Whidbey grads continue athletic success in college

Strong showings in national and conference championships highlighted the efforts of Coupeville and Oak Harbor high school graduates who competed in collegiate sports this spring.

Golf

Oak Harbor graduate Josh Whitley, a senior on the Oregon Institute of Technology men’s golf team, was named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Player of the Year.

Whitley helped the Owls place seventh as a team and took 83rd individually out of 156 golfers at the NAIA national tournament in Silvis, Ill., in May.

Whitley earned all-conference, first-team honors and led the league with a 73.1 strokes-per-round average.

Oregon Tech won the league tournament in April, and Whitley finished second in the individual standings with a three-round total of 230, including a tournament-best round of 70.

Track

Coupeville High School graduate Tyler King wrapped up his collegiate running career by earning honorable mention All-America honors at the NCAA championship track meet in Eugene Wednesday, June 8.

Running for the University of Washington, King placed 23rd in the Division I finals, the highest level of college sports, in the 10,000 meters in 32:13.48.

King was third in the Pacific 12 championships in the 10,000 in Seattle in May. That earned him a spot in the Western Preliminaries in Lawrence, Kan., which featured the top college runners from the western half of the United States. He finished ninth and qualified for the national finals.

King also ran the 5,000 meters in the Pac-12 meet, taking 13th.

His top time of 28:59.37 in the 10,000 ranks sixth all-time on the Husky record board.

Oak Harbor’s Dejon Devroe, a freshman at Everett’s Trinity Lutheran College, placed second in the 800 meters at the National Christian College Athletic Association track championships May 14 in Rome, Georgia.

Devroe earned All-American honors by finishing second in a time of 1:53.62.

Oklahoma Baptist’s Clay Shepperson won the event in 1:53.2.

As a team, Trinity Lutheran placed eighth out of 22 schools which scored in the national meet.

Devroe won the Washington state 3A title in the 800 last year for the Wildcats.

Hannah Bressler, a senior from Oak Harbor on the Willamette University track team, won the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:56.2) at the Northwest Conference Championships April 22-23 in Portland.

She was second in the event at the conference finals as a sophomore and fourth as a freshman and junior.

Bressler went on to take 21st (11:36.78) at the NCAA Division III national track championships May 26-28.

Her PR in the steeplechase, 10:52.58, is fifth on Willamette’s all-time list.

Bressler also competed in the 1,500-meters this spring, setting a personal best of 4:48.82 while finishing second at the Willamette Opener March 5.

Oak Harbor’s Adrianna Royal, a senior at Division I Sacramento State University, posted the school’s seventh-best time ever in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (11:06.81) at the Brutus Hamilton Open April 22.

She also placed 17th in the event at the Big Sky Conference Championships in May in 11:40.73.

In addition, Royal ran the 1,500 at the conference meet, taking 22nd (4:54.87).

Other top performances included a sixth in the 1,500 (4:43.53) at the Sacramento State Open April 6, seventh in the 3K (10:29.49) at the Causeway Classic April 29, and fourth in the steeplechase (11:37.56) at the UCR Spring Classic March 26.

Dominique Jackson, a senior at Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma), placed second in the discus (127-04.25), seventh in the hammer throw (135-10.25) and 12th in the shot put (36-00.5) at the Northwest Conference Championships April 22 and 23 in Portland.

She completed her career with the Lutes’ eighth-best all-time throw in the discus (127-04) and 10th-best throw in the hammer (149).

Western Washington University sophomore Alexandra Laiblin from Oak Harbor placed 12th in the 10,000 meters at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships May 14 and 15 at Monmouth, Ore.

Laiblin earned four top-five finishes this spring, including taking second in the 10,000 at the Doris Heritage Distance Festival in Seattle March 26.

She recorded the second-best 10,000 time (38:27.07) and sixth-best 5,000 time (18:16.48) among Vikings this spring.

Oak Harbor’s John Rodeheffer, a freshman on the Division I Boise State University track team, placed 10th in the 1,500 meters (3:59.42) at the Mountain West Conference championships in Fresno May 11-14. He also took 27th in the 5,000 (15:12.76) in the league meet.

Rodeheffer’s top finish for the spring was ninth in the 1,500 (4:01.9) at the Border Clash in Boise April 29 and 30.

Jonalynn Horn, a freshman from Oak Harbor on the Idaho State University track team,

also competed at the Border Clash, taking 10th in the 5,000 meters (18:59.46).

Horn claimed her top finish of the spring when she took third in the 5,000 meters (19:20.92) at the Mark Faldmo Invitational in Logan, Utah, April 15-16.

Baseball

Coupeville’s Ben Etzell, a sophomore at St. John’s College (Collegeville, Minn.), helped the Johnnies’ baseball team (32-14) to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference league tournament title and second place in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Tournament.

Etzell finished with a 4-1 pitching record, picking up two of the wins in the postseason.

He earned the win in the conference tournament championship game when St. John’s defeated St. Mary’s 11-4 May 14. Etzell threw 5.1 innings, giving up four runs and striking out three.

In the regional tournament, Etzell kept the Johnnies alive with an 8-2 win over North Central College May 20 in an elimination game. Etzell tossed a nine-inning complete game with five strikeouts.

For the year, Etzell pitched 50.2 innings, surrendering 78 hits while fanning 41 and posting a 7.28 ERA.

Etzell also batted 29 times, getting six hits (.207), seven runs, two doubles, four RBI and four walks and posting a .361 OBP.

Oak Harbor’s Anthony Stewart, a junior, red-shirted this season at the University of Minnesota-Crookston.

“We expect big things from him,” coach Steven Gust said. “With his speed and arm strength, we believe he can be a great player.”

Softball

Monica Vidoni, a freshman outfielder from Coupeville at Rainey River Community College (International Falls, Minn.), completed a three-sport year by playing for the Voyageurs’ softball team this spring. She competed for RRCC in volleyball and basketball earlier in the school year.

Vidoni appeared in 39 softball games, hitting .306 (19/62) with two doubles, three home runs, 17 runs and 12 RBI. She finished with a .336 on-base percentage and .484 slugging percentage.

Rainey River finished second in the divisional tournament, and Vidoni helped the Voyageurs win an elimination game over Itasca 5-2 May 6 with a single and RBI.

Coupeville’s Madeline Roberts and Hailey Hammer competed against each other in softball in the North Region of the Northwest Athletic Conference.

Roberts, a sophomore outfielder at Shoreline Community College, helped the Dolphins (16-18) finish third in the divisional standings with a 10-10 record, one game better than Hammer’s Everett Community College club (16-22).

Roberts appeared in 21 games, hitting .209 (9/43) with a double, three RBI, five walks and four stolen bases.

Hammer, a freshman first baseman, played in 25 games and hit .270 (17/63). She tallied nine runs, two doubles, seven RBI, six walks and a home run. The home run was a seventh-inning, walk-off shot that beat Roberts and Shoreline 1-0 April 10.

Left, former Oak Harbor High School teammates Jonalynn Horn (Idaho State) and John Rodeheffer (Boise State) meet at the Border Clash in Boise this spring. Photo by Pat Horn.