A handful of Oak Harbor and Coupeville high school graduates competed in collegiate athletics this fall, and none were more impressive than the cross country runners who helped their schools place among the country’s best in their respective national championship meets.

Cross Country

Coupeville’s Tyler King wrapped up his career at the University of Washington with an outstanding effort in the Division I Western Regional Meet Nov. 13 at the Jefferson Golf Course in Seattle.

King finished fifth overall (31:08.1) and first for the Huskies out of 205 runners over the muddy 10,000-meter course, helping the UW win its first-ever regional title and an automatic berth into the NCAA championship meet.

At the NCAA meet, the Huskies finished eighth, second best in school history, as King placed 248th.

Earlier in the season, the Husky senior helped the UW finish fourth in the Pac-12 championships, running 26th (third for the Huskies) in a field of 79 on Oct. 30.

King was 84th out of 244 Oct. 16 at the Wisconsin Invitational, which boasts the strongest field outside of the NCAA finals.

He earned All-American status and second-team all-Pac 12 in 2014.

Oak Harbor’s John Rodeheffer, running for Division I Boise State University, placed 34th in the eight-team Mountain West Conference championship meet in Reno Oct. 30. The freshman helped the Broncos finish third, their best as a member of the MWC.

BSU went on to place fifth in the regional meet, then Rodeheffer ran 203rd out of 252 at the NCAA Division I championship meet Nov. 21 as the Broncos finished 16th.

Rodeheffer’s top finish this fall was third in the three-team Utah Open Sept. 11, running the 6K course in 19:27.7.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology women’s cross country team finished third in the NCAA Division III championship race Nov. 21 in Wisconsin with the help of Oak Harbor’s Christina Wicker.

The junior placed 32nd out of 280 in the finals.

Wicker earned all-conference honors by finishing sixth out of 151 as MIT won its ninth consecutive New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference title Nov. 1 in Boston.

MIT went on to place fourth in the Northeast Division III meet Nov. 14, where Wicker was 61st out of 390.

At the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Championships in Boston Oct. 10, which included 36 teams from Division I, II and III, MIT placed fifth and first among Division III teams, and Wicker ran 31st out of 263.

Senior Hannah Bressler, running for Willamette University (Salem, Ore.), helped the Bearcats finish second in the Northwest Conference meet, first in the Western Regional and 10th in the national NCAA Division III race.

She was 19th out of 84 runners in the Northwest Conference championship meet Oct. 31 at Pacific Lutheran University.

Next, the Oak Harbor graduate earned All-Regional honors by running 24th in the Western Regional in California Nov. 14.

At the Division III championship race, she placed 157th out of 280.

Oak Harbor graduate Alexandra Laiblin, a sophomore at Western Washington University,  helped the Vikings record their best postseason since moving up to Division II in 1998.

WWU placed sixth in the NCAA Division II finals Nov. 21 in Joplin, Mo., after earning second in the West Regional meet Nov. 7 in Monmouth, Ore. Both are school-best finishing for the Vikings.

Laiblin finished 80th out of 192 runners at the West Regional and 169th out of 247 in the national finals.

Laiblin was 25th out of 97 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet Oct. 25 in Bellingham.

Jonalynn Horn, a freshman from Oak Harbor at Division I Idaho State University (Pocatello), recorded her top finish in her first meet, placing sixth in a three-team home meet Sept. 4.

Horn was 34th out of 63 runners in a 10-team meet Sept. 19 in Bozeman, Mont., and 30th out of 39 in a four-team race Oct. 10 in Cedar City, Utah.

Freshman Dejon Devroe finished 32nd overall and first among Trinity Lutheran (Everett) runners to lead the Eagles to a ninth-place finish at the National Christian College championship meet Nov. 14 in Houghton, N.Y.

Devroe, who won the 800 meters in the state 3A high school finals last spring for Oak Harbor, played football and not cross country in the fall during his high school career.

Volleyball

Oak Harbor’s Kaleigh Harper, a redshirt freshman, and her Western Washington University volleyball team (23-5) will be the No. 2 seed in the West Regional  Division II tournament Dec. 4-6 in Anchorage.

Harper ranks second the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and sixth in the country in blocks per set (1.4). She is also third in the GNAC with a team-best .335 hitting percentage.

Harper leads the Vikings with 137 blocks and is third in kills (209) and assists (26).

She posted a season-high 15 kills against Montana State University-Billings Oct. 31 and a season-best 12 blocks and 13 kills against Northwest Nazarene University Sept. 26. The effort against NNU helped Harper win the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for Sept. 20-26.

Roshel Muzzall, a junior from Oak Harbor at Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma), helped the Lutes finish second in the Northwest Conference with a 12-4 record (18-7 overall).

During the regular season, Muzzall was third on the team in kills (201), sets played (87) and defensive points (303.5); fourth in blocks (40); seventh in aces (8) and eighth in digs (61).

Muzzall had a season-high 18 kills against Willamette Oct. 2, one of 11 matches she finished in double digits.

Makenna Martyn, who played volleyball for two years at Coupeville before transferring to Oak Harbor, helped Bellevue College (20-12) win two of four matches in the Northwest Athletic Conference community college championship tournament last week in Tacoma.

During the regular season, Martyn, who played in every game (57), recorded 123 kills, fourth best among the Bulldogs. The sophomore was also fourth in blocks (16), digs (104) and aces (9).

Natalie McVey, a freshman from Oak Harbor on the Skagit Valley College volleyball team, played in 13 of 46 games and registered 21 digs and one kill, assist and block.

The Cardinals (24-16) won one of three matches in the NWC tournament after finishing tied for third in the North division (8-4).

Coupeville’s Monica Vidoni played for Rainey River Community College (International Falls, Minn.), participated in 14 sets and recorded five kills for the Voyageurs (12-18).

She will also play basketball for Rainey River this winter.

Football

Two Oak Harbor graduates played football for Whitworth University (Spokane) and helped the Pirates (9-2) finish second in the Division III Northwest Conference and earn a birth in the postseason.

Ian Kolste, a redshirt sophomore, was Whitworth’s starting quarterback and completed 269 of 438 passes for 2,810 yards and 19 touchdowns.

His biggest effort came in a 50-33 win over Pacific (Oregon) Oct. 31 when he threw for 386 yards and a TD and ran for three more scores.

In all, Kolste topped the 300-yard mark in passing five times. He threw for a season-high four touchdowns when the Pirates beat Lewis and Clark 47-19 Nov. 14.

Tyler Adamson, a 6-5, 250-pound lineman, appeared in five games for the Pirates.

Both of 22nd-ranked Whitworth’s losses were to second-ranked Linfield (McMinneville, Ore.); the first decided the NWC title and the second came in the first round of the national playoffs.

Coupeville’s Joel Walstad (punter/kicker) and Oak Harbor’s David Ray (wide receiver) both played football for Midland University (Fremont, Neb.). The freshmen appeared in several JV football games for the Warriors this fall, but no statistics were kept, according to assistant coach Joshua Caraway.

Three different Coupeville graduates played defensive back this season: junior Mitch Pelroy at the University of Montana Western (Dillon) and freshmen Josh Bayne and Jake Tumblin at Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, B.C.).

Pelroy helped the 10th-ranked NAIA Bulldogs (7-3) finish third in the Frontier Conference. He returned nine kickoffs for 195 yards (a 21.7-yard average), recorded 13 tackles (eight solo), recovered one fumble and defended one pass.

Bayne appeared in eight games and recorded 18 tackles (13 solo) and broke up three passes for the Division II Clan (0-9).

Tumblin played in four games and registered 10 tackles (four solo).

Simon Fraser played Central Washington University (Ellensburg) twice this season, losing both to the Wildcats and former high-school teammate Nick Streubel.

The 6-3, 301-pound offensive lineman appeared in six games for the Wildcats (5-5).

Oak Harbor’s Dakota Sinchak is a redshirt sophomore defensive back for bowl-bound Washington State University (7-3).

Dayne Herron, a 6-4, 287-pound offensive lineman, played in two games for the University of New Hampshire (7-4) this fall.

Rugby

Oak Harbor’s Jennifer Fremd and No. 1-ranked Quinnipiac (Hamden, Conn.) won the National Collegiate Women’s Varsity Rugby Association championship with a 24-19 victory over Army (West Point, N.Y.) in the title match Nov. 22 at Brown University (Providence, R.I.).

In the 36-22 semifinal win over Norwich (Northfield, Vt.) Nov. 20, Fremd, a senior lock, scored when she recovered a blocked kick in the try area.

Coaching

On the coaching front, Oak Harbor graduate Travis Connell’s Western Washington University girls soccer team will play in the NCAA Division II championship semifinals Dec. 3 in Florida.

The Vikings, who are ranked second in the country with a 24-1-1 record, reached the semis with a 3-1 win over Dallas Baptist University Nov. 21.

Another Oak Harbor grad, Tawnya (Richard) Brewer, coached Burlington-Edison the Washington state high school 2A volleyball title this season.