By Kirsten Johnson

His idea was birthed on a sloshy, windy day while he was driving through Seattle. A solar panel — failing to work properly due to the wind and lack of sun — fell off a nearby streetlight, and Jeff Weng had an epiphany.

“It wasn’t really effective in what it was doing,” the Issaquah High School senior said. “I wanted to make something that could counter the environ-mental limitations that are inherent to living in the Northwest, while having the same advantages of a solar panel in a more sunny environment.”

Weng’s panel idea — along with a go-cart to utilize the invention — became the fruit of his 436 hours of labor last summer. Long days and all-nighters toying around in his garage paid off — Weng now has a pending provisional patent for his weather-savvy, solar panel invention.

Unlike other panels, Weng’s can attract the sun while maintaining a flat profile. The panel attaches to his car, charges its batteries and allows for his vehicle to travel at about 25 miles per hour.

“The panel has the ability to move in all direc-tions through two separate drives and maintain flat while being able to attract,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if the sun’s out, it hits in the right spot in the sky, it will try to look at it to find efficiency.”

With the help of a patent lawyer, Weng filled out a provisional patent application in November. The lengthy process included drafting diagrams of every component of his invention and writing an invention disclosure — stating elements such as a summary of his project, its applications and its ca-pabilities. If Weng improves his current invention, one year from now he can file for a regular issued patent application.

His father, Lee Weng, said Jeff has always loved building things — beginning with Legos. Weng even used the familiar child toy-pieces to construct early models of his vehicle design. In middle school, Weng was member of a team that placed fourth in the world in an international Lego robotics competition.

“That also really helped him to prepare for this project,” Lee Weng said. “It’s using something small-er, Lego pieces, but the principles are the same.”

Randy Whitmer, a friend of Weng’s family, built a gasoline vehicle himself while in college. Like Weng, he remembers the long summer hours spent toiling away alone on his project.

“It takes a lot of effort — not only do you have to be smart and creative but you have to have the dedi-cation to do it,” he said. “That’s why you don’t see many people doing this as students, but it just opens up doors and puts you a little bit above the crowd.”

For Weng, all the effort was well worth it — he wouldn’t put a price tag on his creation.

“It’s really a concept and I would never really sell it,” he said. “I think what it really comes down

COMMUNITYs s

The Issaquah Press

�Section

B WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012

By David HayesIssaquah Press reporter

Nothing says Americana more than the family tradition. The Issaquah Valley Senior Center is inviting the public to a tradition it has hosted since opening 33 years ago — its annual pancake breakfast fundraiser from 9-11:30 a.m. May 19 at the center, 75 N.E. Creek Way.

Center Director Courtney Jaren said she hopes to attract as many as 300 hungry eaters to the all-you-can-eat buffet, which features bacon, sausage, eggs, coffee, tea and juice to accompany the pancakes. At just $5 per person, Jaren said that adds up to a nice amount for the center.

“It’s our biggest fundraiser of the year,” she said. “Netting $1,500 would be nice. It will go toward paying for all our pro-grams. And nothing specific. Rather, it’s an amount to help

defray all our costs.”This year’s meal will again be

sponsored, now for the sixth year, by Aegis of Issaquah, and Fischer Meats will provide sausage. Serv-ing up the entertainment will be the senior center’s own musi-cians, The Rovin’ Fiddlers. “Also, our guest celebrity chefs this year will be former mayor Rowan Hinds and his wife Bar-bara,” Jaren said.

Reaching 300 guests shouldn’t be too hard, as it’s also one of the center’s most popular traditions, she said.

“We once had a director who heard a proposed cutback should be the pancake breakfast,” Jaren said. “She was aghast and said, ‘No! We can’t lose our pancake breakfast!’”

The tradition has lived on since and Jaren said she hopes the tradition lives on for more genera-tions to come.

By David HayesIssaquah Press reporter

When you have one of the most successful programs around, that essentially leaves one goal each year: do better than the previous year.

Such is the envious dilemma facing Gwen Schweitzer in her first year as the coordinator of the Issaquah area’s Relay for Life.

At this time last year, there were 78 teams signed up. This year, there are already 81, just four away from the goal, Schweitzer said. After last year’s two-day event netted more than $285,000, that left her with the goal of reach-ing $300,000 in 2012.

“We are one of the only mega events to raise over $200,000. Overall, the relay has seen a drop in contributions due to the economy,” Schweitzer said. “Is-saquah has been lucky. We’ve seen funding increase by a small margin every year.”

In fact, the Issaquah event, held at Skyline High School the past few years due to construction at Issaquah High School, is 11th overall in the Great West Division, a 12-state region.

“We were No. 1 in King County,” Schweitzer said. “We even beat out the University of Washington event for the first time in a very long time. We were second in the state only to Tacoma, the founding location of the Relay for Life.”

The two-day event has a simple concept. Teams are formed. Each team must raise a certain amount for the American Cancer Society. And donors pledge money for every lap walked at a local track. It isn’t hard to find team members whose lives have been touched by cancer, whether it’s their own or that of a family member, loved one or friend.

For Schweitzer, it was her grand-mother. Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, Schweitzer went to Colfax, with her mom and her husband to participate in the relay there to honor her grandmother.

“It was really touching for me,” she said. “Afterwards, I wanted to fundraise more and be a more active part of a team.”

This will be Schweitzer’s sixth relay, fourth in Issaquah after stints in Colfax and at the University of Washington. Making the event even

more amazing, her grandmother participated in the kickoff survi-vor’s lap two years ago.

The Issaquah event still fea-tures overnight camping on the track’s infield. This year, every inch, Schweitzer said, has al-ready been booked for tents. To keep the party going there will be games, competitions and music will alternate between live and DJ spun. The highlight, Schweitzer said, is the luminaria ceremony, where community members place illuminated bags, dedicated to someone touched by cancer, around the track, with relay par-ticipants walking one silent lap in their honor.

“This year, we’re also doing a cutathon, where you can pay to get your hair cut or donate your hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths,” Schweitzer said.

To keep each year fresh, she has continually provided fundrais-ing challenges, something usually left up to the teams to do on their own. Recently, Schweitzer threw

FILE

Teams walk around the Skyline High School track last year, fundraising for the annual Relay for Life event.

IF YOU GO2012 Relay for Life Issaquah4Noon June 2 to 8 a.m. June 34Skyline High School4http://relay.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY12GW?fr_id=38341&pg=entry4Teams are also encouraged to sign up.

HOW TO HELP4May 19 — Salon Couture, 485 Front St. N., is hosting a daylong Relay for Life fundraiser with 100 percent of funds raised going to the Issaquah relay. Services include haircuts ($38), mini manicures ($10), eyebrow wax ($15) and lip wax ($10). Make an appointment by calling 427-1828.4May 21 — Pogacha Restaurant,

120 N.W. Gilman Blvd., will be donating 20 percent of its sales from 5-8:30 p.m. to Relay For LIfe.

Issaquah Relay for Life sets record-breaking goals

Tradition lives on with annual pancake breakfast

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED

Jeff Weng, an Issaquah High School senior, stands by his finished solar car.

Harnessing the power of imaginationIssaquah High School senior has a

pending patent for his solar car invention

B1

See RELAY, Page B3

BY GREG FARRAR

A breed apart

Ginger Meeker pets her 8-month-old male British Shorthair cat, Castlkatz Warlock, during the All

Breed Cat Show May 12 at the Issaquah Community

Center. Owners and breed-ers entered 168 cats in a

variety of categories in the event, run by the Cat Fanci-

ers Association Inc. War-lock won Best Cat in Show champion, Best Shorthair champion and Best All-

Breed champion in just one of the rings in which he was

entered.

Below, Jeff Weng’s car is

powered by solar panels,

which charge the electrical com-

ponents and the drive train.

Jeff Weng first built a prototype for his solar car

out of Legos.

See CAR, Page B3

By Lillian TuckerIssaquah Press reporter

The 4A KingCo champion-ship game between Skyline and Roosevelt high school soccer teams was not decided in regula-tion play. It also was not decided in the two, five-minute overtime periods.

It all came down to one-on-one penalty kicks.

With no clock, no defenders to contend with and no teammates to help them, it was between shooter and goalie. In the end, Roosevelt won the penalty-kick round, 4-2, and ultimately the KingCo tourna-ment trophy.

Kicking for the Skyline Spartans were Ryan Shim, Sean McDonald, Kaleb Strawn, Pedro Miola and Jason Twaddle. Together, they made 28 of Skyline’s 37 goals this season. McDonald and Strawn each netted a shot for Skyline.

Taking turns with them in the spotlight was Ben Morgan, goalie for the Spartans. Morgan stopped the ball fired by Willie Spurr, a senior forward for Roo-sevelt. However, the Roughrid-ers’ other four shooters scored,

securing the win.“I still enjoy playing soccer, no

matter what,” Morgan said after the game. “Penalty kicks are fun. They don’t show who the bet-ter team is — they are just a fun game at the end.”

The Spartans were off to a solid start in the first half. With good movement and communication, Skyline controlled the field the majority of the time. At one point, when Roosevelt was in possession, Shin, a junior midfielder for the

Spartans, stole the ball and drove it 60 yards down the field with the help of a one-two pass off Strawn.

“I like the way we were moving in the first half,” Skyline coach Don Braman said.

With the first half winding down, Cole Calabro, a sophomore at Skyline, attempted a volley from five yards out. However, his shot curved left of the post. Then, 32 minutes in, Twaddle scored off a pass from McDonald, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead. It was Twaddle’s 11th goal this season.

“It felt great,” Twaddle said. “But it wasn’t enough.”

“You have to look at the qual-ity of chances [to score] and we created a lot of quality chances,” Braman said. “Unfortunately, in the second half we created some very good scoring opportunities but we didn’t get the shot.”

The game was tied in the 58th minute. Roosevelt lobbed the ball at Skyline’s goal but Morgan quickly punched it out. However, the Roughriders were ready and waiting and deflected the ball into

SPORTSs s

The Issaquah Press

�Wednesday, May 16, 2012Page B4

B4

By Matt CarstensIssaquah Press reporter

The clock struck 7:48 in the first quarter and it was business as usual for the Issaquah High School boys lacrosse team. A spin, a juke and a furious goal from senior Matt O’Neill would be the first of many as Issaquah finished their perfect season by beating Eastlake, 13-4, May 11.

Despite the storybook ending to an undefeated 21-0 season, head coach Brandon Fortier said he knows there’s one more step if the Eagles are going to make this a season to remember.

“It’s a nice asterisk in the re-cord book,” he said. “It’s cool, it’s something our program’s never done. It’s always cool accomplish-ing things you’ve never done, but we know that it’s not going to mean a whole lot and we’ll forget it real quick if we don’t take care of business.”

With the post season lurking May 19, Issaquah is focused on the short road ahead.

“It’s a new season,” Fortier said. “We have three games left. If we can run the table then it’ll be really special. Right now, it doesn’t really mean a whole lot.”

Although Fortier isn’t reveling in the glory right now, he’s still impressed by what his kids were able to accomplish this year.

“I would have never guessed we’d go undefeated,” he said. “We’ve had other clubs that were more talented and were in a bet-ter position to go undefeated and

By Michele MihalovichIssaquah Press reporter

A foamy, rather than muddy, obstacle race is coming to Lake Sammamish State Park on June 30.

The 5K Foam Fest, offered by Round House Racing in Og-den, Utah, includes an army-style obstacle course using bubbly foam that contestants need to plow, slide and run through.

A small sampling of obstacles is the 30-foot and 50-foot slip and slides filled with foam; the Stumpy Jumper, an inflatable pool of foam with pillars to run across; and the Body Washer, a free-standing, plastic frame filled with foam.

But have no fear, mud-lovers. Julia Fullmer, Round House spokeswoman, said the race also features mud obstacles, and standard army course obstacles, like mud crawls, wall climbs and running over tires while trying to get through a wall of hanging balls.

Fullmer said organizers choose Foam Fest locations that are close to big cities and fit re-quirements needed for the race

obstacles.Foam Fest came into existence

in 2010 and has been held in multiple states, from Texas to California.

The state park’s 5K Foam Fest will also include a Rugrat Race, a smaller and tamer version of the foamy obstacles.

Michele Mihalovich: 392-6434, ext. 246, or editor@snovalleystar.com. Comment at www.issaquahpress.com.

As far as KingCo 4A tennis is concerned, there’s a new sheriff in town.

The Issaquah High School girls tennis team went 10-0 this year on their way to the KingCo conference championship. Along the way, they defeated quality opponents in Skyline, Woodinville and even beat Newport, who had not lost to another school in more than 10 years.

“After we beat Newport we caught fire in the conference,” head coach Shannon Small said. “It’s quite an accomplish-ment for the girls. The girls are ecstatic.”

After toughing out some ter-rible weather early in the season, Issaquah was able to put in hard work in the limited practice time they had.

“A lot of them gave up other sports to focus on making var-sity,” Small said. “It’s just great for them to be able to walk away from their high school career as KingCo champs.”

Up next is the road to the state championships, for which Small said she has two hope-fuls — Sam Garrard and Kelsey Wilson. But for now she’ll sit back and take in their accom-plishment.

“We’re able to pause and just celebrate,” she said. “The girls can give themselves a pat on the back. We haven’t really got a chance to just stop and cel-ebrate.”

Eagles go undefeated, win KingCo

BY GREG FARRAR

Matt O’Neill, Issaquah High School senior, fires the first goal of the lacrosse match May 11 as Eastlake junior Danny Keogh defends and Issaquah senior Cole Greer looks on.

Issaquah lacrosse closes out perfect 21-0 season

See LACROSSE, Page B5

CONTRIBUTED

Participants enjoy a previous 5K Foam Fest, which takes them on an obstacle course filled with soapy bubbles.

ON THE WEBLearn more about the race and/or register at www.5kfoamfest.com.

YOU SHOULD KNOWIf you love obstacle courses, Warrior Dash, which brought 24,000 participants to the nearby Snoqualmie Valley last year, is returning July 21 - 22. Learn more at www.warrior-dash.com.

State park to host soapy obstacle race

BY GREG FARRAR

Ben Morgan, Skyline High School junior keeper, blocks the penalty kick by Roosevelt senior forward Willie Spurr in the shootout after regulation and over-time periods ended in a 1-1 tie.

Skyline loses title in overtime 4-2 shootout

Last hurdle to a title

Emily Pestl-Dimmitt, Liberty High School senior, clears the final hurdle in

her race to win the KingCo 3A championship in the 100-meter hurdles May 11 with a time of 16.36

seconds.

BY GREG FARRAR

See SOCCER, Page B5