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DEMATTEO SHOWCASES SKILLS IN HAWAII

Skyline linebacker Anthony DeMatteo will participate

in the Aloha Prep Bowl this Saturday, at Aloha Stadium

in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Hawaii/Polynesia-Mainland All-Star Game will feature a

matchup of some of the best players from Hawaii and the

Polynesian Islands against some of the top gridiron prep

stars from the Continental US. Bothell’s Colin Porter is

also playing in the game.

RUGBY CLUB SEASON GETS UNDERWAY

Come play for the Eastside Lions Youth Rugby Club, the Eastside’s only youth rugby

team. Rugby is America’s fastest growing sport and

was recently voted into the Summer Olympics.

Boys in grades 8-12 are welcome. Practice begins

in January. Contact Josh Young (253)740-7857 or

eastsiderugby@yahoo.com for details.

Spartans nab � fth trophy this decade

BY KEVIN ENDEJAN

kendejan@issaquah-reporter.com

With so many amazing feats already under his belt, it was only appropriate Sky-line quarterback Jake Heaps leave one more mark in his � nal prep game.

� e BYU-bound senior did exactly that Saturday, passing for a 4A title game record four touchdowns as the Spartans cruised to their third straight state championship with a 45-21 victory over Ferris.

“� ey’re all amazing, but senior year it’s so special,” said Heaps, who � nished his career with a 40-2 record. “To come out and leave on a high note, there’s nothing better than that.”

Heaps relished in the moment by raising the trophy over his head and pumping it in the direction of the Spartan faithful one � nal time.

Asked just moments later about his accomplishments, he was quick to de� ect the credit.

“All the personal stu� is great, but it’s all about the team,” said Heaps, high-lighting the scout players, the defense, o� ense and special teams. “� ese guys are amazing. I love every single moment of it. To be with these special group of guys and win it three times, it’s unbelievable.”

On Saturday, Skyline showed the grit of a team that’s been there before.

A� er allowing Ferris to march 71 yards for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, the Spartans clamped down. � e defense did its job on the next Saxon series, forcing a punt.

Heaps, who completed 15 of 25 passes for 256 yards for the game, knotted the score with 1:41 le� in the � rst quarter, � nding junior wide receiver Kasen Wil-liams on an 15-yard strike.

From there, it was all Spartans.

Skyline scored 21 unan-swered points, punching in a 5-yard TD run from Nick Washburn and another 15-yard touchdown pass from Heaps to Williams. Ferris managed a 60-yard scoring drive just before the half, when quarterback Con-nor Halliday found Jason Bates for an 11-yard TD

with 57 seconds remaining. � e Spartans were quick to counter, however, marching down the � eld for a 36-yard Sean Penberthy � eld goal and a 24-14 hal� ime advantage.

Skyline increased its lead to 31-14 in the third quarter when Heaps found Williams for their third TD connection of the game — also a 4A championship game record. Williams beat his man down � eld, and Heaps laid a ball directly into his arms on a 26-yard fade route to the back right corner of the end zone. Williams, who had eight

catches for 89 yards, said he’ll certainly miss his com-panion next year.

“Me and Jake have been riding it out since (my) freshman year, and I don’t want it to end, but we’re go-ing out big” he said.

Ferris closed the gap to 10 points, 31-21, with 11:50 remaining in the game. Halliday, who completed 26 of 44 passes for 254 yards, threw his third touchdown pass of the game, � nding Jordan Tonani on a fourth-and-goal pass from the 2-yard line.

Ferris had the ball again with 8:37 to go, but an

interception by Spartan lineman Jack Carlson gave Skyline the ball at the Saxon 11. A� er a penalty, Heaps found Connor Brandt for his record-breaking fourth TD pass on a 15-yard slant. Skyline tacked on its � nal score of the game on a 1-yard dive from Heaps. � e play was set up by a 66-yard double-reverse pass from Heaps to Cooper Pelluer.

Also key to the Spar-tans’ success Saturday was their ability to run the ball. Skyline tallied 181 total

Skyline claims third straight title

Skyline’s Peter Kim grabs the ankle of Ferris running back Gage Orosco. The Spartans held Orosco to 20 yards on 13 carries, and to 12 net rushing yards in Saturday’s championship. CHAD COLEMAN, Reporter

MORE PHOTOS ONLINE…www.sammamish-reporter.comMORE PHOTOS ONLINE…www.sammamish-reporter.comMORE PHOTOS ONLINE…www.sammamish-reporter.com

[ more CHAMPS page 15]

Anthony DeMatteo

[15]December 11, 2009www.issaquah-reporter.com • www.sammamish-reporter.com

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yards on the ground. Nick Beauchamp carried the ball 18 times for 118 yards. The senior, who transferred from Florida, had a previous best of 52 yards this season.

“To have one of my biggest games in the state champion-ship ... It felt amazing,” said Beauchamp, giving credit to his offensive line.

Skyline’s defense held Fer-ris to just seven net rushing yards, and forced the Hal-

liday into two interceptions.“I’m just so proud of

our kids offensively and defensively,” Spartan head coach Mat Taylor said. “The media hype in the air, the expectations, losing a couple games ... I’ve never been so proud of the char-acter of a team.”

Saturday’s victory marked the fifth state championship for Skyline this decade. The team won the 3A title in 2000 and 2007, and the 4A title in 2005 and 2008.

[ champs from page 14]

Left, wide receiver connor Brandt gets one foot down for a catch that set up a field goal right before halftime. Right, running back Nick Washburn stretches out across the goal line for a 5-yard touchdown. He took a direct snap on the play out of the Wildcat formation — a play the Spartans implemented in their final two games. CHad ColemaN, Reporter

[9]April 3, 2009www.issaquah-reporter.com • www.sammamish-reporter.com

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Issaquah sophomore overcomes oddsBY KEVIN ENDEJAN

kendejan@issaquah-reporter.com

� e word “heart” is one of the most overused metaphors in the world of sports, but for Selena Lustig it takes on a much more literal, and important meaning.

� e Issaquah High sophomore nearly died four years ago of cardiac arrest due to a rare condition called Long QT Syndrome (LQTS).

“I probably shouldn’t have been alive, so it’s kind of hard to think about,” said Lustig, 16.

While sleeping over at a friends’ house, the then seventh-grader stopped breathing. Her friends noticed her face turned blue and she was shaking. � e friend’s mother rushed downstairs and provided Selena CPR, allowing emergency response time to arrive.

“While they were work-ing on her, the lieutenant came out and said ‘It’s not looking good, should we call a chaplain?,’” recalled Adrian Lustig, Selena’s mother. “At that point they had already tried to de� brillate her about two or three times.”

Fortunately, the EMTs kept working until they shocked Selena’s heart back to life — a good 10 minutes a� er it had stopped beating. According to her mother, Selena was among only 5 percent of people who survive from such episodes. Selena spent roughly two weeks at Seattle Chil-dren’s Hospital, but to the surprise of everyone, her recovery was speedy. She avoided what doctors thought would be necessary rehabilitation methods, and within a month she was back at school.

� ere were a couple glaring di� erences upon her return, however. Selena now had a de� brillator implanted in her chest — a device designed to shock her heart back to a normal rate if the beat level drops too far, or slow the rate if beats become too rapid.

Selena was also asked to not play any more contact sports — a request that was di� cult for a very active girl to accept.

“I played a lot of basket-ball up until the seventh grade, and then I couldn’t play anymore, so I was pretty upset about that,” she said. “� en I got more into tennis.”

The transition Selena quickly transi-

tioned into tennis, a much more mild sport. She played since age 8, but it was never her top sport.

Fast forward to 2009, and things are slightly di� erent.

Hard work over the past three years has placed her on the Eagles’ No. 1 doubles team, and at the No. 3 singles position.

According to head coach Shannon Small, there is nothing the other girls do that Selena can’t.

“She’s the showo� , she’s the ham, she’s probably got the most personality on the court,” Small said.

Selena and doubles teammate Ariel Hagen joined forces last season and advanced all the way to the quarter� nals of the Sea-King District tournament.

“Every school we played, nobody would believe she was a freshman,” Hagen said. “She’s got a great serve, she’s great at the net.”

Despite a signi� cant dif-ference in age, Hagen and Selena quickly bonded.

“I hated doubles until last year when I started playing with her and now I think I probably prefer that over singles,” Hagen said, noting they hope to make another run at the district tourna-ment this year.

Dose of realitySelena had no major

complications up until recently. While exiting a school assembly on March 6, she stood up and sudden-ly found herself collapsed into the arms of a teacher in the bleachers.

“My heartbeat got out of whack,” she said. “If it hadn’t been for the pace-maker/di� bulater to shock me back to life, who knows what could have happened. At a point, I think it got somewhere in the 300 beats

per minute range.” Selena found herself wak-

ing up in a daze, but said she was OK. Paramedics took her out of the gym as a precautionary measure, and she stayed true to form as she exited the gym.

“She was cracking jokes immediately a� er on the way to the ambulance,” Hagen said. “Our team is in tears, we’re all standing around freaking out ... For all of us it was kind of an eye-opener. She has to live with this the rest of her life and there’s nothing she can do about it. � at’s a lot to take when you’re 16 years old.”

While there haven’t been any incidents on the tennis court, Small said she is well trained on what to look for in terms of facial expres-sions. She said if there is a problem Selena will o� en go from appearing very lively and outgoing to get-ting a more withdrawn and concentrated look on her face.

“In other words I tell her mother that when she’s not

sarcastic, she’s not � ipping me crap, I know that there’s something wrong,” Small laughed.

Creating awareness

LQTS is a rare heart dis-order. According to www.qtsyndrome.ch, 1 in 5,000 to 7,000 people are born with the condition. It a� ects the heart’s electrical system and may cause fast, chaotic heartbeats. It can result in fainting, and in some cases cardiac arrest.

Selena’s disorder was passed down through ge-netics. Her father and older brother both have LQTS, but it was discovered later in life, and neither have had any episodes.

Adrian said many people are unaware they have the condition until it’s too late.

“Sometimes unexplained deaths are related to it ... in most situations the � rst symptom is a heart attack and death,” she said.

Adrian continues to be

an advocate of increasing the amount of automatic external de� ribbilaters in the public, noting they could be crucial in saving lives.

For Selena, she continues to lead through example by performing at the top of her game. She occasionally gets tired, she can’t always sprint as fast as the other girls and she has to watch her adrenaline, but other than that, she’s just a tennis player.

“Nobody looks at her like she has a disability,” Hagen said. “She’s like everyone else on this team.”

While she remains mod-est about the obstacles she’s overcome on the court and in life, Selena is clear about one thing — people shouldn’t take heart care for granted.

“It’s a good thing to know,” she said. “Peoples’ hearts should be healthy. If you can prevent something like that from happening, then why not just do a quick EKG?’”

A second shot at life

Issaquah sophomore Selena Lustig nearly died of cardiac arrest in 2006 due to complications of Long QT Syndrome. She is now one of the top tennis players on the Eagle squad. MARK LOWRY, Reporter

NICOL HONORED AS SCHOLAR ATHLETE

Erin Nicol, a senior at Issaquah High School, was

selected as the February Red Robin Scholar Athlete of

the Month by the Issaquah Booster Club and Red

Robin Restaurant. IHS girls basketball coach Kathy

Gibson nominated Nicol, saying “She is one of three captains on the team. Erin

not only helped the younger players learn the ropes,

but apparently some of the parents called her to learn

some things about the program and Erin counseled

them.” Nicol is part of the Sports Medicine program at

IHS and also has volunteered for the Special Olympics, and as a scorekeeper for

softball tournaments. She is undecided on a college, but hopes to play basketball at

the collegiate level.

YOUTH CHEER PROGRAM LAUNCHED

Registration for the newly formed Skyline Youth

Cheerleading program runs April 1-30. The group

is open to those who will be in the third through

eighth grades in the fall of 2009. Those with questions

may contact Kelley Elliott (kelleyelliott10@hotmail.

com) or Tara Johnston (TaraJohnston@comcast.

net). The group is looking for volunteers to be in

charge of squads as well, and will provide the coaching/

training.

Erin Nicol

Sports Contact and submissions: Kevin Endejan

kendejan@issaquah-reporter.com or 425-391-0363

[11]May 15, 2009www.issaquah-reporter.com • www.sammamish-reporter.com

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BY KEVIN ENDEJAN

kendejan@issaquah-reporter.com

Serena Blach’s shoes are caked in mud.

But, don’t think for a second she’s going to wash them — now, or ever.

� e black Anne Klein heels will forever be a piece of memorabilia the Issaquah resident brought home a� er her fa-ther’s horse, Mine � at Bird, pulled o� the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history earlier this month.

On May 2, the Roswell, New Mexico-based horse won the 135th running of the Derby as a 50-1 long-shot, paying out $103.20 on a $2 bet.

In 1913, Donerail had the largest payout at $189.40.

Mine � at Bird, and jockey Calvin Borel, moved even deeper in Derby his-tory a� er winning by 6 3/4 lengths — the largest mar-gin of victory since Assault won by 8 lengths in 1946.

“It was incredible,” said Blach, who watched the race from a box seat at Church-

hill Downs with her father, mother, brother and sister.

Her father, Dr. Leonard Blach, co-owns Mine � at Bird with Mark Allen.

At 74, the equine veteri-narian has been involved with horses for nearly his entire life, entering the world of racing in the early ‘70s. He never had a horse in the Kentucky Derby

prior to this year. “He’s won some

pretty big races with other horses that he’s had, but this is the crown and glory for any horseman,” said Serena, who lives in the Klahanie neighborhood, and has resided in Issaquah since 1983.

� e Kentucky Derby experience

provided Serena memo-ries she will never forget, including taking “the walk” from the barn to the saddle paddock.

“� ere was over 153,000 people at that race, it was televised into 97 coun-tries and a billion people watched it,” she said. “And then I live in Issaquah, it was just wild.”

Admittedly, her most memorable experience

came 2 minutes, 2.66 seconds into the race when Mine � at Bird crossed the � nish line uncontested.

“We studied all the horses and we � gured that there were six other horses that had odds as bad as ours,” Serena said, laugh-ing. “We just wanted to be able to run with the pack. � ere were another eight that were 20-1 and 30-1, and then you have the upper echelon. So, we just thought ‘OK, so that’s 14 all together, so if we can just run in that 14 we’re going to be thrilled.’”

When Mine � at Bird got squished to the back of the pack at the start of the race, Serena and her family anticipated the worst.

“By the time they went around that � rst turn he was really, really far behind,” she said. “At that point, I was standing on a chair with my sister ... when I saw how far behind he was I got o� my chair, and my heart went to the pit of my stomach.”

Mine � at Bird, and the rest of the pack, then disappeared behind tents in the in� eld. When they reappeared, Serena and her family members looked to the back of the pack — but saw nothing. � ere were thoughts he might have broken down in the back of the � eld, until Serena heard her brother yell “He’s mak-ing a move.”

“Our eyes just kept mov-ing up and by the time I saw where he was, he was two links ahead of every-body,” Serena said. “Right then, I swear my brain just stopped. I’ve never in my life had such a surreal thing. I turned around and looked to my family to get con� rmation. When I looked my brother was on his knees and pumping his � sts and screaming. � en I looked over to my dad and he had his hands on the rails and his eyes were as big as saucers, then I knew it was true.”

While the experience might be impossible to

duplicate, there is hope the magic can continue this weekend at the Preakness — the second leg of the Triple Crown. Mine � at Bird, a once 50-1 long-shot, enters the Preakness with 7-2 odds. Only Rachel Alexandria, ironically the horse jockey Calvin Borel will ride this time around, has lower odds at 3-2.

Serena, along with hus-band Je� Villnow, and their three adult children Kayla, Jaden and Cassie, will all attend Saturday’s race in Baltimore, Md.

With Mine � at Bird’s new-found reputation, Ser-ena said her father and the rest of the family will take the same “whatever hap-pens, happens” approach they did at Churchill Downs.

“� at Kentucky Derby experience, you could just never top that,” she said. “� ere are no great expecta-tions. If something happens that’s great, but if not, that Kentucky Derby will last us a lifetime.”

Issaquah’s own shares in Kentucky Derby history

Serena Blach holds three roses her father gave her from the Mine That Bird’s garland after he won the Kentucky Derby on May 2. Blach also has a lock of the horse’s hair and a pair of muddy shoes to remember the event by. KEVIN ENDEJAN, Reporter

“When I looked at my brother he was on his knees pumping his � sts and screaming. Then I looked over to my dad and he had h is hands on the rails and his eyes were as big as saucers, then I knew it was true.” – Serena Blach

ARSENAL TRYOUTS BEGIN SATURDAY

Issaquah Soccer Club Select Arsenal BU-15 team will

have try-outs at 5:30 p.m., May 17 and 7:30 p.m.,

May 20 at the Issaquah High School Stadium. The

team will participate in the Washington State Youth

Soccer Association Premier Division 1 for the 2009-

2010 season. Go to www.issaquahsoccerclub.org and

click on the “tryouts” button.

PARKS AND REC HOSTS ALL-COMERS MEETThe Issaquah Parks and

Recreation Department is hosting two all-comers track and � eld meets for preschool

through grade 5 in May. The � rst is Friday, May 15 at

Liberty High School, and the second is Friday, May 29 at

Issaquah High School. A variety of age appropriate

running, jumping, and throwing events will be

o� ered. The meets start at 6 p.m. and registration fee is

$4 for preschool, and $6 for grades K-5.

BY KEVIN ENDEJAN

kendejan@sammamish-reporter.com

Skyline pitcher Blake Fulghum continued to force ground balls, but it was his defensive support that had head coach Chris Tamminen scratching his head a� er Monday’s 7-0 winner-to-state loss to Lake Washington.

“We could not make plays for (Fulghum),” Tamminen said. “We could not keep the lead-o� guy o� base when he got his ground balls.”

Lake Washington’s lead-o� hitter reached in

every inning, and scored � ve times. � ree of those Kangaroo runners reached via errors, and one was safe a� er a dropped third strike.

“We just didn’t play good defensively,” Tamminen said.

Lake Washington put itself on the board, 1-0, in the bottom of the second when Alex Donnelly poked an opposite-� eld single through the right side of the in� eld. � e Kangaroos had a chance to pour it on in the second, but ran themselves into a rare play. With runners on second and third, Christian Kaiser

drilled a groundball to third baseman Shawn Ellis. � e runner got caught between third and home, another runner got caught between second and third, and the last runner was tagged out between second and � rst for an unconventional triple play.

“I told the guys it was the most embarrassing play in Lake Washington baseball history,” Kangaroo head coach Derek Bingham said.

According to Bingham, his team’s answer the next half inning may have been the deciding factor. Le� -handed starter Tyler Stau-

dacher retired the Spartans in order via a strikeout and two groundouts.

“We went out and got 1-2-3 in the next inning and stopped the momen-tum right there, and we moved on,” Bingham said.

Staudacher pitched a complete seven innings, allowing just four hits with � ve strikeouts. He also had two double plays turned behind him.

“It’s the best he’s been all year,” Bingham said. “He had command of his change-up and his fastball.”

Skyline stumbles in winner-to-state game, eliminated next day

Skyline catcher Jacob Shannon isn’t quite able to tag out Lake Washington’s John Shimabukuro Monday. JOHNATHATN YEE, For the Reporter

Sports Contact and submissions: Kevin Endejan

kendejan@issaquahreporter.com or 425-391-0363

[ more BASEBALL page 16 ]

[9]June 5, 2009www.issaquah-reporter.com • www.sammamish-reporter.com

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BY KEVIN ENDEJAN

kendejan@issaquah-reporter.com

Issaquah lacrosse coach Brandon Fortier experi-enced the longest second of his life Saturday night at Seattle’s Memorial Stadium — literally.

“It felt like about 10 seconds to me,” Fortier said, smiling. “It (seriously) felt like at least 3.”

Up by one goal, with one second le� in the Divi-sion I state championship, Eagle goalkeeper Cameron Danforth came up with his biggest save of the season, blocking a blast o� the stick of Mercer Island’s Doug Mahony.

� e de� ection, which came a� er a penalty was called just yards from the Issaquah goal, preserved a 10-9 Issaquah victory, and marked the program’s sec-ond straight Division I title.

“I was just sitting there thinking to myself, ‘Just do everything that you’re used to doing as goalie,’” Danforth said.

� e close ending contradicted most of the contest, which saw Issaquah maintain no less than a three-goal cushion through the � rst three quarters. � e Eagles matched their largest lead of the game at the 8:45 mark of the fourth quarter when senior Jordan Goldstein blasted in his fourth goal of the game for a 10-5 lead.

� ings turned quickly, however.

Mercer Island chipped away at the Issaquah lead,

before pulling to within one goal with 10 seconds remaining via a score from Matthew Shields.

“I hate to sort of just hang on like that rather than putting it away, but the bot-tom line is, the e� ort was good enough, and we did enough early to deserve the win,” Fortier said.

� e Eagles, who lost 6-4 to the Island-ers in the regular season, hopped out to a 4-1 lead a� er one quarter. Jake Di-rector had two � rst-quarter goals, and Jake Fritz struck for the � rst of his four goals

with just over 2 minutes le� in the � rst quarter.

“Our o� ense just got together and played good,” Fritz said, of the quick start.

Fritz scored again in the open-ing minute of the second quarter a� er an over-the-shoulder, no-look pass from Gold-stein.

“I saw the ball coming to me in the middle, and I knew the

defender was going to be coming straight at me, so I didn’t want to try and pass it through his stick,” Goldstein said. “I knew Jake (Fritz) was going to be there, so I just thought ...

why not?”� e Eagles pushed their

hal� ime lead out to 8-4, and led 8-5 a� er three quar-ters. � e Issaquah o� ense stalled at the start of the third quarter when senior mid� elder Riley Goodman injured his collarbone on the opening face-o� , and was forced from the game.

“I had to step up and try to face o� ,” senior Connor McClain said. “I didn’t do nearly as good of job as he did. He was going in and winning all the face-o� s. It was a huge, huge loss for the ball possession when he went out.”

Fritz, along with Gold-stein, each punched in early fourth-quarter goals that proved the di� erence. Fritz

and Goldstein scored four goals apiece, and Director had two.

Michael Black and Ma-hony led the Islanders with two goals apiece.

� e victory not only marked Issaquah’s second straight title, but the pro-gram’s second ever Division I crown — something that won’t soon be forgotten by the group of seven graduat-ing seniors.

“� ere’s no better feel-ing than going out on top, getting a repeat,” McClain said. “We did everything we could. All of us seniors here stepped up as much as pos-sible. We pulled it out in the end and it feels great.”

Issaquah hangs on for state lacrosse title

Issaquah’s lacrosse team celebrates its second consecutive Division I state title Saturday night. JOHNATHAN YEE, For the Reporter

POHLMAN SCORES TWO RUNS IN UW

CHAMPIONSHIP Kimi Pohlman, a member

of Eastlake’s 2008 class 4A state championship

softball team, scored two runs for the University of

Washington Tuesday night, helping the Huskies beat

Florida 3-2 for the National Softball Championship. The UW freshman, who hit No. 2 in the lineup, scored the

eventual game-winning run in the third inning, racing home on a soft hit back to

the circle that Florida pitcher Stacey Nelson couldn’t � eld.

Pohlman had at least one hit in all of the Huskies’ six

College World Series games.

“We proved that we’re going to be here for a while and hopefully we can just keep the tradition alive here at Issaquah.” –Jake Director

[ more LACROSSE page 10 ]

BY KEVIN ENDEJAN

kendejan@issaquah-reporter.com

� e � x was simple for Skyline sophomore Kasen Williams — sprint harder on his approach to the high jump bar.

“I changed my run-up in practice this week,” he said. “I adapted to that so I could get more speed. � at was my problem before, I just didn’t have enough speed.”

Williams’ new-found approach helped him clear a personal best 6-feet, 10 inches in the high jump last Friday, earning the 4A state title at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma. His previous best was 6-6.

“It felt good because there was two 7-foot jump-

ers going in, and I wasn’t one of the guys they were expecting to win, and I pulled it out,” Williams said.

Williams also leapt to a personal best 47-10 in the triple jump on Friday, tak-ing home second place be-hind Kentlake’s Zach Smith (48-1). Williams � nished third Saturday in the long jump with another personal best 23-5. He led going into the � nal group of jumpers before Justin Veltung of Puyallup went 24-5. Smith went 23-8 on his � nal jump to edge Williams.

“It still feels good to place and get third,” Williams said. “You can’t be mad at third place at state.”

� e Spartans also earned an eighth place � nish from

senior Simon Sorensen in the 800 meters. He completed the race in 1 minute, 54.81 seconds. Skyline sprinter Alex Lee, who entered the state meet with the second fastest time in the 100, failed to make it out of the prelims in the 100 and 200. � e 400 relay team also just missed the � -nals. Skyline � nished eighth overall with 25 points. Mead of Spokane won with 49 points.

� e Skyline girls, who have � nished � rst in 3A in 2007 and fourth in 3A in 2008, took � � h place over-all at the 2009 4A meet with 29 team points. Bellarmine Prep won with 56.

� e Spartan girls didn’t have any state champions,

but had six top-eight � n-ishes, including two second places.

� e 400 relay team of Kiara Williams, Shealee O’Donnell, Kaylyn Berry and Rachael Butenko � n-ished in second place in 48.29 seconds. Bellarmine Prep won the race in 47.4 seconds.

“We’re all really close with each other, and three of us are graduating this year, so it was our last race,” Butenko said. “We’re happy with what we did.”

Berry also � nished sec-ond in the long jump with a personal best 18-2 1/4 inches. Andrea Geubelle of Curtis won the event (19-4).

Williams earns 3 medals at state meet

Kasen Williams leaps 23 feet, 5 inches in the long jump � nals Saturday, � nishing third in state. KEVIN ENDEJAN, Reporter

Kimi Pohlman

[ more TRACK page 13 ]

June 5, 2009[10] www.issaquah-reporter.com • www.sammamish-reporter.com

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Director, another senior, concurred.

“We proved that we’re going to be here for a while, and hopefully we can just keep the tradition alive here at Issaquah,” he said.

Eastside Catholic finishes second

Eastside Catholic couldn’t overcome an early deficit Saturday evening, falling 17-11 to Overlake in the Division II state lacrosse championship at Memorial

Stadium. The Crusaders fell behind

2-0 after 1 minute of play, and were never able to recover. Overlake led 9-7 at halftime. David Carlton scored a goal 12 seconds into the second half, pulling Eastside to within 9-8, but Overlake broke off a 4-0 run

to close the third quarter.Carlton had seven goals,

and Kyle Decker added two scores for the Crusaders.

This was the first state title game for both schools. Eastside, which finished 14-2 overall, started its lacrosse program just three years ago.

[ LaCrossE from page 9]

Eastside Catholic’s Kyle Decker, top, works against the Overlake defense Saturday in the Division II state lacrosse title game. Issaquah’s Jake Director, bottom, scored two goals in the first quarter to help the Eagles to their second straight state title. JOhnathan yEE, For the Reporter

[13]December 18, 2009www.issaquah-reporter.com • www.sammamish-reporter.com

Impressive. Outstanding. Unbelievable. Pick your own adjective

to describe the fall season for Skyline athletics.

The football team’s 45-21 victory over Ferris brought the school its third state championship this fall — the most championships EVER by a 3A or 4A school in the fall.

The girls soccer team beat Issaquah 2-1 on Nov. 21 for their second straight 4A title, and the girls swim team nabbed their first ever title on Nov. 14.

Just how impressive is this? There are only three

other team sports in the fall — volleyball, and boys and girls cross country — that saw state champions from schools other than Skyline.

Pretty amazing to say the least.

While the Spartans certainly left their imprint on the fall season, two other area schools also made some noise.

The Eastlake girls cross country team won its

second consecu-tive 4A state champi-onship under head coach Troy Anderson. The Wolves’ swim team finished 11th behind sophomore Katie Kinnear’s two individual championships in the 100 butterfly and 200 individual medley.

Issaquah also had an impressive fall. The Eagles had four of a possible six teams, place in state. Girls soccer completed another impressive run, finishing second overall. The boys cross country team placed third, the girls swim team placed fourth, and the vol-leyball team placed fifth. The football team just missed a return appearance to the Tacoma Dome with a state-quarterfinal loss to Bothell.

I’ve covered the flip-side of high school sports around this state, including an 0-20 boys basketball

season and back-to-back softball seasons resulting in a 1-39 record.

Be certain, success isn’t

guaranteed. There are a huge portion of schools in this state which have expe-rienced decade-long state

championship droughts — many have never made it at all. To be able to do it year after year, season after

season — says a lot about the coaches and athletes in this area.

Be proud.

A fall to remember: Season will be tough to top

THE E

ND ZO

NEKe

vin

Ende

jan

Skyline quarterback Jake Heaps and coach Mat Taylor hoist the 4A state championship trophy over their heads Dec. 5 at the Tacoma Dome. chAD colemAn, Reporter

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