Page A10
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CHS Soccer CONTINUED FROM A9
Six other letter winners return, junior defender Victoria Wellman; sophomore midfielders Marisa Etzell, Christine Fields, Ana Luvera and Erin Rosenkranz; and sophomore defender Ivy Luvera. Coach d’Almeida said, “Besides the returning varsity players, I expect contributions from Jacki Ginnings and Mickayla Levine.” Key newcomers, d’Almeida said, are senior forward Madison Tisa-McPhee, and sophomores McKayla Bailey, Makana Stone and Jennifer Spark. “We have a nice mix of veterans and solid underclassmen who are veteran club or rec players,” d’Almeida said. “The girls are bonding nicely as a team this season…I believe the seniors and sophomores are more than ready to step in and make strong contributions to a well-organized, team defense.” He said a “big priority” is finding “a reliable goalie and an additional central defender.” The Wolves had a great first week of practice and are working hard, d’Almeida said. He said because of the strength of the league, “expecting big results is certainly not realistic.” He added, “However, we have great pride and I believe the girls will pull more than a few surprises.” The Wolves begin the season at home at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, with Oak Harbor.
OHHS Tennis Veteran singles players lead Oak Harbor attack The Oak Harbor High School tennis team headed into the 2011 season with an untested lineup and the young Wildcats struggled. This year an experienced singles corps should help Oak Harbor improve on its 2-14 record. Topping the list of returnees is multi-letter winner senior Will Southard who will move up from third singles to take over the No. 1 spot this fall. Senior David Kusnick, who played first
John Fisken/Whidbey News-Times
Will Southard will hold down the No. 1 singles spot for Oak Harbor.
doubles last year, is set to play No. 2 singles. Sophomore Carter Saar, who played second singles much of last season, is slated to play in the No. 3 slot. Junior Harrison Miller, who bounced between singles and doubles play in the past, will play No. 4 singles. Three other lettermen -- senior Sean Kelley, junior Antonio Unpingco and sophomore Tom Dale -- return and will help make up the three doubles teams. Key newcomers, according to coach Horace Mells, are senior Keifer Herman and juniors Casiano Atienza, Ziwei Peng, Jose Dimaculangan and Jozef Mendoza, and they should help fill out the doubles teams. Mells said, “Our four singles players have shown great improvement since last season and should be competitive in the majority of their matches. “Even though all but two of our doubles players are first time varsity, they should also be competitive by the start of the season and continue to raise their level of play during the season.” Mells added, “Our goal is to work hard and finish on top of our division.” Oak Harbor starts the season on the road with nonleague matches at Lake Stevens Wednesday, Sept. 5, and Mountlake Terrace Friday, Sept. 7, at 3:30 p.m.. The first home match, and the league opener, follows at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10, with Stanwood.
CHS Tennis Road to district crown gets tougher in 2012 Coupeville has been the dominating force in District 1 1A tennis recently, but its path to another title became much more difficult this fall with the addition of tradition-rich South Whidbey. For years the Wolves and Friday Harbor were the only 1A schools with tennis programs in District 1, and Coupeville has controlled the series in recent years. South Whidbey, with a dip in enrollment, drops from 2A and joins them this season. Coupeville and South Whidbey have met each year in nonleague matches, and the Wolves have yet to beat the Falcons in CHS coach Ken Stange’s eight years. Stange said, “While South Whidbey is always difficult competition, I’m hoping the raising of the bar will inspire us to work that much harder. I welcome the challenge.” The addition of the Falcons will also make it more difficult for Coupeville senior Nathan Lamb to capture his fourth straight individual district title. As a freshman and sophomore, Lamb earned the district doubles crown; last year he was singles champion. He returns this season in the No. 1 singles slot for the Wolves. The team’s only other senior, Ben Wehrman, finished third in district in singles in 2011. “Nathan and Ben were solid in singles last season and will continue to do so,” Stange said. Also returning is sophomore Aaron Curtin, who placed second in district doubles with then-senior Taku Yamauchi. Other returnees are juniors Jason Knoll, Brandon Kelley, Brian Norris, Jake McCormick, Cameron Boyd-Eck and Konrad Borden. Newcomers include junior Ben Etzell and freshmen Dawson d’Almeida, Sebastian Davis, Zane Bundy, Loren Nelson, Connor McCormick, Shane Squire and Loren Nelson. “I expect my seasoned players,” Stange said, “to augment their games while the new-
Saturday, September 1, 2012 • Whidbey News-Times
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by some feisty Falcons and Wolverines.” The Wolves get started by taking on Friday Harbor at 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, in Coupeville.
OHHS Swim and Dive Oak Harbor paced by 5 state-meet participants
Jim Waller/Whidbey News-Times
Three-time district champion Nathan Lamb is back for Coupeville. bies learn the basics and turn from beginners to intermediate players.” The team’s strength, according to Stange, is its depth, thanks to “quite a few athletic newcomers.” He added, “Many of them will develop into fine players if they keep at it. I’ve also got some returning players to keep us competitive in singles.” Stange said the team’s inexperience could be a problem and no “truly dominant doubles team” has emerged. Stange said his team may take some “beatings from the private schools” but it will help the Wolves “learn better tennis.” Among his goals, Stange looks to advance at least one singles player and one doubles team to quad-district: “We will just have to get
The nucleus of the Oak Harbor High School swim and dive team will consist of five veterans of the state meet. Therese Desquitado, Mollie Briddell, Nicole Vagt and Irysh Concepcion all represented the Wildcats at state in 2011. Also returning after missing last season with an injury is senior Akasha Trisler, who qualified for state in 2010 in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. The quintet will get a boost from sophomore Emily Huffer, joining the high-school team for the first time after posting times as a member of the North Whidbey Aquatic Club that meet state-qualifying high-school standards. Four other letter winners are back from last fall’s team which finished with a 7-6 regular-season record: Tricia Desquitado, Sarah Baxter, Allison Hoffmire and Danae Nash. In addition of Huffer, another key newcomer, according to coach Amy Merkley, is Lauren Vagt. Six other experienced swimmers who are new to the program or returning after missing last year are Makenzi Schulle, Kennedy Trisler, Elise Still, Sophie Dickinson, Mariel Empinado and Marissa Morris. Merkley said, “We have a lot of depth going into this season and will look to place in the top three at districts and have a successful dual meet season.” The Wildcats, however, will be hurt by the lack of divers. Merkley said, “At this point we do not have a volunteer dive coach and have no one training for that event.” Oak Harbor travels to Marysville-Pilchuck for the North Division Jamboree at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, and then hosts EdmondsWoodway at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10.
See OHHS cross country, A11
John Fisken/Whidbey News-Times
Mollie Briddell is one of five Oak Harbor swimmers with state-meet experience.