Oak Harbor and Coupeville highs schools have graduated a handful of athletes to the college playing fields. Here’s a look at some who competed this fall season.
Volleyball
Oak Harbor’s Clair Thiel, who plays for Concordia University in Portland, is a two-time academic all-Cascade Collegiate Conference member with a 3.39 GPA and earned first-team all-league honors this year as a middle blocker. She helped the Cavaliers finish the season 19-9 and 14-4, third in the CCC. She was second on the team with 241 kills, 80 blocks and 289.5 points in 102 games.
Thiel had 11 matches with 10 or more kills with a high of 17. She finished eighth in the conference in hitting percentage, .269.
Thiel, a 6-2 junior, ranks in the top five on Concordia’s career list for blocks and block assists.
Oak Harbor’s Jennifer Jansen is headed to the national NIAA tournament with her undefeated Northwestern College (Orange City, Iowa) Raiders Tuesday, Nov. 30. Northwestern (35-0, 16-0), won the Great Plains Athletic Conference and is ranked fourth in the country.
Jansen, a 6-2 sophomore, leads the team with a .308 hitting percentage and is third in blocks (78) and fifth in kills (211). She earned second-team all-GPAC honors.
Oak Harbor’s Jessica Muzzall was third in blocks (36) and kills (1720 for the University of Great Falls (Montana).
Muzzall, a 6-2 sophomore, had a season-high 14 kills against Concordia of Nebraska for UGF, which finished 8-19 overall and 5-9 in league, good for sixth in the eight-team Frontier Conference.
Cross Country
Coupeville’s Kyle King, running for Eastern Washington University, recently captured fourth in the Big Sky Conference championships. From there the junior placed 19th out of 178 in the Division I Western Regional hosted by the University of Oregon Nov. 13. His finish was the highest by a runner from a school whose team did not qualify for the meet. He ran the 10,000-meter race in 30:34.01.
Oak Harbor’s Megan Hall completed a record-setting performance for Northwest Christian University (Eugene, Ore.) in the NAIA national meet Nov. 20.
The senior runner placed 70th out of 331 in the national championship race in 19:06, by far the best-ever finish by a NCU runner of either gender. The previous best was 147th.
Hall, a senior, earned the trip to the national meet by placing third in the Cascade Collegiate Conference race. She also earned a spot on the league’s all-academic team.
Oak Harbor’s Krissy McGill, after two years at Everett Community College, now runs for Central Washington University.
The junior’s best meet this fall was running second for the Wildcats and 25th overall in the Emerald City Invitational in Seattle Oct. 2.
Football
Oak Harbor’s Roderick Rumble and Jake Rouser compete for Idaho State University.
Rumble led the Tigers (1-10) in receiving yardage (464) and was second in catches (32). The 6-2, 190-pound sophomore also scored two touchdowns.
Rouser, a 6-4, 228-pound defensive lineman, recorded 20 tackles. The redshirt-sophomore was second on the team with two sacks.
Oak Harbor’s Bryce Waller and Nick Rouser play for Central Washington University.
Waller, a 6-4, 300-pound junior guard, started for the Wildcats and helped CWU (8-3) claim the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship.
Rouser, Jake’s younger brother, is a 6-4, 245-pound freshman offensive tackle and redshirted this season.
Oak Harbor’s Marshall Lobbestael is the backup quarterback at Washington State University (2-9). The 6-2, 210-pound junior has appeared in five games and completed seven of 15 passes for 61 yards so far this season.
Coupeville’s Casey Larson just concluded his career at the University of Puget Sound and led the Loggers (2-9) in rushing with 488 yards on 103 attempts. The 5-10, 210-pounder also had a team-high five rushing TDs and caught 15 passes for 166 yards. He had two 100-yard rushing games, including a season high of 139.
Larson was the offensive MVP of 2009, was a team captain this year and was the recipient of the Student Athlete of the Week Award.
Last week he was named to the district all-academic team with a 3.41 GPA in mathematics.
Coupeville’s Steven McDonald played linebacker for Pacific Lutheran University this fall. The 5-11, 180 pound junior recorded 30 tackles and was third on the team with six tackles for losses and three sacks. The junior also forced a fumble. The Lutes finished 8-1 and second in the Northwest Conference.
Oak Harbor’s Rashaad Smith and Derrick Clarit, a pair of freshman, suited up for Menlo College (4-7).
The 6-4, 180-pound Smith appeared in four games for the Oaks and caught two passes, one for a touchdown.
The 5-10, 163-pound Clarit made nine tackles, one for a loss, in four games.
Soccer
Oak Harbor’s Carson McKole, who plays for Central Washington University, was named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s all-academic team this fall with a 3.24 GPA. The sophomore scored on goal for the Wildcats (4-12-2) and led the team in shots (37).
Oak Harbor’s Kevin Flavin, Jack O’Neil and Greg Wolfe play for Shoreline Community College (8-8-2).
After starting the year 0-7-2, Shoreline won eight in a row and won the North Division and reached the playoffs. The Dolphins won the regional crown 1-0 over Whatcom CC thanks to a goal by Wolfe, a freshman. Sophomore Flavin scored to lift Shoreline over Bellevue 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
Flavin finished the year with nine goals and had three 2-goal matches. Wolfe was named to the North all-star team.
Oak Harbor’s Golf Brooks took the field for George Fox University (0-15-2) of Newberg, Ore., this fall. The freshman midfielder appeared in nine matches.
Oak Harbor’s Brandon Daigle plays for Rowan University (Glassboro, N.J); the sophomore played in three matches for the Owls (6-12-2).
Coaching
Oak Harbor’s Chauntelle Johnson coached the Mercer Island High School girls swim team to the state 3A title this fall.
Oak Harbor’s Eric Smith helped the Cascade High School girls swim team produce one of its best seasons ever this fall as the Bruins won their first 10 matches of the season.
Oak Harbor’s Kyle Veach began his high-school coaching career this fall by heading the Stanwood High School girls soccer team (7-9).
