Highlights by Whidbey Island athletes sprinkled the 2010 sports year with success.
From the individual victories of Coupeville runner Tyler King to the team triumphs of the Oak Harbor High School girls cross country team and the Central Whidbey Junior League baseball squad, the year was full of memorial moments.
January
The Western Conference decides on its divisional format for the 2010-11 school year and creates a 3A division in which Oak Harbor will compete. For the first time in 33 years the Wildcats won’t play in the state’s highest enrollment level.
Coupeville High School basketball player Jason Bagby has a week to remember. In an eight-day, three-game span, he records these numbers: 22 points, 17 rebounds; 28 points, seven rebounds; 22 points, 10 rebounds.
Oak Harbor’s Jay Stout sinks a career-best 27 points Jan. 14 for the Wildcat boys basketball team, and the Oak Harbor girls team breaks a 13-game losing streak to Snohomish Jan. 22.
Oak Harbor’s Jember Jansen ties with teammate TracyAnne Vessels for the individual title at a cheer competition, then repeats the effort and takes another first a week later.
Former Oak Harbor athletic director Bob Smithson is inducted into the Cascade High School Hall of Fame.
Wildcat Colton Elliot (140 pounds) captures his weight class at the Kelso Invitation wrestling tournament.
The OHHS swim team wins its 12th straight meet.
February
Elliot and Jennifer Fremd qualify for the state wrestling tournament.
Oak Harbor High School basketball players Jessica Denmon and Nicole Mowbray earn all-Wesco 4A North first-team honors.
The Coupeville High School girls basketball team wins round one of the playoffs but drops the next two and is eliminated. The boys are ousted in the first round by Nooksack Valley.
The Oak Harbor medley relay team of Jacob Jepsen, Yale Rosen, Brandon Vagt and Matt Bolte places sixth in the state swim meet. Hu and Rosen finish in the top 16 in two individual events, and Josh Jepsen and Ben Cardinal also take part in the meet.
The Oak Harbor High School bowling team of Brendan McCardle, Jacob Miller, Brandon Grass and Glend Esguerra captures second in state. McCardle is named to the all-state first team and Miller to the second team. Oak Harbor, coached by Jason Youngsman, also won the title in 1990.
Jack Fauver rolls a 300 at Oak Bowl.
March
The Wildcat cheer squad nabs sixth at a national competition in Anaheim.
North Whidbey Aquatic Club’s Ethan Tack wins the high-point award at the Pacific Northwest Swimming championships.
Oak Harbor graduates and Stevens Institute swimmers Evan Wilson (Swimmer of the Year) and John Hu (Rookie of the Year) are honored by the Empire 8 Conference.
Coupeville’s Bagby and Hunter Hammer are named to the all-Cascade Conference first team in basketball; Megan Smith earns first-team honors for the girls.
Denmon is chosen for the all-state basketball game sponsored by the Washington State Basketball Coaches Association.
Coupeville graduate Kyle King sets an Eastern Washington University 10,000 meter record (29:34.21) at the Stanford Invitational.
Blake Smith, 12, places third at 130 pounds at the Rocky Mountain national wrestling tournament.
April
Oak Harbor’s Adrianna Royal places second in the 2,000 meter steeplechase at the Youth Olympic trials in Arlington, Texas.
Spencer Walsh, Seattle, and Uli Bromme, Boulder, Colo., win the Whidbey Marathon.
The Oak Harbor High School NJROTC drill and rifle team takes second in the regional competition.
Wildcat Naomi Walker is named the Outstanding Female at the Westling Invitational track meet and helps the Wildcat girls win the team title. Coupeville’s Tyler King, Kyle brother, sets a school record while winning the 800 (1:58.27).
May
Moving and Grooving’s Hailee Blau and Amelia Berner take first in the state trampoline and tumbling competition.
The Coupeville girls tennis team wins the league and district championships. Julia Sierra Castano takes the singles title and Jessica Riddle and Amanda d’Almeida take doubles. Castano places ninth at the state tournament.
The Oak Harbor doubles team of Laurin Rico and Clarissa Abadesco takes sixth in the state 4A tennis tournament.
The Coupeville baseball team advances in the playoffs with wins over Lynden Christen and Nooksack Valley before being eliminated by Seattle Christian. J.D. Wilcox earns first-team all-league honors.
The Wolves’ boys soccer team defeats Nooksack Valley, Orting and Meridian before losing to Overlake in the state tournament. Spencer Tack is an all-league, first-team choice.
Oak Harbor’s Judd Ford ties for medalist honors in the eight-team Wesco North tournament, ties for first in the final Wesco individual points race and qualifies for his third trip to state where he places 19th.
Wildcats Ashley Johnson, Melany Cone and Simone Hamilton earn trips to the girls 4A state golf tournament.
John Matzen, OHHS golf coach for 23 years, announces his retirement.
King begins a dominating run through the track post season as he wins the conference and district titles in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. He also takes the state 1,600 and 3,200 titles and finishes second in the 800.
Hammer wins the district shot put title in a school record 51-00.5 and places eighth at state. The Wolves, coached by Randy King, finish sixth in the state team race. The 4×400 relay team of Tyler King, Will Hoskins, Chase Bates and Mitch Pelroy also competes at state.
Oak Harbor’s Walker wins the league and district 100 and 200 titles in track, as does Shantae Young in the long and triple jumps. The pair team up with Christina Alexander and Janesa Ramos to win the 4×100 crowns, setting a league record along the way.
The four, along with Mowbray, qualify for state where Young leads the way with third in both jumps. The boys 4×100 relay team of Donovan Hunt, Aaron Boesch, Derrick Clarit and Jason Curles also qualifies for state.
Oak Harbor’s baseball team, hoping to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1994, loses a play-in game to Shorewood 3-2. Rosen and Stout earn first-team all-Wesco honors.
Eric McCardle wins his third consecutive Whidbey Golf and Country Club Invitational title.
June
Coupeville’s Kevin Eaton wins the Most Valuable Player award at the regional baseball feeder game by going 6-for-7 with two doubles and six RBI. Wilcox is selected to play in the all-state baseball series.
Denmon and Bolte are chosen Athletes of the Year for Oak Harbor, while Smith, Bagby and King receive the Coupeville award.
Jesse Pierce bowls a 300 game.
Oak Harbor’s Nick Rouser wins the Most Valuable West Player Award at the all-state football game.
July
The Central Whidbey Junior League (13-14 year-olds), coached by Chris Tumblin, wins the district title. A combo team of Central and South Whidbey, with assistant coaches Dave and Amy King, takes the Junior Softball pennant. The boys move on to win the state crown, the first by a team from District 11 (Skagit and Island counties).
Coupeville’s Ian Smith is chosen by a panel of sports writers to the all-state 1A baseball second team as a pitcher.
Royal earns another second place in a national 2,000 meter steeplechase race, this time at the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics. She is also eighth in the 1,500. Whidbey Island Running Club members Kaitlyn Chelberg, Carly Crowther, Laura Rodeheffer, Carolynn Wicker, John Rodeheffer, Christina Wicker and Olivia Meyer also qualify for the meet.
Coupeville’s Jessica Riddle places second with Shelby Kyllo at the USA Beach Volleyball Western Open.
August
NWAC’s Price Hu, Lauren Rosen and Ethan Tack win events at the Pacific Northwest Swimming championships. Wilson and John Hu qualify for the national championships, while Rosen is invited to the prestigious North American Challenge and Tack to the Western Zone Championships.
The Central Whidbey Junior League team competes in the regional tournament in California but fails to advance out of pool play.
September
Oak Harbor’s Josiah Miller scores five touchdowns – three by rushing, one by interception and one by punt return – in a big win over Shorewood.
The Oak Harbor girls cross country team wins the 93-team Three Course Challenge in Seaside, Ore.
Price and Ciara Hu are named to the USA Swimming all-academic team.
October
The Coupeville boys tennis team wins the league and district championships over Friday Harbor. Ben Hayes is singles champion, and Nathan Lamb and Sam Weaver take doubles.
Gallery teaching pro Mike Fields receives the President’s Award for the Western Washington chapter of the Professional Golfers Association.
Tyler King sets a course record (5K, 15:24.81) while winning the North County cross country meet. He later wins the Cascade Conference and district titles.
The Oak Harbor girls, as expected, and the boys, in a surprise, qualify for the state cross country meet; the Wildcats are coached by Eric Peterson and Andy Wesley.
Royal is one of 10 state finalists for the Wendy’s Heisman Award given for academic excellence, activities and community service.
November
King wins the state 1A boys title in cross country, and the Oak Harbor girls finish third and the boys 16th. The girls (Christina Wicker, Allison Duvenez, Royal, Hannah Bressler, Abby Leete, Taylor VonGrey and Alex Laiblin) record the Wildcats’ best finish, topping seventh in 1981. Wicker and the boys’ Matt Reith earn all-league first-team honors. King is an all-Cascade Conference choice.
The Oak Harbor volleyball team places third in district and qualifies for its first state berth since 1991. The Wildcats go 1-2 at state, beating Holy Names for their first state win since 1988. Setter Jordan Faralan and defensive specialist Kelsey Terrazas-Cooley receive all-Wesco first-team honors.
The Oak Harbor swimmers finish second at district and 11th at state. Ciara Hu, Karina Concepcion and Akasha Trisler win district events and are joined by Tori Nickerson, Therese Desquitado, Abby Rankin and Irysh Concepcion at state. Trisler’s fifth in the 100 breaststroke is the locals’ best state finish. Coupeville’s Rachel Weinstein qualifies for the state 2A swim meet.
The WIRC’s midget girls team wins its division at the Junior Olympic regional cross country meet.
Oak Harbor High School football players Miller (running back, defensive back, kick returner) and Aaron Boesch (defensive lineman) are named to the all-Wesco first team.
For the Wolves, Ian Smith (defensive back), Pelroy (kick returner) and Dalton Engle (linebacker) are tabbed first-team. Coupeville is coached by Jay Silver, taking over for Ron Bagby, who retired last fall after 26 seasons.
Coupeville soccer player d’Almeida earns first–team all-Cascade Conference honors.
The Coupeville and Oak Harbor cheer squads both win competitions and qualify for the state finals.
Harry Prosser sets a Pacific Northwest Swimming record in the 1,500 (30:19.54) for the 80-84 age bracket.
December
John Hu wins four individual events to earn Swimmer of the Meet honors at the East Coast Athletic Conference meet.
The North Whidbey Aquatic Club finishes ninth in the Pacific Northwest Swimming state finals; Ethan Tack gets the only individual firsts (9-10, 100 fly and 100 IM).
In the PNS senior championships, Price Hu, Ciara Hu and Jacob Jepsen medal.
The WIRC’s midget girls team (Sophie Cantine, Kat Copeland, Laura Rodeheffer, Ariel Wilhite, Kaitlyn Chelberg and Carolynn Wicker) finishes second at the USA Track and Field cross country championships in Alabama. Ryan Vasileff, Logan Clark, John Rodeheffer, Dakota Powers, Cole Zink, Caley Powers, Christina Wicker and Royal also compete in the national meet.
