Coupeville, Oak Harbor high schools name Athletes of the Year

One was a state champion. One earned first-team, all-league honors in three sports. A third was named the league’s Most Valuable Player in two sports. Another set three school records. The other was a two-time, four-year letter winner.

All received their school’s top individual honor, Athlete of the Year.

At Coupeville High School Tuesday, junior Hunter Smith was chosen as the Male Athlete of the Year and senior Valen Trujillo and junior Katrina McGranahan shared the female honor.

Seniors Sam Zook and Julie Jansen received the awards for Oak Harbor High School Friday.

Hunter Smith

Smith received first-team, all-Olympic League honors in football, basketball and baseball this school year.

In football, he was recognized as both a defensive back and wide receiver.

As a DB, he holds the school record for most interceptions in a season, seven, which he set as a sophomore.

He also set single season school records in receiving yards, 916, and receiving touchdowns, 11, last fall.

Smith was a first-team defensive back selection as sophomore, as well.

In basketball he led the Wolves in scoring with 16.6 points per game.

For the second consecutive year, he was named to the all-league baseball team as a pitcher.

Twice this year he was named 1A Athlete of the Week by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

In all, Smith has earned three varsity letters in both football and baseball and two in basketball.

Valen Trujillo

Trujillo won her second straight Olympic League championship in tennis singles this spring after placing second as a sophomore; she also earned four varsity letters in tennis.

Her efforts helped the Wolves win three consecutive conference tennis championships.

Trujillo, who sports a 3.9 grade point average, also helped the volleyball team claim the Olympic League title last fall (the Wolves first conference title since 2004), anchoring the defense as the libero.

She was a three-year starter and three-year, all-league choice, and she holds the school digs record for a game, season and career.

Katrina McGranahan

McGranahan has established herself as one of the Olympic League’s most productive athletes, winning the conference’s Most Valuable Player awards in volleyball and softball. She shared the softball honor with Chimacum’s Shanya Nisbet.

Along with Trujillo, McGranahan was a key force in the Wolves’ run to the volleyball title, helping Trujillo with the defense by providing a wall up front as a middle blocker. McGranahan was also one of Coupeville’s biggest offensive weapons.

In addition to being the league’s volleyball MVP this season, she earned first-team honors as a sophomore.

McGranahan has started for the Coupeville High School softball team since her freshman year and was picked as an all-Olympic League first-teamer each season.

The junior right-hander was the Wolves’ top pitcher and a hitting leader, carrying Coupeville to a 19-5 record.

Sam Zook

Zook put an exclamation point on his outstanding Oak Harbor High School athletic career by winning the 3A state heavyweight wrestling title this year.

The three-year letterman and two-time all-league selection was also third in the state in wrestling as a junior.

He served as the wrestling team’s captain the past two seasons and twice won the team’s coveted Cor Aut Mors award.

In football, Zook earned first-team honors as a lineman on both offense and defense in 2015 and 2016 and received a scholarship to play for Central Washington University.

Last fall, he was the team’s captain and selected as the Lineman of the Year. Zook was also invited to play in the East-West all-star game for the state’s top seniors.

In addition to lettering three times in football and wrestling, he lettered once in track.

Julie Jansen

Jansen completed a rare feat for an athlete at a school the size of Oak Harbor, earning four varsity letters in two sports (volleyball and basketball). She added to that impressive total by lettering three times in track.

In basketball, she received the Best Defensive Player award twice and the Coaches Award in 2016.

Jansen shines in track, and she was named the team’s Thrower of the Year in 2016 and 2017.

Jansen, who will graduate with a perfect 4.0 GPA, was honorable mention in track in 2015 and won the league discus title this spring, which earned her a spot on the all-Wesco North first team.