The IssaquahPress
Sports
B4
Wednesday October 9, 2013
Skyline taps new lacrosse coach
By Greg Farrar
Jenifer Matsuda, Issaquah High School freshman, who has already qualified for a few state events, places first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1 minute, 1.22 seconds against Liberty Oct. 3 at the Julius Boehm Pool.
Issaquah’s depth sinks Liberty By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com A quick glance at the score sheet from the Oct. 3 Liberty versus Issaquah swim meet can be a bit deceiving. Liberty swimmers took the top spot in eight of the 12 events, yet it was the Eagles who emerged from the competition with a 104-81 win. It’s not a large margin of victory for a swim meet, but it showcased the strength of Issaquah’s depth. “We have some really good topend swimmers. I think we won most of the events, but we weren’t getting a lot of seconds, thirds and fourths,” Liberty coach Kris Daughters said. “That’s what wins you meets.”
The youth-laden Issaquah squad is in a bit of a rebuilding year, after team stars Stacy Maier and Kayla Flaten graduated. While both continue their swimming careers in college, a freshman has emerged as a major player for the Eagles. Jenifer Matsuda won two events in the meet against Liberty, and was a member of the 200 freestyle relay team that took first place. The freshman, who has already qualified for a few state events, placed first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1 minute, 1.22 seconds, and the 50 freestyle in 25.74, narrowly edging out senior teammate Gabrielle Gevers. “Both her times were fast and
much closer to state-qualifying times,” Issaquah coach Laura Halter said. Matsuda joined teammates Sammantha Harbeck, Abigail Paxton and Gevers to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:48.51. Issaquah’s Kristen Hines edged Liberty’s Christina Sargent for the top spot in the 1-meter diving competition, earning a score of 175. Overall, though, Halter said her team appeared “tired,” the result of a late Bellevue meet Oct. 1, followed by an early morning practice. “Some swims were good, some swims were tired,” she said. “I think it’s just been a tired week. We’ve got a lot of girls with colds and that kind of thing going on.”
Liberty is a young team, too, but it had a talented core of experienced athletes return that know what it takes to compete in state champions. The foursome of Mackenna Briggs, Lauryn Hepp, Cecilia Nelson and Ellie Hohensinner played a part in the team’s eighth-place finish at state last year. In the Issaquah meet, Briggs, a junior, won the 200 individual medley in 2:13.87, and the 500 freestyle in 5:15.77. Nelson, also a junior, captured the 100 freestyle in 57.02, and the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.25. See SWIMMERS, Page B5
Seniors Stephanie Muñoz, Yui Umezawa pace Skyline By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com Stephanie Muñoz and Yui Umezawa have accomplished a lot during their swimming careers, but their ambitions have grown even larger at the start of their senior seasons at Skyline High School. Muñoz and Umezawa were major factors in Skyline’s 122-63 victory against district rival Liberty on Oct. 1 at the Julius Boehm Pool, and the results they’ve posted in the Spartans’ first four meets have them on pace for an outstanding finish at the Class 4A state championships in November. Against Liberty, Umezawa captured first place in the 200yard individual medley (2 minutes, 18.31 seconds) and 100 backstroke (1:01.40) Her times were slower than her season-best marks, but she’s already turned in a state-qualifying mark of 1:00.34 in the backstroke and is within
By Greg Farrar
Yui Umezawa, Skyline High School senior, braces herself at the pool edge waiting for the starting horn in her 100yard backstroke race Oct. 1 against Liberty at the Julius Boehm Pool. a second of qualifying in the 200 individual medley. Umezawa has competed at the state meet in each of her first
three seasons at Skyline, but has yet to win a medal in five individual events. She didn’t post her best marks against Liberty, but said she felt very good about her performances. “I had goals going into my races, making sure I got 15 meters underwater for my backstroke, and I was really proud of myself,” she said. “Going into my races, I’m not always about the time. I always have little goals of something I want to do for every race, and as long as I carry those out, I’m really happy with my time.” Muñoz, who won state medals as a sophomore and junior, has started the 2013 season stronger than any before it. She broke the state time standard in the 100 butterfly by previously swimming 1:00.18, and she won the event against Liberty in 1:02.32. “I’m really happy with that,” she said. “It’s my first year where I’ve actually made my time before (the league meet), so I’m excited.”
Versatility is one of Muñoz’s strengths. She swam the 200 and 500 freestyle events at state as a freshman. As a team captain, she’s looking to inspire growth in her younger teammates. One of Skyline’s goals is to dethrone defending state champion Newport at the upcoming KingCo Conference meet. “I think we have a really deep team this year, and we have a lot of girls that will qualify for state by districts,” Muñoz said. “We have so many fast girls this year,” Umezawa added. “We’re actually able to make a really fast ‘B’ relay and a really fast ‘C’ relay, and hopefully that’ll really help us win KingCo this year. “I know it’ll be a tough battle against Newport, because it was last year, but we’re just going to go in with really strong, positive attitudes, and really mentally be prepared for our races.” See SKYLINE, Page B5
SCHOOLING THE COMPETITION
Photo by Greg Farrar
Kyle Smits, of Seattle (left), Duncan Woodward, 12, of Sammamish, and Daniela Zeman, of Seattle, win the overall, the boys’ 13-and-under, and the women’s division, respectively, during the Issaquah Run with the Fishes 5K race Oct. 6, one of the highlights of Salmon Days, spawnsored by the Issaquah Rotary Foundation. An additional notable victory was by Hailie Baker, 12, of Issaquah, in the girls’ 13-and-under division.
Sam Hutson, a Maryland native and former assistant at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle, will be Skyline High School’s head boys lacrosse coach starting in the 2014 spring season. Hutson spent the 2013 season at Nathan Hale, where the Raiders compiled a 17-4 record and won the program’s first state championship. He previously coached the boys junior varsity squad in 2009-10 at Heathwood Hall Episcopal School in Columbia, S.C. “Lacrosse has a very bright future at Skyline High School. I’m extremely excited about this opportunity,” Hutson said in a news release. “We are going to do our very best to make (lacrosse) a highly competitive, rewarding experience for Skyline student-athletes.” Hutson inherits a Skyline program with plenty of past success. The Spartans reached the state tournament in seven of their first nine years of existence, and have an overall record of 92-65. Hutson grew up playing in the lacrosse hotbed of suburban Baltimore. In 2007, he helped Loyola Blakefield win the Maryland state title. He attended the University of South Carolina, where he played midfield for the school’s club team while studying sports management. The coach spent time over the summer in Jamaica with about 20 lacrosse players with high-school, collegiate and professional rankings. The group helped teach the game to Jamaican children and fielded an under-19 squad for the nation’s first Friendship Games competition.
Issaquah hosts college lacrosse matchup
Issaquah High School will host the 2013 Seatown Classic, featuring a matchup between the University of Southern California and University of Oregon women’s lacrosse teams Oct. 13. The NCAA Division I lacrosse game is the second to be played in Washington state. “With the demand among youth and high school girls in Washington state to play lacrosse, it’s important that we continue to bring the highest level of the game to the state,” said Dave Low, president of the Washington State Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse. “We want our kids to experience first hand the best collegiate lacrosse players in America.” The Trojans feature one local player in Alex Foreman, a Sammamish native and Eastside Catholic High School graduate. Foreman earned state and national honors for her play during her time as a Crusader. Prior to the 1 p.m. match, Oregon and USC players will hold a 90-minute clinic for youth and high-school lacrosse players. Registration costs $5; the clinic begins at 10 a.m. Sign up at www.seatownclassic.org/ clinics. Tickets to the game cost $15 at the gate or $13 in advance when purchased at www.seatownclassic.org. Issaquah High School is at 700 Second Ave. S.E.