Coupeville and Oak Harbor athletes provided plenty of highlights in 2018.

Here is a look at some of the top sports stories from January through May. Part two of the year in review will appear later this week.

January

Oak Harbor’s Dorian Hardin hit a long three-point shot at the buzzer to help the Wildcats defeat Shorewood 61-59 Jan. 2 in boys basketball.

Coupeville High School celebrated 101 years of boys basketball by defeating Chimacum 81-34 Jan. 19. The Wolves first game was a 29-7 win over Langley on this date in 1917.

Coupeville softball star senior Katrina McGranahan announced Jan. 23 she would play for Everett Community College next school year.

Coupeville High School said it would play in the new 1A North Sound Conference during the 2018-19 school year after the state denied its request to drop in classification to 2B.

February

Led by its seniors on Senior Night, the Coupeville High School boys basketball team upset first-place Klahowya 59-54 Feb. 1. Hunter Smith scored a career-high 35 points for the Wolves. Smith finished his career with 847 points, 12th best on Coupeville’s all-time scoring list.

Oak Harbor’s Michael Fisken (220 pounds) finished first in the subregional wrestling tournament Feb. 3. Fisken, Caleb Fitzgerald (126) and Blake McBride (145) all qualified for the state wrestling tournament by placing among the top four at the regional meet Feb. 10.

Caylie Etherington, an OHHS senior, signed a letter of intent Feb. 7 to play scorer for Western Washington University.

The Oak Harbor High School bowling team placed second to Moses Lake in the state tournament Feb. 18. The meet marked the end of the coaching careers of Jason and John Youngsman. Jason led the Wildcats to four consecutive state titles (2011-2014). Oak Harbor was the first team in the nation to collect four state crowns in succession. John, Jason’s father and assistant coach, led Oak Harbor to its first state title 53 years ago. Both are members of the Washington State Bowling Proprietors’ Hall of Fame.

Coupeville graduate Makana Stone, a sophomore basketball player at Whitman College, earned All-Northwest Conference first-team honors.

Oak Harbor graduate Jeremy Vester, a junior wrestler at Central College (Iowa), qualified for the D-III national tournament. At the end of the season, he received the team’s Most Improved Performer award.

Coupeville’s Ethan Spark, Hunter Smith, Lindsey Roberts and Sarah Wright all received first-team, all-Olympic League honors in basketball. Oak Harbor wrestlers Michael Fisken and Elizabeth Clairmont were all-Wesco first-teamers.

March

Coupeville High School baseball player Matt Hilborn was named the WIAA 1A Male Athlete of the Week for his efforts against Lynden Christian March 10.

Coupeville’s Derek Leyva scored four goals and Pedro Gamarra and Aram Leyva each had hat tricks in the Wolves’ 12-0 win over Chimacum March 13.

Jenna Cooley, an Oak Harbor senior, signed March 14 to compete in track for Pacific Lutheran University.

The Oak Harbor High School Junior Navy Reserve Officer Corps finished first in the 32-team Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference March 17. Wildcat Battalion also won titles in 2013, 2014 and 2016 in the region that stretches from Oak Harbor to Oregon City. This year the Wildcats took first in three team categories (armed drill team, sporter air rifle and precision air rifle) and two individual competitions (Triston Macaluso, armed drill team commander; and Ivan Snyder, sporter rifle).

Oak Harbor senior baseball player James Besaw signed a letter of intent March 28 to play for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Oak Harbor’s Allison Lovett, Kaia Crebbin and Kaitlyn Rozycki all won titles at the Washington State Trampoline and Tumbling Championships March 31.

April

Oak Harbor Sabertooth Shooting Squad took third in precision air rifle and 11th in sporter rifle at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s Western Regional April 7.

Coupeville’s Lindsey Roberts lowered her school record in the 100 hurdles to 15.82 at the Cashmere Track Invitational April 14. Mallory Kortuem set a new school record in the girls pole vault, 7 feet, at the Lil’ Norway Invitational in Poulsbo April 21. Roberts (15.26) and Kortuem (7-09) would better those marks at the district meet May 19.

Coupeville, coached by Kevin McGranahan, won the Olympic League softball championship with a 9-4 win over Klahowya April 20.

Oak Harbor’s Joshua Armstrong (25th) and Coupeville’s Bethany Lee (44th) were the top local finishers in the Whidbey Island Marathon April 22.

Oak Harbor graduate Jahleel Vester, a senior wrestler at Central College (Iowa) and Jeremy’s brother, received the school’s Prins Sportsmanship Award for 2017-18. The Prins Sportsmanship Award, named after Tunis W. and Harriet B. Prins, is given to a Central student who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship in dealing with fellow students on campus or in meeting life’s challenges. At the wrestling team’s awards banquet in May, Jahleel Vester was the recipient of squad’s Coaches’ Award.

William Nelson scored four goals and brothers Hunter and Sage Downes three each in Coupeville’s 11-1 soccer win over Chimacum April 27.

The teams of Bryce Gibson/Nick Santa and Steve King/Todd Krantz tied for first in net scoring at the Whidbey Golf Club’s Two-person Best Ball Tournament April 28. Ron Coleman/Tim Wyer and Arik Dahlen/Brian Wasinger tied for the best gross score.

Coupeville, coached by Chris Smith, clinched the Olympic League baseball crown by defeating Klahowya 5-0 April 30.

May

Coupeville, coached by Ken Stange, wrapped up its fourth consecutive Olympic League tennis title by beating Chimacum 4-3 May 3. The Wolves lost only one conference match during their four-year run in the Olympic League.

Coupeville, coached by Randy King, collected Olympic League titles in both boys and girls track in the conference’s 1A championship meet May 4. Jacob Smith broke a 31-year-old school record in the 100 meters with a time of 11.12. The Coupeville boys went on to win their first district title in 12 years May 19.

Coupeville, coached by Kyle Nelson, earned its first postseason win in boys soccer in six years by beating Bellevue Christian 3-0 May 5 in the district tournament.

The Wolves’ Payton Aparicio and Sage Renninger won their third consecutive Olympic League tennis doubles title at the conference tournament May 7. The senior pair advanced to finish fourth in the state 1A tournament May 26, the best showing by a Coupeville player since 2005. The Wolves finished eighth in the team standings.

When the Oak Harbor High School tennis season ended May 10, so did the career of coach Horace Mells, who stepped down after leading the Wildcat program for 21 years.

Two Oak Harbor athletes, Trevor Haskins and Allison Lovett, combined to win five gold medals at the regional trampoline and tumbling championships Friday, May 11, in Las Vegas.

Oak Harbor’s Nick Krantz placed 24th at the state 3A golf tournament May 23.

Wildcat senior Samantha Hines signed May 23 to play volleyball at Whatcom Community College.

Lauren Crossley and Cierra LeGendre from Oak Harbor’s Sabertooth Shooting Squad combined to win nine medals at the Washington State Smallbore Junior Outdoor Championships over Mother’s Day weekend. Crossley was first in Class A three-position event, and LeGendre was second in Class B prone and three-position.

Nine Coupeville High School athletes combined to win 14 medals at the state 1A track meet May 24-26: boys — Jacob Smith, second 100; second, 200; Danny Conlisk, second, 400; Ariah Bepler, fifth, high jump; 4×400 (Smith, Conlisk, Henry Wynn, Sean Toomey-Stout), fifth; 4×100 (Smith, Sean Toomey-Stout, Cameron Toomey-Stout; Jean Lund Olsen), seventh; girls — Lindsey Roberts, second, 100 hurdles; Cassidy Moody, eighth, long jump. The boys finished fifth and the girls 24th in the team standings.

Oak Harbor High School’s boys 4×100 relay team (Taeson Hardin, Dorian Hardin, Andrew Miller, Jeff Gordon) finished fourth in the state 3A track meet May 26.

Doug Geffe won the 53rd Annual Whidbey Golf Club Men’s Invitational May 27.