball coach. Journalists everywhere are still crying.

3) Makana Stone, Marisa Etzell, Sylvia Hurlburt and Lauren Grove shatter the school record in the 4 x 200 relay (for the 72nd time), running a 1:46.64 to claim third at the state meet.

2) A year after winning just one match, the Wolf spikers finish second in league play and not only earn a rare home playoff game, they win it, downing Seattle Christian in front of a rockin’ crowd.

Losing only two seniors, they look like long-term contenders.

1) Breaking a school-wide dry spell, the CHS girls’ basketball squad romps to a league title, hanging the first new championship banner in the gym in 13 years.

Along the way, the Wolves go 9-0 (a mark matched by the JV), winning every league game by 15+ points.

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