NIKKI SKINNER
Kentwood
Grade: Senior.
Sport: Tennis.
Accomplishment: Skinner, playing No. 2 singles, helped the Conquerors wrap up the SPSL North by knocking off Kentridge's Vicky Tran 6-1, 6-1 en route to a 3-2 team victory. The win helped Kentwood improve to 8-0 in league competition.
KATIE LAKE
Kentridge
Grade: Sophomore.
Sport: Track & Field.
CORY HAMADA
Kentridge
Grade: Senior.
Sport: Baseball.
Accomplishment: Hamada went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI in a 14-0 victory over Kent-Meridian.
Favorite class: Leadership.
The gymnasium at Kentwood High is filled with championship banners.
In fact, the nearly 30-year-old building is the home of title banners from virtually every sport — except one.
It has been a long road for Kentwood's girls track & field team, one that has not included a South Puget Sound League North Division title.
On Thursday, the Conquerors finally got it done.
The Seattle Thunderbirds selected defenseman Jared Hauf, from Calgary, Alberta, with their first selection in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft.
"We are excited to select Jared Hauf in the first round. He is an imposing presence on the ice and we believe can grow to be a top defenseman in t he WHL," said T-Birds General Manager Russ Farwell.
Hauf is 6’4 and 175-pounds and played for the Calgary Bronks Bantam AAA team this past season. He appeared in 33 games and had four goals and 13 assists for 17 points with 72 penalty minutes.
In the second round, with the 26th overall selection, the T-Birds took defenseman Taylor Green from Port Coquitlam, BC.
“We have added another imposing player on the blue line,” said Farwell. “Green has tremendous potential to develop into an outstanding player. His skating and hand skills are what make him so exciting and at 6’6 the upside was too much to pass up."
Green is 6’6 and 210 pounds and he played with the Port Coquitlam Tier 1 Bantam team this past season. He appeared in 42 games and had 12 goals and 38 assists for 50 points with 54 penalty minutes. Green played in 10 playoff games and had seven assists.
The T-Birds had two selections in the third round of the draft. With the 48th overall pick the team selected right wing James Neil from White Rock, BC. Neil, at 6’0 and 165-pounds, played with the Semiahmoo Ravens Bantam AAA team last season.
T-Birds Scouting Staff comment on Neil: “James Neil has tremendous offensive upside. He has a strong shot, handles the puck very well in tight areas and is tough to take the puck from. He sees the ice well and has the ability to make plays for others."
Things fell apart for the Kentlake High fastpitch team a year ago.
This spring, they've come together.
Kentlake (15-1 in league, 19-1 overall) entered Thursday in its customary position, atop the South Puget Sound League North Division standings and staring at another potential league crown. It's a strong move for the Falcons, who finished fourth last season after winning four-straight SPSL North titles.
The race for the South Puget Sound League North Division girls tennis crown won’t be going down to the wire this season.
Kentwood saw to that last week, upending league-rival Kentridge 3-2 in a pivotal SPSL North tennis match.
His name wasn't called during the NFL draft two weeks ago.
But that doesn't mean Aaron Boyce won't be suiting up for an NFL team in the near future, once he is officially pronounced 100 percent healthy.
RODNEY GREILING
Kentwood
Grade: Junior.
Sport: Soccer.
ALEXIS ENGMAN
ALEXIS ENGMAN
Kentlake
Grade: Sophomore.
Sport: Fastpitch.
KYLE LEADY
Kentridge
Grade: Junior.
Sport: Baseball.
Accomplishment: Leady went 2-for-3 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs, leading the Chargers past Thomas Jefferson in a pivotal South Puget Sound League North Division game. It was Leady's third and fourth home runs during a two-week span.
ABRIA JONES
Kent-Meridian
Grade: Senior.
Sport: Track & Field.
Favorite class: English.
If you could invite anyone in the world to dinner, whom would you invite, and what would you serve: I would invite Mickey Mouse and I would serve Mickeroni and cheese.
Bob Sandall is returning to head coaching duties.
Sandall, who coached girls basketball at Kentwood in the 1980s and at Kentlake from 1999-2001, announced last Friday that he has accepted the opening at Kentridge High. He has spent the last six years at Kentridge as the assistant girls basketball coach to Mark Champoux.
The soccer playoffs are right around the corner.
But where are the local teams?
If the standings in the South Puget Sound League North Division remain as they were at the beginning of the week, none of the four Kent schools — Kentlake, Kent-Meridian, Kentridge and Kentwood — will be advancing. The top four teams from the North earn a postseason berth. As of Thursday afternoon, Kentwood found itself in sixth (5-5-2, 17 points) followed by Kentlake (4-6-3, 15 points), Kentridge (3-6-4, 13 points) and Kent-Meridian (0-10-2, 2 points).
He still has another year of high school basketball.
But Kentridge High's Gary Bell couldn't wait any longer.
The 6-foot-1 guard verbally committed Monday night to play basketball at University after his final year at Kentridge.
The roll continued for the Kentwood High baseball team on Friday afternoon.
A day after barely getting past rival Tahoma, the Conquerors exploded for 18 hits en route to a 15-9 South Puget Sound League win over Kentlake.
After more than a month of speculation, Chris Paulson was announced on Wednesday afternoon as the new head football coach at Kentlake High.Paulson, 28, spent… Continue reading
As a parent of two boys (4 and 10), I’ve come to learn that some things are a lot funnier when they happen to someone else.
That thought has never rung more true than last week at Safeco Field during the Mariners home opener against the Oakland A’s. Attending the first game of the season at Safeco is a tradition in the Walker household. Unfortunately, it also has found a way to go hand-in-hand with at least one yearly mishap. More often than not, the unfortunate incident typically revolves around running late and getting caught in endless traffic while my two boys sit in the back seat and amusingly watch on as I mumble incoherent vulgarities underneath my breath like Chevy Chase in “Christmas Vacation.”
Blister problems held back Austin Voth on the baseball diamond last spring.
Today, the only blistering going on in the Kentwood High right-hander’s world is the kind he is currently administering on his South Puget Sound League North Division foes.
