It has been said that soccer is the world’s game.
One doesn’t have to look any further each afternoon and some evenings than the French Field turf, where the Kent-Meridian High boys soccer team is dribbling, kicking, shooting and passing proof that a variety of nationalities, languages and talent are converging on the field. The Kent-Meridian roster includes players from Uganda, Burma, Congo and Gabon among other distant lands.
Kyle Jones couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Not with this senior class, a group that ushered him into the world of prep soccer three years ago at Kentlake High. Not after all they’ve been through together. And, especially not after the team fell short of its ultimate goal last year.
So despite commuting on a daily basis from his home in Olympia and the fact that his wife will give birth to the couple’s first baby any day now, Jones chose to stick around the Kentlake High soccer pitch for one more year.
In an effort to enhance live, race day exposure, Emerald Downs will add new elements to its TV coverage throughout the 2011 season.
During selected races, Director of Publicity Joe Withee will complement his prerace analysis with a brief interview with a race entrant's trainer or owner, as their horse warms up before post time. The interview will be done live, immediately after the post parade. Withee said the new coverage would give racing fans a fresh take on the upcoming race.
Most horse racing fans have heard of trainers Tim McCanna and Doris Harwood. Both are among the leading trainers in the state, and the statistics prove it.
But how about trainers like Larry Wolf and Dino Apostolou?
• FAVORITE: Jefferson.
• CONTENDERS: Kentwood, Tahoma, Auburn Riverside.
• SLEEPERS: Mount Rainier, Kentridge, Kentlake.
• LEAGUE OUTLOOK: Jefferson returns a loaded bunch, including four first-team all-leaguer returners (Chase Hanson, Kasey Kim, Jimmy Oganga and Isidro Prado-Huerta). Kentwood knocked off the Raiders 2-1 in the season opener, but Jefferson still remains the favorite going forward simply due to the wealth of talent back on the field. Jefferson, which won last year’s league crown by two games, brought back 28 of its 46 goals scored a year ago. To put that number in perspective, no other team in last year’s North scored 28 goals all season. .
The dilemma was clear to Kentridge High boys soccer coach Glenn Walrond entering the spring season.
Play for the present or build for the future?
After a 4-8-4 season in South Puget Sound League North Division play last season, the answer appeared simple.
“Do we let (the younger guys) sit around or do we build?” Walrond said. “The game pace is a lot higher at the varsity level and we need the younger guys to experience that. When we graded guys out (during tryouts), there were a few guys on varsity last year who are on junior varsity (this year) ... we just had some younger guys who graded out a little better.
Getting the soccer season off on the right foot likely meant more to Jared Fuller than anyone else in early March. Because not too long ago Fuller, a center-mid for the Kentwood High soccer team, wasn’t even sure he’d be suiting up at all.
“I thought I was finished,” explained Fuller, a senior.
In a split second, the notion that his days of playing soccer might be over hit Fuller like a ton of bricks in Kentwood’s final game of the season last spring. With the ball in toe and looking to gain breathing room to deliver one of his trademark long shot attempts, Fuller was driven into the ground.
He wouldn’t get up.
Ryan Ratekin threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Eric Taylor and Rett Thibodeaux kicked the extra point with 30 seconds left to give the Fairbanks Grizzlies a 31-30 win over the Kent Predators in a professional Indoor Football League game April 1 at the ShoWare Center.
Stepping stone. Building block. Both have been used to describe the success of the Kentwood High girls track team last spring, a season in which the Conquerors won the program’s first-ever South Puget Sound League North Division title with a perfect 5-0 record and went on to take a school-best sixth place at the state meet.
Stepping stone?
Building block?
The Conquerors view last season’s success as a springboard. And what lies ahead could be truly special.
Preps of the Week | The Kent Reporter
Alex Straus couldn’t walk. Simply moving caused shooting pain throughout his body.
So he sat — stunned and injured — and methodically contemplated what to do during that late July afternoon that would alter his entire senior year at Kentlake High. A long and lean 6-foot-4, 175-pound three-sport standout for the Falcons, Straus was simply putting in one of his final weightlifting workouts of the summer, when his feet gave out.
After injury last year, Royal's Derrick Daigre is ready to reclaim his state crown
• FAVORITE: Kent-Meridian.
• CONTENDERS: Kentwood, Kentridge.
• SLEEPERS: Tahoma, Kentlake.
• LEAGUE OUTLOOK: Kent-Meridian won its first SPSL North track title last season since 2001. This spring, the Royals have been pegged to repeat that success and have the tools to do it. Though Kent-Meridian lost burner B.J. Arceneaux, who transferred to Kentwood, the Royals still bring back multiple-event standouts Brandon Harris, Abu Kamara, David Jones, Jordan Thompson Walker and University of Washington-bound star Derrick Daigre, who won a state title in the 800-meter in 2009, but struggled with injuries last spring. Since 2007, the Royals have posted a 23-4 overall mark in SPSL North meets.
SPSL NORTH: AT A GLANCE
• FAVORITE: Kentwood.
• CONTENDERS: Tahoma, K-M.
• SLEEPERS: Kentridge, Kentlake.
• LEAGUE OUTLOOK: Now this should be fun. KW came into its own last season, winning the school’s first-ever SPSL North track and field title. To get it done, the Conks had to go through perennial powerhouse Tahoma, which had won 36 SPSL North meets in a row and four consecutive league crowns. KW knocked off Tahoma 89-61. But can the Conks do it again?
Kent Meridian 5th Annual Track and Field Invitational Slide Show
Kentwood hosted Auburn Riverside on Friday.
The Conquerors played it close against the Ravens early. Kentwood couldn't hold Riverside down and lost the game 21-4. The Conks bounced back on Monday with a 14-4
victory over the Royals from Kent-Meridian.
The Chicago Slaughter scored the winning touchdown with 53 seconds left to beat the Kent Predators 37-36 in a professional Indoor Football League game Friday in Chicago.
Seattle Thunderbirds goalie Calvin Pickard signed a three-year entry level deal today with the Colorado Avalanche of the NHL.
"I am excited to sign with the Avalanche," Pickard said. "This is the first step in a pro career and I am looking forward to being a part of the Avalanche organization."
She doesn’t need a nickname.
In fact, the name she was born with serves perfectly, especially for a kid on the fastpitch diamond who can swing the bat with the kind of authority that Kentridge High’s Haley Crusch delivers on a regular basis for the Chargers.
As stated, Crusch crushes. Over the plate. Inside. Outside. High. Low.
It really doesn’t matter to the Kentridge junior. She hits ‘em all.
“That’s kind of my nickname,” Crusch said about her last name. “It fits well.”
Amber Pineda has heard the talk, but refuses to listen.
Instead, the Kent-Meridian transfer is looking to the future rather than taking note of the past when it comes to the school’s fastpitch program.
“They said they weren’t that great, but I don’t believe them,” said Pineda, a pitcher who transferred to the East Hill school from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. before the year began. “I heard they have not won that many games, but I don’t think it’s a big deal. I think I could help them start winning games this year. I think we have potential.”
Kent-Meridian has been on the bottom of the South Puget Sound League North Division looking up for the last two years. And despite the fact that the Royals entered the spring season earlier this week having lost 36 consecutive North Division games, Pineda has high hopes for the months ahead.
