By Lillian O’Rorke Eastlake and Skyline faced off against Garfield and Newport in their second to last league meet Jan 24. With the flu helping to diminish both teams’ numbers, Skyline finished the evening in second place with 130.77 points and Eastlake took fourth with 54.55. The Eastlake Wolves were the hardest hit by flu season and only brought six of their 18 girls to the competition. “We, kind of, on the bus were like, ‘oh man, this is going to be interesting.’ So, we had the goal to just come in and do the best we could,” said Eastlake coach Meghan Delaney. The top five individual scores in each event are added to make up the total team score. But Eastlake didn’t have five girls in any event, which meant the Wolves had several zeros working against them. “But we’re OK with that. The fact that these girls came out and represented Eastlake, to me, I think it’s incredible. That even with sickness, even with finals that they said ‘you know what, I am going to come support my team and do what I do.’” The most competitors Eastlake had in an event was four in floor, where Marie Bentler scored a 5.15; Mariah Hebenthal got a 4.9 and Vanessa Hernandez earned a 4.4. The Wolves only senior that night, Lisa Sheehan, scored the high- est with a 6.05. Aside from dab- bling in gymnastics when she was five, Sheehan is new to the sport. “I just wanted to pick it up my senior year and have fun,” she said. “I love it. It’s my favorite sport actually. I wish I had started it earlier…You can always get better. You can always progress.” Sheehan’s floor song “Requiem for a Dream” is a nod to her favorite movie “The Lord of the Rings.” When it finished playing Jan. 24, Sheehan said she knew she had done well, but didn’t know she had made a two- point improve- ment over her previous performance. “It was amazing. I teared up, and I usually don’t cry so. It just meant a lot to me that I put in all the hard work and it paid off,” she said. “The last time that I did my floor routine I didn’t have the score that I wanted to, so I added a front flip and I also cleaned up my routine.” On beam Sheehan earned a 5.95. Her teammates Natalie Ross scored 4.4 and Hernandez got a 4.2. Bentler was Eastlake’s highest scoring in the vault, with a 6.2. Sheehan was close behind with a 5.9. On bars, Bentler earned a 3.9 while Anna Lovin got a 3.5. Even with a few of its top performers missing Jan. 24, the Skyline Spartans had 10 girls in each event. “They did great. I thought they did fantastic tonight,” said Skyline coach Michelle McCombs. “We were trying to reach 145, but because we were down a couple of our key players, we knew that it wasn’t going to hap- pen. But we still got close to 130, which is good.” After it was all said and done, Skyline had 12 top 10 scores. In vault Rikki Uhrich took third place with a score of 8.1; Kelly Lin finished in sixth at 7.7; right behind her was Alyssa Holt with 7.5 and Kamryn Brandt, with a score of 7.4, tied with Newport for ninth place. On bars, Lin took seventh place after earn- ing a 6.15 and finished in sixth again, this time in beam, with a score of 7.7. Also in beam, Ayse Raymond, with a 7.35, took ninth place. In the floor compe- s ports 8 l January 30, 2013 SAMMAMISH REVIEW Gymnasts come together for one final league meet Photos by Lillian O’Rorke Above, Eastlake senior Lisa Sheehan leaps up from the beam during the gymnastics meet Jan. 24 at Garfield High School. Below, teammate Vanessa Hernandez strikes a pose during her floor routine. By Lillian O’Rorke The end of the diving board at Bohem pool flutters under Max Levy, who bounces more intently every time until finally he lifts off, the line from his pointed toes to his up-stretched hands form- ing an arrow. In the air he flips his body backward, spins and he enters the water facing the same direction that he started. He has several more dives to run through before prac- tice is over. Levy has spent the last several weeks preparing for the Boys State Swimming and Diving Championships. While the big day is not until Feb. 15, the Skyline senior has had his ticket to high school’s culminating div- ing competition since Jan. 5. Heading to state qualifier that day at Juanita High School, Levy needed a score of 300 to secure a spot at State. But by the time he had finished his 11th dive, the judges had awarded him 516.2 points. “I just focused on getting the motion correct and making it so that my dives were as fluid as possible, and that when I went in the water, there wasn’t a lot of splash,” said Levy. Despite his high marks, the 17-year- old thought he could have done better. After reviewing a recording of his dives, he said he thought some were off — one was a bit short and his splash was too big on a couple others. Levy explained that the better the dive, the smaller the splash. Other elements, he said, include your approach to the end of the board, the first jump, then the second. “All those have to be in a cohesive manner to be able to do the dive correctly and be close enough to the board without Photo by Greg Farrar Max Levy stretches his body straight as he enters the water Jan. 9 during diving practice with his teammates at Julius Boehm Pool. Max Levy makes a splash in diving scene Max Levy See LEVY, Page 9 See GYMNAST, Page 9
Transcript
By Lillian O’Rorke
Eastlake and Skyline faced off against Garfield and Newport in their second to last league meet Jan 24. With the flu helping to diminish both teams’ numbers, Skyline finished the evening in second place with 130.77 points and Eastlake took fourth with 54.55.
The Eastlake Wolves were the hardest hit by flu season and only brought six of their 18 girls to the competition.
“We, kind of, on the bus were like, ‘oh man, this is going to be interesting.’ So, we had the goal to just come in and do the best we could,” said Eastlake coach Meghan Delaney. The top five individual scores in each event are added to make up the total team score. But Eastlake didn’t have five girls in any event, which meant the Wolves had several zeros working against them. “But we’re OK with that. The fact that these girls came out and represented Eastlake, to me, I think it’s incredible. That even with sickness, even with finals that they said ‘you know what, I am going to come support my team and do what I do.’”
The most competitors Eastlake had in an event was four in floor, where Marie Bentler scored a 5.15; Mariah Hebenthal got a 4.9 and Vanessa Hernandez earned a 4.4. The Wolves only senior that night, Lisa Sheehan, scored the high-est with a 6.05. Aside from dab-bling in gymnastics when she was five, Sheehan is new to the sport.
“I just wanted to pick it up my senior year and have fun,” she said. “I love it. It’s my favorite sport actually. I wish I had started it earlier…You can always get better. You can always progress.”
Sheehan’s floor song “Requiem for a Dream” is a nod to her favorite movie “The Lord of the Rings.” When it finished playing Jan. 24, Sheehan said she knew she had done well, but didn’t know she had made a two-point improve-ment over her previous performance.
“It was amazing. I teared up, and I usually don’t cry so. It just meant a lot to me that I put in all the hard work and it paid off,” she said. “The last time that I did my floor routine I didn’t
have the score that I wanted to, so I added a front flip and I also cleaned up my routine.”
On beam Sheehan earned a 5.95. Her teammates Natalie Ross scored 4.4 and Hernandez got a 4.2. Bentler was Eastlake’s highest scoring in the vault, with a 6.2. Sheehan was close behind
with a 5.9. On bars, Bentler earned a 3.9
while Anna Lovin got a 3.5. Even with a few of its top
performers missing Jan. 24, the Skyline Spartans had 10 girls in each event.
“They did great. I thought they did fantastic tonight,”
said Skyline coach Michelle McCombs. “We were trying to
reach 145, but because we were
down a couple of our key players, we knew
that it wasn’t going to hap-pen. But we still got close to
130, which is good.”After it was all said and done,
Skyline had 12 top 10 scores. In vault Rikki Uhrich took third place with a score of 8.1; Kelly Lin finished in sixth at 7.7; right behind her was Alyssa Holt with 7.5 and Kamryn Brandt, with a score of 7.4, tied with Newport for ninth place. On bars, Lin took
seventh place after earn-ing a 6.15 and finished in sixth again, this time in beam, with a score of 7.7. Also in beam, Ayse Raymond, with a 7.35, took ninth place. In the floor compe-
sports 8 l January 30, 2013 SAMMAMISH REVIEW
8
Gymnasts come together for one final league meet
Photos by Lillian O’RorkeAbove, Eastlake senior Lisa Sheehan leaps up from the beam during the gymnastics meet Jan. 24 at Garfield High School. Below, teammate Vanessa Hernandez strikes a pose during her floor routine.
By Lillian O’Rorke
The end of the diving board at Bohem pool flutters under Max Levy, who bounces more intently every time until finally he lifts off, the line from his pointed toes to his up-stretched hands form-ing an arrow. In the air he flips his body backward, spins and he enters the water facing the same direction that he started.
He has several more dives to run through before prac-tice is over.
Levy has spent the last several weeks preparing for the Boys State Swimming and Diving Championships. While the big day is not until Feb. 15, the Skyline senior has had his ticket to high school’s culminating div-ing competition since Jan. 5. Heading to state qualifier that day at Juanita High School, Levy needed a score of 300 to secure a spot at State. But by the time he
had finished his 11th dive, the judges had awarded him 516.2 points.
“I just focused on getting the motion correct and making it so that my dives were as fluid as possible, and that when I went in the water, there wasn’t a lot of splash,” said Levy.
Despite his high marks, the 17-year-old thought he could have done better. After reviewing a recording of his dives, he said he thought some were off — one was a bit short and his splash was too big on a couple others.
Levy explained that the better the dive,
the smaller the splash. Other elements, he said, include your approach to the end of the board, the first jump, then the second.
“All those have to be in a cohesive manner to be able to do the dive correctly and be close enough to the board without
Photo by Greg FarrarMax Levy stretches his body straight as he enters the water Jan. 9 during diving practice with his teammates at Julius Boehm Pool.
Max Levy makes a splash in diving scene
Max Levy
See LEVY, Page 9See GYMNAST, Page 9
SAMMAMISH REVIEW January 30, 2013 l 9
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actually hitting it, or going too far,” he said.
When Levy switched from gymnastics to diving three years ago, he already had good balance and was comfortable doing all the flips and twists.
He had started gym-nastics when he was 10, a year after his family moved from California to Sammamish, but after a shin fracture limited his progress, Levy traded in his sport for diving.
“It was starting to get really repetitive and that just really isn’t what I wanted,” he said. “Also, I wanted to try a school sport since they didn’t have a guys’ gymnastics team for Skyline. So, diving was the next best thing.”
Levy’s coach, Ellen Owen, who works with Skyline, Issaquah and Liberty divers, said that for the short number of years that he has been compet-ing, Levy is phenomenal.
“What makes him good is certainly his body aware-ness,” she said, adding that a lot of time gymnastics doesn’t actually transfer very well. In the air, the twists and flips transfers, but the mechanics are
completely different. “He picked it up real quickly because he can imitate what they [other divers] are doing and he’s got great balance….He just wants to do it.”
Now, in a few weeks time, Levy could be Skyline’s next state cham-pion.
For the last two years, he has occupied second place, and he said he is ready to move up and take the title this year.
Coincidently, Levy said he is best at the dive that robbed him of first place last year – the inner-one-and-a-half pike.
“I got distracted before. I was talking, laughing — I wasn’t completely in my zone,” he said. “Then I got up on the board and lost my balance and fell back. And I had to tuck over my inner one-and-a-half pike to make it, which is break-ing form.”
Levy lost the champion-
ship by three points, but he isn’t nervous about this year.
“ Just keep practicing. Perfect practice makes perfect,” he said. “It’s just another meet. Gymnastics was just the same way. You competed in front of a lot of people, and you just had to stay, not focused on other people but stay focused on yourself — focused on what you’re doing and not let anyone else distract you.”
tition, Holt placed seventh with a score of 7.95, and Lin, who had just added a front semi the day before, earned a 7.05 to take ninth.
“I was pretty happy with her,” said McCombs, explaining the difficulty of a front semi. “I thought we did very well on floor, and we did very well on beam. We had a lot more girls this meet not fall…we had four girls not fall at all on the beam, and we are usually around one or two.”
With all those top 10 finishes, Lin earned third in the All Around compe-tition, in which a gymnast has to compete in all four events. Daniela Batiz placed fifth and Raymond took sixth.
“I think all of us did a pretty good job today, especially on beam. There’s obviously places to improve, but I’m proud of us as a whole,” said Lin. Her highlight of the night, she added, was completing her beam routine without falling. “That was only the second time I have done that this season. Seeing my team-mates go up there and stick their routines really inspired me to go up there and fight for every move and try to stick it too.”
Both teams have one more league meet at 7 p.m. Jan. 31when Eastlake heads to Woodinville and Skyline hosts Issaquah and Newport at home. Everyone will come together the next day for the KingCo Championships at Roosevelt High School.
Photo by Greg FarrarMax Levy, Skyline High School senior, hits a backwards 1 ½ somersault dive from the pike position at Boehm Pool Jan. 9 during a team diving practice.
GymnastContinued from Page 8
Eastlake hires football coach
Eastlake hired Skyline defensive coordinator Don Bartel as its new football coach.
Bartel previously spent three years at Eastlake as a defensive coordina-tor and also served as the head coach at Enumclaw for four years before join-ing the Skyline staff this season.
He served as the
Spartans’ defensive coor-dinator and helped lead them to a 14-0 season and a Class 4A state champi-onship in his only year.
Bartel takes over for interim coach Pat Parnell, who assumed head coach-ing duties after Gene Dales resigned two games into the season to take care of personal issues, including the health of his wife.
— Seattle Times staff reports
LevyContinued from Page 8
By Lillian O’Rorke
In typical Skyline Spartans fashion, the first quarter of Nov. 3 state playoff game was awash in touchdowns, leading the Spartans to a 59-17 win over the Puyallup Vikings.
On its first drive, the Skyline football team scored with a touch-down by Nate Gibson. Puyallup quickly answered back with a touchdown of their own and for two-and-a-half minutes of the game it looked like the Spartans may have met their match.
But just as quickly as the Vikings, who entered the playoffs with a 4-6 overall record, rose up to stand nose-to-nose with Skyline, the Spartans sprang ahead. This time Max Browne ran in the touchdown.
The defending state champi-ons were off, never to be caught again. Before the quarter’s end, Browne, Nic Sblendorio and Andrew Giese each put a touch-down on the board for a score of
35-7.“Our coaches do a great job of
preparing us week in and week out, and we study film and watch what their defence is doing,” said senior wide receiver Matt Sinatro. “And with Max as our quarterback and a couple great receivers out there, it’s pretty easy to get going quick.”
Late in the second quarter, Sinatro cut up the right sideline, breaking three tackles to make a 38-yard touchdown.
“I just saw the opening,” he said after the game. “Andrew Giese, one of our better block-ers, was up field — and I just saw endzone and got in good.”
Skyline continued in the third quarter with two more touch-downs from senior wide receiver Austin Bui. With the score at 52-14 the clock began to wind down, not stopping between plays. Spartan defence held back the Vikings, only allowing a field goal for the rest of the game.
“Going from Bothell, which was a mainly run team, to Puyallup, which is mainly a pass team, we had to just adjust to that and play a little differently, but
sports 12 l November 7, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW
12
By Lillian O’Rorke
Peter Kimble and Henry Jarvis are best friends.
They are also cousins and have spent most of their lives living less than a mile from each other on the same farm property on the plateau.
“It was always nice,” said Kimble. “No matter what I was going through he was always there.”
For as long as either one of them can remember they’ve played sports together. Always on the same team, they work well together, rarely quarreling.
For Jarvis, one of the only times he can remember being mad at his cousin was when they were young and playing a family baseball game.
Kimble was up at bat and Jarvis was the catcher. Kimble took a swing and accidentally hit Jarvis square in the face. With a goose egg over his eye, Jarvis fumed at Kimble for two days. And then, just like that, his anger dissipated.
He now looks back on the inci-dent with humor.
“We just have a lot of memo-ries growing up together,” said Jarvis. “We’ve always been on the same sports teams and done ski lessons together – everything you
can think of.”So when Kimble, a big Huskies
fan, joined the football team at Eastside Catholic School, Jarvis did too.
Now, four years later, the two helped lead the Eastside Catholic
Crusaders through a perfect 9-0 season and eventually the Metro 3A League title – a combination the team hasn’t achieved since 1993.
The Crusaders pushed ahead Nov. 3 in the state qualify-
ing round when they beat Meadowdale 27-13.
“I love those two kids,” said their head coach Jeremy Thielbahr. “They do everything together. They come here and work hard. They work their tails
off all summer. These are guys that show up every single day and play great football.”
Jarvis, a junior running back, leads the team in rushing and has already scored seven touchdowns for the Crusaders this year, including two in the first half of the Oct. 26 league championship game.
“He has been a juggernaut in terms of making plays and touch-downs,” said Thielbahr.
But he’s not one to brag. Jarvis is just happy to be a part of the team and is excited to see how far the Crusaders can go in the state playoffs, which they entered as their district’s No. 1 seed.
“That feels pretty good,” said Jarvis. “I owe a lot of credit to our offensive line and quarterback…and the defense for getting us the ball back. It’s definitely not all me out there.”
Kimble, a senior captain, is the only one on the team to play both offense and defense.
“I think I play best when I’m playing both ways,” said Kimble. “I like to be in the game, not watching from the sidelines and thinking too much about it.”
A “ball hawk on defense,” as Thielbahr calls him, Kimble has also proven to be an asset on the
Photo by Corie GoodloeHenry Jarvis, left, and Peter Kimble are family, neighbors and teammates.
Cousins are leaders as Eastside football makes title run
See EASTSIDE, Page 13
Photo by Jim NicholsonMax Browne scrambles for a short gain.
Skyline blows past Puyallup in 59-17 playoff victoryMax Browne sets state record for completions
offensive team. During the metro championship game he completed a 10-yard pass from Trey Reynolds for a second quarter touch-down.
Coach Thielbahr explained he usually avoids duality to make sure his players maintain their energy and are fresh even in the fourth quarter.
“Peter has shown that he is able to do that even though he goes both ways for us,” he said. “He has a great understanding of football… He’s been a great leader for us, and we are going to miss him a lot. He is really the whole pack-age.”
Kimble hasn’t decided yet where he is going to college next year. But wherever he ends up, he jokes that he’ll probably call Jarvis every day.
EastsideContinued from Page 13
Scoreboard
Photo by Jim NicholsonPeter Stromgren helps bring down a Viking runner while No. 34 Chandler Wong closes in.
we were ready for that so it was good,” said senior linebacker Peter Stromgren. “Defence has been playing well, and I think a lot of that is just our speed...Our coaches preach us speed so we play fast to inside and fast to the outside; can’t get past us there.”
The win not only put another notch in Skyline’s belt but also helped Browne break the state record for career competitions.
Detroit Lions quar-terback Kellen Moore previously held the record at 787 com-pleted passes. Browne started the season off at 605 and catapulted to 805 during the Nov.
By Lillian O’Rorke
Runners from both Eastlake and Skyline high schools’ cross country teams returned from the Oct. 3 state tournament with high marks.
Keegan Symmes, a senior at Skyline, was the plateau’s highest individual finisher.
He fin-ished the 5,000-meter race with a time of 15 minutes and 46.1 seconds to take 12th place at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association 4A State Championships. Symmes’ teammate and fellow senior, Grant Uselman, finished 115th with 17:07.5.
Both Eastlake’s boys and girls cross country teams took 10th place overall. Helping propel the teams were top finishers Jordan Oldenburg, with 16:04.5 for 27th place, and Anastasia Kosykh, at 19:20.7 for 42nd.
This was the second time in school history (2007 was the first) that the boys team has qualified for state.
“This was the best boys team Eastlake has ever fielded,” said coach Troy Anderson in an email. “And they were very excited to qualify and place 10th at the state champion-ship.”
Also running for the Wolves were Kyle Suver, 16:35.4; Reece Bynum, 16:46.8; Josh Caile, 16:47.4; Nathan Pixler, 16:47.7; Caleb
Olson, 16:48.7 and Dylan Cole, 17:11.7. For the girls, Olivia Lantham finished in 19:22.5; Devon Bortfeld, 19:56.3; Nicole Stinnett, 20:17; Kristen Flindt, 20:30.1; Grace Johnson, 20:35.0 and Rachel Zigman.
“Both squads are already talking about what it will take to podium next year and looking forward to track this spring,” said Anderson. “This was a great way to end our sea-son and provided fantastic experience for our team going into next season. On the boys side, we return seven of our top 10 and on the girls eight of our top 10, including all of our top seven ladies.”
Plateau runners fare well at state
Skyline loses KingCo 4A soccer
Skyline girls soccer team lost its bid for the KingCo 4A title Oct. 30 when it was beaten 1-0 by Redmond in the champi-onship game.
Emily Baril, goal keeper for the Skyline Spartans earned a shut out in the first half of the game, which was played at Skyline. The two teams remained in a scoreless tie until the 63rd minute when Redmond’s Sierra Bilginer scored the night’s
only goal.The loss ended
Skyline’s 37-game unbeat-en streak and means that the team will need to trav-el for its first state play-off game, which was set for Nov. 6 against either Rogers or Union. The second round of the state tournament is scheduled for Nov. 9 or 10.
Jessie Klug wins rookie award
Jesse Klug, of Sammamish, now
plays for the Bucknell University’s men’s soc-cer team. As a freshman forward, he was honored Oct. 29 with the team’s Brine Rookie award for his key role in the Bucknell Bison’s 2-0 week.
About four and a half minutes into the Oct. 27 game against previously undefeated Colgate, Klug scored the lone goal; his third tally of the season held up as the game-winner.
Klug leads the Patriot League with 59 shots taken this season. “Both squads are
already talking about what it will
take to podium next year.”
– Troy Anderson, coach –
3 game.“To beat a guy like that
is cool, but at the end of the day it wouldn’t have been able to happen with-out my teammates,” said Browne. “It’s been a fun ride, but hopefully, we’ll
have four more weeks and continue it that way.”
With the win, Skyline now advances to the final 16 in the state playoffs and is set to take on Lake Stevens at home at 7 p.m. Nov. 9.
SkylineContinued from Page 12
sports 14 l July 25, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW
14
By Lillian Tucker
Under the scorching, June 22 Colorado sun, Tela Crane zoomed around the velodrome, reaching a speed of 45 mph on her bike. After finishing the fly-ing 200-meter sprint Crane had a smile on her face.
She knew she had just peddled to her personal best. However, she had no idea that her time of 11.04 seconds had just broken the 17-year-old national record.
“It was pretty much mind-blowing because I never would have expected that,” said Crane. “It was perfect conditions and all my training and everything just came together.”
By the time Crane graduated from Skyline High School in 2004, she had already made a name for herself in the cycling world by winning two Junior Track National Championships in both the 500 and the sprint.
Since then, cycling has taken the athlete, who was named for the beach in Honduras where her parents met, around the world, including Beijing and Columbia. Then, Dec. 15, Crane was named
to the 2012 Olympic track long team, becoming one in the pool of 11 women from which riders could be selected to compete in London.
“She’s living the dream. How can one not be incredibly proud and supportive,” said her mother, Marie Michell-Crane. “She has always been so driven. She’s quite happy and content; works her butt off and it’s showing.”
Unfortunately for Crane, her team did not qualify for one of the two North and South American spots at this summer’s Olympic games.
“It was always a long shot for us,” she said, explaining that, on the international stage, the U.S. women’s sprinters are a relative-ly young team.
And highs and lows, she added, are the nature of the sport; explaining that with sever-al events in one day, you can set a record then lose your next race. “It applies to the sport in general, there is definitely going to be really hard times but there are also really good times. So being Photo by Sandra Wright Sutherland
Tela Crane sets the national record for the 200-meter event during time trials in Colorado Springs June 22.
Skyline graduate Tela Crane sets U.S. cycling record
See BIKE, Page 15
By Lillian Tucker
If it’s a few hours of fresh air free of people and noise pollution you want, but you aren’t willing to chug up the I-90 corridor, then the May Valley Loop could be just the ticket.
“It’s really beautiful. I like that it’s not a crowed hike,” said Debbie Simmons. She lives nearby in High Valley and often walks her Bernese mountain dog, Rogue, around the trail system of Squak Mountain, one of the less-er-visited triplets better known as the Issaquah Alps. “Rogue likes that it’s shaded most of the way.”
It doesn’t take long to reach the shade, where even on a hot day in mid-July, the air along the trail is cool under the high-reach-ing big leaf maples.
After parking at the Squak Mountain State Park entrance off South East May Valley Road, fol-low the only trailhead, which has a sign for Squak Mountain Trail.
After a short minute’s walk through trees, a dirt road dissects the path. Taking a right, walk up
the hill and along the road for about 10 minutes. After passing a yellow gate, a bend in the road reveals a trail entrance on the left bear-ing a sign for May Valley Loop.
After fol-lowing the path for 0.1 miles, take the right fork for Central Peak.
The 10-min-utes of pant-ing up the dry, dirt road are worth it.
As you meander along the vast space beneath the canopy it feels like you’re walk-ing through an illustration of the Jurassic period.
Ferns hover like fog over the forest floor and moss drapes the moisture-rich bark of the maples. Instead of plated stegosaurs crossing the
path, a centipede shuffles along. Above, the sounds of bird tweets and whistles come from all
directions. The only danger appears to be the
stinging nettles that occasion-ally pop up on the side of the
path.The mile of rel-
atively flat trail is only disrupted once, about half-
way-in, by a small tree that’s fallen
down. While the
occasional rock may keep strollers way, Simmons said that she often sees families with small chil-dren making the easy trek. It’s also a good spot to bring out-of-town guests for a morning hike.
“I love see-ing the moss and the water,” said Doug Hacker of Atlanta, who is
May Valley trail to Central PeakKey featuresRoundtrip: 6 milesGuidebooks: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Seattle by Andrew Weber & Bryce Stevens (Menasha Ridge Press)Source: Washington Trails Association
May Valley trail: It’s the journey, not the destination
WeekHike
of the
See HIKE, Page 15
Photo by Lillian TuckerBig leaf maples stretch high above the May Valley Trail, creating pockets of sunlight and blue sky.
SAMMAMISH REVIEW July 25, 2012 l 15
15
able to ride that rollercoaster is pretty important to learn how to do.”
Crane and her team are now focusing on the 2016 Olympics, which means four more years of balancing work, training, travel and competing.
While Crane lives near the U.S. team’s facilities in Los Angeles, where she trains rough-ly 20 hours a week, she is not paid to ride.
Often, either the U.S. team or her local team, Broadmark Capital Lake Washington Velo
Track Cycling, cover her travel expenses but there are still bills to pay. So she works two part-time jobs, one for an athletic clothing company and another teaching children’s riding classes at the nearby velodrome in Los Angeles.
“Of course it’s hard. It’s a lot of sacrificing,” Crane said. “It’s honestly a day-by-day, month-by-month, year-by-year thing. Financially it’s really hard and I’ve put a lot of things on hold.”
One of those things is her writing career. Crane has a bach-elor’s degree in journalism from Western Washington University with a focus in public relations she still has not put to use.
And who knows if she ever
will. For now, Crane said she really likes coaching and work-ing with children.
“The lit-tlest things about the sport excite them. For
me, it (cycling) is a job so it’s a good reminder for why I do it,” she said. “It sucks to be poor. That part is never easy but I still love this sport. I love riding my bike and getting better.”
At the moment, Crane is not slowing down. She is leading
the National Track Calendar for women’s sprint standings and was just the overall top sprinter July 21 at the Marymoor Grand Prix.
Racing last weekend on the same velodrome track where her career began 11 years ago, Crane set a new track record for the flying 200. With a time of 11.991, she bested Jennie Reed’s previ-ous record of 12.04, which has stood since 1996.
“You could just tell coming down that she was fast,” said race coordinator, David Mann. Crane also won the Grand Prix’s scratch and sprint events, while taking second in another race.
Mann said he has watched Crane for years and that her
improvement was outstanding. “Her confidence and her speed was fantastic…she just keeps getting better. I wish they were holding all the Olympic trials now because at this point I think she is much faster than she was six months ago.”
Crane has a few rare weeks of downtime next. After that, her plans include a stop in Pennsylvania for more races, nationals at the end of September and the World Cup later in the year.
Reporter Lillian Tucker can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242 or [email protected]. To comment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com.
BikeContinued from Page 14
visiting his cousin Simmons. “It’s nice and refreshing and rejuve-nating.”
After the first mile, a foot-bridge crosses over a small creek.
This is where Simmons sug-gests those with small children double back. Because the next leg of the journey is all uphill.
“That part is tough for kids to get to and the view isn’t that great,” said Simmons.
She’s right. The view, or lack thereof, does not justify the climb.
But for those who enjoy a car-diac workout, the scenery on the
way up helps make up for the anti-climactic destination.
To carry on, take the right fork immediately after the footbridge; veering left leads to a private area that is reserved for High Valley Country Club members. Picking up altitude, the trail switchbacks for about a mile with the steepest sections requiring a bit of scram-bling.
Once the trail levels out, it weaves through a landscape that looks completely different from the preceding scenery.
With bare trees, surrounded by even more bare trees strewn across the ground like match sticks, it feels like you’re walking in silence through an old battle-field.
Leaving the devastation
behind, standing amongst the trees, a stone fireplace and chim-ney is the only thing that remains of the Bullitt family homestead.
It stands as a reminder that much of the last two hours is thanks to the Bullitt family, which donated 600 acres of land to be preserved as a natural area. Nearby, Central Peak juxtaposes the relic of the past with the ster-ile Squak Mountain microwave tower and building that sit on top of the park’s highest point.
After nearly three miles and about 1,500 feet of elevation gain, there is nothing to look at but some chain-link fence surround-ing an energy facility.
Perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson and everyone after him are right, life is a journey, not a destina-tion.
Getting there From Issaquah, take state
Route 900 toward Renton, which turns into Renton-Issaquah Road Southeast. Drive for nearly four miles and take a left onto Southeast May Valley Road, which you will follow for 2.5 miles before reaching the entrance to Squak Mountain State Park. The parking area, com-plete with restrooms, requires a Washington State Discover Pass. A seperate Northwest Forest Pass is required for parking at the trailhead. A day-use pass can be purchased at the site for $10 cash or check.
Reporter Lillian Tucker can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242 or [email protected]. To comment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com.
Tela Crane
Photo by Lillian TuckerA fern casts its shadow on a stone below.
Photo by Lillian TuckerThe first mile of the of the trail is relatively smooth and flat as it curves through the forest.
HikeContinued from Page 14
Photo by Lillian TuckerA woodpecker takes a break from looking for bugs to check out something below.
“I love seeing the moss and the water. It’s nice
and refreshing and rejuvenating.”– Doug Hacker,
Hiker –
By Lillian O’Rorke
Jubilant only begins to describe Skyline and its fans Dec. 1 at the Tacoma Dome, where the Spartans grabbed their fifth state title in eight years. Skyline beat Bellarmine Prep 49-24 to win the 4A football state champi-onship.
“This is the most special…I’ve grown up with all these guys,” said Max Browne, who completed 21 of 28 passing attempts for 384 yards and four touchdowns. “Nic Sblendorio has been my best friend, Andrew Giese, Matt Sinatro, Peyton Pelluer - all those guys. This is what we dreamed of when we were 5 years old. We worked. We worked hard, and it’s awesome to sit here and know that we got the state title our senior year and are going out the right way.”
Within Skyline’s first drive of the night, Browne became the state record holder in career passing. By the time Browne had thrown his last pass as a high school quarterback, he had bro-ken Brian Lindgren’s (DeSales) 14-year-old record of 12,575 pass-ing yards. Browne now holds the record at 12,951.
“That is the type of record you can’t win unless you play a
lot of games and you can’t play a lot of games unless you’ve got a great team. I’ve got to credit my line and my receivers for getting that record. That’s a huge accomplishment for them,” said Browne. “My four years here at Skyline has been more than I ever expected, to suit up for 56 games at Skyline, 14 all four years.”
The Spartan defense also shined in the championship game, consistently shutting down the Bellarmine Prep Lions’ drives and forcing punts. While the Lions had possession of the ball for more than two-thirds of the first quarter, Skyline had possession of the score-board, leading 14-3.
“We knew they were going to try to establish a line of scrimmage, and our kids really owned the line of scrimmage. That was one of our strengths and we really shut them down that way,” said Skyline Coach Mat Taylor. “I feel awesome. This is the very
best. It continues to get better every year.”
Sinatro scored the first touch-down of the night on a 23-yard pass from Browne. The senior
scored again late in the third quarter after Browne shook off a defender to fire the ball at Sinatro for 55-yard touchdown. Earlier in the third, Sinatro intercepted
Bellarmines Prep’s ball for a 48-yard return.
“They prepare us week in and
sports 12 l December 5, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW
12
By Lillian O’Rorke
Forfeits had Eastlake pinned before its Nov. 29 season opener even started.
On the mat, the Eastlake Wolves out-grappled the Roosevelt Roughriders 30-25 with five pins, all within three minutes each. But once the 24 points-worth of forfeits were added in, the score tipped to 49-30 in Roosevelt’s favor.
Unlike last year, the Wolves have a full roster. However, athletes without the required 12 practices under their belts can-not compete. With four spots vacant, it was up to the remain-ing 10 varsity wrestlers.
It took Ryan Wasserman one minute and five seconds to make the Wolves the first on the board. The Eastlake junior was quick with his takedown and finished the first match of the evening by pinning Roosevelt’s Quillan Robinson.
Next up was senior Eric Harper. The Eastlake captain shot in for the takedown, near-ing Alex Benson’s back closer and closer to the mat for a two-point near fall. Harper let
Benson go and immediately struck for another takedown, this time straddling his oppo-nent for a 1:44 pin.
“I just wanted to keep wres-tling and just make sure I get the win,” said Harper. “I was having trouble turning him at first so I just wanted to make sure I could get up and secure the win.”
A senior at Eastlake this year, Harper returns for his final sea-son as the 2012 KingCo champ and said he hopes to cap it off with the 4A 170-pound state title. Winning the Mat Classic has been Harper’s dream since he started wrestling in second grade. He’s made it to the state tournament twice, where he took sixth both as a sophomore and a junior.
Eastlake’s three other wins against Roosevelt came from pins. At 220, Brandon Kaufman overpowered his opponent in 1:24; Mark Smith scored six points for the Wolves when he pinned his guy in 2:52, and James Jensen marked his first varsity wrestling match with a 2:51 fall.
“I wanted to work hard,” said Jensen. “I’ve got good coaches and good teachers.”
Jensen, a sophomore, is one of the 20 younger athletes on the team, and that’s a good thing. Last year, the Wolves struggled with only 11 wrestlers; this year that number is up to 32. With interest up, said Coach Dexter
Beckstead, the team is turning a corner.
“When I came on board last year, I was the fourth coach in five years, so it kind of washes things out,” he said. “You can’t have any continuity when you
have four coaches in five years.”Beckstead started coaching in
1972 and does not intend to quit anytime soon.
“There is a lot of stuff that we
Eastlake wrestling wins on the mat, loses meet
Photo by Lillia O’RorkeRyan Wasserman takes control of his opponent in the 160-pound match.
See WRESTLE, Page 16
Spartans cap off perfect season as state champs
Photo by Greg FarrarMatt Sinatro, Skyline High School senior wide receiver, stretches the football over the goal line on a 23-yard pass play from quarterback Max Browne, giving the Spartans the lead 90 seconds into the game.
See FOOTBALL, Page 15
16 l December 5, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW
16
technique involved in wrestling,” he said. “By the end of the year we will be a much more improved team.”
Technique wins, the coach explained, which is why that’s what he devotes practice time to. It’s also why you will not see – or hear – Dexter yelling dur-ing a match.
“If they don’t know it when they get out there, they are not going to learn it by me yelling it at them,” he said. “As we progress, they will start learning that we only have two hours for mat time, and I’m not going to spend it for getting in shape. They can run on their own on the weekend or run hills at night.”
Reporter Lillian O’Rorke can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242 or [email protected]. To comment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com.
WrestleContinued from Page 12
Students and athletes get $176,000 boost from community
The Issaquah School District approved more than 176,000 worth of donations during its Nov. 28 meeting.
The Issaquah Schools Foundation donated $88,597.55 to support vari-ous programs around the district.
From that, $12,500 is for the Middle School After School Homework program while another $7,500 is for similar high school pro-grams.
As well, $35,600 is for Science Tech; $25,000 goes to Humanities Plus; $3,500 is earmarked for Financial Literacy and Targeted Academic Interventions gets $3,797.55.
The Skyline Booster Club donated $87,963 to their school’s basketball and baseball programs. The majority of the money, $79,683, is to build a new batting cage facility at the high school.
The other $8,280 is to help pay for the Skyline girls basketball team’s travel expenses to Palo Alto, Calif. for the Dec.27-29 Eastside Prep Coaches v. Cancer Classic Tournament.
By Lillian O’Rorke
Jubilant only begins to describe Skyline and its fans Dec. 1 at the Tacoma Dome, where the Spartans grabbed their fifth state title in eight years. Skyline beat Bellarmine Prep 49-24 to win the 4A football state champi-onship.
“This is the most special…I’ve grown up with all these guys,” said Max Browne, who completed 21 of 28 passing attempts for 384 yards and four touchdowns. “Nic Sblendorio has been my best friend, Andrew Giese, Matt Sinatro, Peyton Pelluer - all those guys. This is what we dreamed of when we were 5 years old. We worked. We worked hard, and it’s awesome to sit here and know that we got the state title our senior year and are going out the right way.”
Within Skyline’s first drive of the night, Browne became the state record holder in career passing. By the time Browne had thrown his last pass as a high school quarterback, he had bro-ken Brian Lindgren’s (DeSales) 14-year-old record of 12,575 pass-ing yards. Browne now holds the record at 12,951.
“That is the type of record you can’t win unless you play a
lot of games and you can’t play a lot of games unless you’ve got a great team. I’ve got to credit my line and my receivers for getting that record. That’s a huge accomplishment for them,” said Browne. “My four years here at Skyline has been more than I ever expected, to suit up for 56 games at Skyline, 14 all four years.”
The Spartan defense also shined in the championship game, consistently shutting down the Bellarmine Prep Lions’ drives and forcing punts. While the Lions had possession of the ball for more than two-thirds of the first quarter, Skyline had possession of the score-board, leading 14-3.
“We knew they were going to try to establish a line of scrimmage, and our kids really owned the line of scrimmage. That was one of our strengths and we really shut them down that way,” said Skyline Coach Mat Taylor. “I feel awesome. This is the very
best. It continues to get better every year.”
Sinatro scored the first touch-down of the night on a 23-yard pass from Browne. The senior
scored again late in the third quarter after Browne shook off a defender to fire the ball at Sinatro for 55-yard touchdown. Earlier in the third, Sinatro intercepted
Bellarmines Prep’s ball for a 48-yard return.
“They prepare us week in and
sports 12 l December 5, 2012 SAMMAMISH REVIEW
12
By Lillian O’Rorke
Forfeits had Eastlake pinned before its Nov. 29 season opener even started.
On the mat, the Eastlake Wolves out-grappled the Roosevelt Roughriders 30-25 with five pins, all within three minutes each. But once the 24 points-worth of forfeits were added in, the score tipped to 49-30 in Roosevelt’s favor.
Unlike last year, the Wolves have a full roster. However, athletes without the required 12 practices under their belts can-not compete. With four spots vacant, it was up to the remain-ing 10 varsity wrestlers.
It took Ryan Wasserman one minute and five seconds to make the Wolves the first on the board. The Eastlake junior was quick with his takedown and finished the first match of the evening by pinning Roosevelt’s Quillan Robinson.
Next up was senior Eric Harper. The Eastlake captain shot in for the takedown, near-ing Alex Benson’s back closer and closer to the mat for a two-point near fall. Harper let
Benson go and immediately struck for another takedown, this time straddling his oppo-nent for a 1:44 pin.
“I just wanted to keep wres-tling and just make sure I get the win,” said Harper. “I was having trouble turning him at first so I just wanted to make sure I could get up and secure the win.”
A senior at Eastlake this year, Harper returns for his final sea-son as the 2012 KingCo champ and said he hopes to cap it off with the 4A 170-pound state title. Winning the Mat Classic has been Harper’s dream since he started wrestling in second grade. He’s made it to the state tournament twice, where he took sixth both as a sophomore and a junior.
Eastlake’s three other wins against Roosevelt came from pins. At 220, Brandon Kaufman overpowered his opponent in 1:24; Mark Smith scored six points for the Wolves when he pinned his guy in 2:52, and James Jensen marked his first varsity wrestling match with a 2:51 fall.
“I wanted to work hard,” said Jensen. “I’ve got good coaches and good teachers.”
Jensen, a sophomore, is one of the 20 younger athletes on the team, and that’s a good thing. Last year, the Wolves struggled with only 11 wrestlers; this year that number is up to 32. With interest up, said Coach Dexter
Beckstead, the team is turning a corner.
“When I came on board last year, I was the fourth coach in five years, so it kind of washes things out,” he said. “You can’t have any continuity when you
have four coaches in five years.”Beckstead started coaching in
1972 and does not intend to quit anytime soon.
“There is a lot of stuff that we
Eastlake wrestling wins on the mat, loses meet
Photo by Lillia O’RorkeRyan Wasserman takes control of his opponent in the 160-pound match.
See WRESTLE, Page 16
Spartans cap off perfect season as state champs
Photo by Greg FarrarMatt Sinatro, Skyline High School senior wide receiver, stretches the football over the goal line on a 23-yard pass play from quarterback Max Browne, giving the Spartans the lead 90 seconds into the game.
See FOOTBALL, Page 15
the sideline gates, waiting to congratulate the team on its perfect season of 14-0.
“It’s a great atmosphere. It’s a packed house. Everyone is screaming and hollering for you. You just have to do your part for your team and help
them out. And, at the end of the day, it’s just a lot of fun,” said Sblendorio. “We deserve to celebrate after a great season. We are going
to have a very fun time tonight, so it should be exciting.”
Reporter Lillian O’Rorke
can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242 or [email protected]. To com-ment on this story visit www.sammamishreview.com.
Millett, tenor 1; Rio Sano, tenor 2; Jake Sullivan, tenor 1; Sona Uradnik, alto 2 and Mikenna Whatley, soprano 1
From International Community School: Sharon Heung, violin
From Redmond High School: Alexander Ronneburg, bassoon and Conor Spear, tenor 1
MusicContinued from Page 9
week out for games like this,” said Sinatro. “He [the Lions’ quarterback] threw that a little low and then Jack Valencia made a great hit on the receiver he was targeting, and luckily I came up with the intercep-tion.”
Trevor Barney racked up two touchdowns as well, including one where he slipped undetected between two of his team-mates to make a 34-yard touchdown. Barney led the team in receiving with 182 yards. He also notched eight tackles.
“I’m dead tired. I gave it my all out there, but I couldn’t be happier than I am right now,” he said. “It’s also 95 per-cent of the team’s last game. So it’s the last game, and we won it, and we killed them.”
Cedric Cooper rushed
for 60 yards and scored two touchdowns. Senior kicker
Sean McDonald also shined, making two field goals at 49 and 35 yards each.
As the Spartans left the field that night, a sea of Skyline fans dressed in white convulsed behind
Photo by Greg FarrarCedric Cooper, Skyline High School senior running back, eludes a Bellarmine Prep tackler on a five yard carry in the fourth quarter. His run on the next play gave the Spartans their final touchdown of the game.
FootballContinued from Page 12
Photo by Greg FarrarSkyline coach Mat Taylor hoists the championship trophy in front of Skyline’s cheering football team.
“We deserve to celebrate after a great season.”– Nic Sblendorio, Skyline senior –
Town & Country Square 1175 NW Gilman Blvd. Suite B-4, Issaquah
