West Seattle, Washington
03 Wednesday
Thanks to the reader who shared the report and photos:
West Seattle High School’s 1st Team All-Metro Sound Division Football Selections
Senior Anthony Coats, senior Alex Pastrana, and junior Oliver Carlson have been selected to the First Team All-Metro Sound Division Football Team. Anthony (above right) was named 1st Team Quarterback, Alex (above center) was named 1st Team Offensive Guard and 2nd Team Defensive Tackle, and Oliver (above left) was named 1st Team Wide Receiver. Congratulations to these boys for their leadership and achievements on the field that have been recognized by the coaches throughout the league. It was a tough season for the young and inexperienced Wildcats but the team never quit, battled, and worked hard all season long for new coach Marcis Fennell.
The team also had its year end football banquet Friday night, which was an incredible event held at The Hall at Fauntleroy. During the celebration of the student athletes’ season Coach Fennell and the West Seattle Alumni Monogram Club surprised this year’s qualified lettermen with brand-new Letterman jackets, bringing back a tradition that has been absent for 20 years.
The boys were excited, stunned and extremely appreciative of this awesome gesture. You could see the pride these boys have in WSHS and could feel their excitement about representing their community in their new jackets.
It was a fun and rewarding evening for all involved that has set the standard moving forward for WS Football. A special thank you to Coach Marcis and all his assistant coaches for their hard work and dedication to WSHS. Go Westside!
Just in from Madison Middle School assistant soccer coach Paul Bennett:
Madison Middle School Girls Varsity won its game 5 to 1 this morning. They will be playing in the final game at Memorial Stadium at 3:30. It will be Madison Middle School vs Jane Addams Middle School. Both teams have gone undefeated this season. The winner will be the Seattle Middle School Champions.
Memorial Stadium is at Seattle Center downtown.
(Photos by Max Westerman for WSB)
West Seattle High School‘s #32 Meghan Fiso starred in Friday night’s 78-36 victory over Nathan Hale, which sent the Wildcats out to a 2-0 start, both wins by a margin of more than 40 points. Fiso racked up 30 points to lead the team.
#4 Kelsey Lenzie was next with 13 points, and #11 Jasmine Gayles with 10.
#20 Grace Sarver and #5 Rilcy Newsome contributed 8 points each. WSHS’s next two games are on the road (here’s the season schedule).
In boys-varsity basketball at West Seattle High School Friday night, the Wildcats scored a big win over the defending state champions, Nathan Hale, and are now off to a 2-0 start.
On the way to their 70-47 win, the West Seattle boys were led by #5 Abdullahi Mohamed and #2 Elijah Nnanabu, with 14 points each, followed by #23 Anthony Giomi and #24 Simon Harris with 10 each. (Full stats here.)
The Wildcats’ next three games are on the road (see the schedule here).
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
One year ago, the West Seattle High School girls-basketball team’s district-championship season began with a game against Bothell HS, as this season just did. Last year, Bothell took the win, but not this time. In Wednesday night’s game, the Wildcats were dominant right from the tipoff, scoring 17 unanswered points in the first four and a half minutes before the Cougars finally got on the boards with a basket. WSHS looked as good as they had, maybe better than, last season, with their starting stars back, including #11 Jasmine Gayles:
Gayles had the first four points of the night, on her way to the second-leading scoring total, 15, as well as numerous assists. Top scoring honors belonged to #20 Grace Sarver (top photo), with 18. #4 Kelsey Lenzie was in double digits too, at 11. And #10 Jenna McPhee had 8.
… as did #32 Meghan Fiso:
Smothering defense and aggressive pursuit of the ball – both via rebounds and forced turnovers – marked the West Seattle play, too, even once they’d built a big lead. The gap did allow reserves to get significant time, including #34 Anissa Babitu:
At the end of the first quarter, WSHS was already up 23-4; at halftime, it was 35-11.
The second half opened in showy style – starting with Lenzie sinking a three-pointer on an assist from Gayles; a few seconds later, Sarver netted two, soon followed by a Gayles basket, and a three for McPhee on a Sarver assist, all of this happening in the half’s first minute and a half. The Wildcats’ lead soon opened to forty points and then some. Everybody had a share of it; midway through the final quarter, Babitu had a three-pointer, and a few baskets later, the buzzer sounded with WSHS getting the 69-20 win. They’re home again Friday night, vs. Nathan Hale at 7 pm.
COACHING NOTE: The Wildcats were coached tonight by JV coach Mike Gutierrez, whose reminders about rebounding and other exhortations carried across the court:
He filled in for third-year head coach Darnell Taylor, who is suspended for the first two games of the year because of a rule violation toward the end of last year – one WSHS caught and reported itself – it played one game more than permitted, as explained in this Seattle Times report from last May.
More basketball home openers tonight. One went so fast, it was over before our photographer arrived. It took less than an hour for the Chief Sealth International High School boys to dispose of the Australian travel team that visited tonight, 81-45. That was just one night after they opened the season on the road, 84-72 over Mount Rainier High School (Des Moines) Tuesday. Next up for head coach Colin Slingsby‘s Seahawk boys: They play at Rainier Beach, 7:30 pm Saturday.
(WSB photos)
Between a slow start and a close call toward the end, the Chief Sealth International High School varsity girls played some exciting basketball on their way to a season-opening home win Tuesday night, 39-30 over Kennedy Catholic HS. It was a promising debut for new head coach Cartiea French-Toney.
The first quarter had Sealth down 6-1 at one point – but the Seahawks fought back, and by its end, they were up 10-7.
#2, senior Jasmine Smith, was top scorer. But Sealth’s defense against the Lancers was vital too. A dramatic double-teaming moment with two minutes left in the first half forced Kennedy to turn the ball over, and that was extra momentum propelling Sealth to a 19-13 halftime lead.
The second half was barely 30 seconds old when #1, senior Aundra Tuchscherer, got the first basket.
The lead kept growing, with a three-pointer by Smith just about a minute later giving the Seahawks a double-digit lead.
Kennedy wasn’t giving up, though, and with less than two minutes left in the game, pulled to within three points. Sealth’s resolve toughened and they piled on a few points in the next minute, then a few more, and the final score was 38-30.
Next scheduled game for the Sealth girls: 6 pm Saturday at Rainier Beach.
(WSB photos. WSHS #5 above, Abdullahi Mohamed)
High-school basketball season is on! At West Seattle High School tonight, the Wildcat boys faced visitors from Australia, the West Sydney Giants. The result: A 77-32 win for head coach Keffrey Fazio‘s varsity team.
(WSHS #15 above, Cass Elliott, and #3, Kendall Green)
Next on the schedule for the WSHS boys, a home game at 8:30 pm Friday against Nathan Hale HS, 0-1 after losing their season opener tonight to Puyallup..
Chief Sealth International High School hosted seven visiting schools today for its 17th annual boys-basketball Jamboree, three days before their season begins.
We stopped in for the final 10-minute mini-game of the afternoon, in which Sealth (in gray) beat Sultan, 18-9. The Seahawks are led again this year by head coach Colin Slingsby:
The other six schools in today’s Jamboree were Auburn Riverside, Eastside Catholic, Issaquah, Nathan Hale, Roosevelt, and Vashon. JV teams played in the Denny International Middle School gym next door. The Sealth varsity boys play their first game of the year Tuesday night at Mount Rainier HS in Des Moines, and their first home game is Wednesday, 7 pm, vs. a traveling team from Australia; see the full schedule here.
ALSO NEXT WEEK: Other local varsity teams’ home openers:
–Chief Sealth IHS girls, 7:30 pm Tuesday, hosting Kennedy Catholic HS
–West Seattle HS girls, 7:30 pm Wednesday, hosting Bothell HS
–West Seattle HS boys, 8:30 pm Friday, hosting Nathan Hale HS
(WSB photo)
The journey of a thousand laps begins with a single stride, you might say. So Michele Pettinger of P3 | Running was happy to draw a starter-sized group to the first-ever West Seattle edition of Track Friday, a movement meant to meld fitness and fundraising on the day after Thanksgiving, which has been growing nationwide since 2012. She organized it with the help of West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor), and set up alongside the Hiawatha track this morning to see who would show up:
(This photo & next, courtesy of Michele Pettinger)
Some hardy, giving-minded runners did!
Michele hopes Track Friday will grow as a tradition here as well as elsewhere. Her chosen charity was for the fight against Parkinson’s Disease, which her mom is dealing with, but participants could pledge to any nonprofit they chose. So make a plan to be part of Track Friday next year – Friday, November 23, 2018.
(WSB photos/video)
Though the first-ever Amazon Turkey Trot wasn’t billed as a costume run, one participant wore one that was totally synched with the theme. This morning’s 5K was organized by Amazon employees to raise some pre-Thanksgiving cash for Northwest Harvest, which supplies many regional food banks and food-providing programs, and they held it at Lincoln Park after construction got in the way of their planned South Lake Union route.
Organizers told us about 300 people signed up for the early-morning run – our video shows the ones who showed up, as they left the starting line:
No timing chips – this was truly a fun run. And a kids’ dash started right after the adults got going:
Your next chances to run with a group in West Seattle include the Gobble Gobble Thanksgiving Group Run (details here), Track Friday the next day (details here), and the West Seattle Runner (WSB sponsor) Christmas Light Run on December 16th (details here).
An addition to this year’s calendar of fundraising run/walks in West Seattle – the first-ever Amazon Turkey Trot is happening in Lincoln Park next Saturday, November 18th, 7:30 am. (It was moved from the originally planned South Lake Union location “due to heavy construction,” according to the event poster.)
It’s a fundraiser for Northwest Harvest, which works with food banks and other parters to fight hunger. Organizers stress that the Turkey Trot is a casual 5K, no timing chips, though they promise a clock at the finish line. There’ll be a “kids’ dash” for 10 and under, too.
Everyone’s welcome to participate, even if you aren’t connected to Amazon – scroll down this page to register.
P.S. We are also including this to the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, covering the season through New Year’s Day and launching shortly – if you have anything for the guide, please send us the info soon as you can – editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!
Two updates on local girls competing in high-schooldiving and swimming championships:
DIVERS: From Christine Leahy:
Lauren Canto, a senior at Bishop Blanchet and graduate of Holy Rosary School, placed 6th in the District 3A Diving Championship last Saturday and qualified, for the first time in her diving career, for the Washington State Interscholastic Div 3A Diving Championships Friday, Nov. 10th and Saturday, Nov. 11th, at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Kate Leahy, a junior at Seattle Prep and graduate of Westside School, placed 12th in the District meet and scored a personal best score of 290 point. She’ll be at the meet this weekend cheering on her teammate, Lauren!
KENNEDY TEAM: From Brent Lindblom:
While Kennedy Catholic is not technically inside of the West Seattle boundaries, it does have a large West Seattle student presence.
Kennedy Catholic girls swim and dive team have advanced to the WIAA 4A Swimming and Diving Championships being held this Saturday at the King County Aquatics Center located at: 650 SW Campus Dr, Federal Way.
This is Coach Eric Kress and Assistant Coach Michelle Markle’s first year as the Lady Lancers swim coaches in the Girls NPSL 4A Cascade League, and leading them into their first WIAA 4A State Championship meet is a terrific accomplishment.
Below are the swimmers that advanced:
200 Medley Relay – Shayla Markle, Madelline Kalenius, Krista Markle, Anita Shield
Krista Markle – 50 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly
Bronte Shirley – Diving
Shayla Markle – 100 Butterfly, 100 Backstroke
Madelline Kalenius – 100 Breaststroke
400 Freestyle Relay – Krista Markle, Jacqueline Southwell, Anita Shields, Shayla MarkleSwimming Finals: Saturday, November 11th Finals Start: 2:30 PM
Those are the 4th and 5th grade singers from Our Lady of Guadalupe in West Seattle, singing “God Bless America” – which they’ll be singing at CenturyLink Field at halftime of the Seahawks’ next game, their November 20th Monday Night Football game against Atlanta. The news comes from Brian Callanan, who says OLG’s music director Ann Sager announced that the team had invited the chorus to sing “to honor our veterans.” So if you’re going to that game, be sure to cheer extra loud for a musical “home team”!
(From left: Mackenna Cameron, Elijah Jackson, Quinn Wiley. Photo courtesy of Kristin Arvidson)
Big news about Chief Sealth International High School athletes! First, three seniors have signed for college, and a ceremony preceded last night’s fall-sports banquet – the report is from Colin Slingsby:
November 8th was the early National Letter of Intent (NLI) signing day for seniors across the country. Chief Sealth International High School celebrated three senior student-athletes on their signing day prior to the fall sports banquet. In a high school sports climate where many elite athletes transfer schools, these three seniors proved that great results can be attained by staying loyal to their community; all three attended the complete pathway of Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School, and last night were able to proudly announce their collegiate destinations.
Elijah Jackson signed his NLI to play basketball at Eastern Washington University. Throughout high school, Elijah has been a two sport athlete excelling in both track and basketball. Elijah placed in the top 8 in three events in the state track meet last spring. He was voted all-league honorable mention in the last basketball season.
Quinn Wiley signed her NLI to run track at San Diego State University. Also a four year varsity soccer player, Quinn has been a standout on the Chief Sealth track team for four years, qualifying for state both in relays and individual events. She’s also been a regional qualifier as a participant in her elite summer track program.
Mackenna Cameron signed her NLI to join the women’s crew team at the University of Washington, a perennial national contender in crew. Mackenna came to the sport late, and through participating in the summer rowing program at Green Lake found her unique talent for the sport.
Congratulations to these three outstanding Chief Sealth student-athletes!
Also last night, Nicole Sipila from the Chief Sealth PTSA reports, individual seniors were honored:
Also, congrats to the below Seniors for excellence in their respective sports.
Derek Huynh for Golf, Logan Jackson for Football, Zhen Williams for X-Country, Chandra Burnham for Swimming, Chloe Myers for Soccer and Samra Tino for Volleyball
P.S. Speaking of the PTSA, their Sealth fundraising auction is coming up in a little over a week – November 18th – more info here.
Chief Sealth International High School‘s football season ended tonight with a 7-3 record, which the school describes as its best in more than 30 years. That was thanks to a win over Cleveland High School, 27-14. Though the Seahawks’ playoff push was over after last Friday’s loss to Seattle Prep, first-year head coach Ted Rodriguez‘s team had one more game to play to round out a full 10-game season, and that’s what happened tonight. They also won back the Chris Kato Cup, a trophy at stake in each year’s game against Cleveland, honoring the late Shuzo Chris Kato, former Sealth principal and Cleveland vice principal.
Another local high-school athlete is off to championship competition. Marissa Tweedy, a West Seattle-residing Holy Rosary graduate currently in her junior year at Kennedy Catholic High School, will run the 5,000 meters in the state cross-country championships tomorrow in Pasco. It’s her third year representing the Lancers at state, and the school reports that she is “coming off of two of her best races of her career,” including the district championships. (Thanks to proud mom Christine Tweedy for the photo and info!)
Congratulations to two divers from West Seattle who are headed for district-championship competition this Saturday! From Christine Leahy:
Kate Leahy, a junior at Seattle Preparatory School (left), and Lauren Canto, a senior at Bishop Blanchet High School (right), placed 5th and 4th consecutively in the Metro League Division 3A Diving Championships (1 Meter) last Saturday at Juanita Aquatics Center in Kirkland.
Kate is a graduate of Westside School and Lauren graduated from Holy Rosary.
Both divers qualified for and will be competing in the District Diving Championships this Saturday, 11/4, at 9:30 am at Juanita Aquatic Center in Kirkland.
In case you didn’t happen to be looking at the view across Elliott Bay last night – thanks to Carolyn Newman for the photo. The Russell Investments Building, famous for putting “12” in lights in honor of the Seahawks and their fans, had one for Sounders FC, hosting the Vancouver Whitecaps for a playoff match tonight. The theme: “Born in ’74” (founding year of the original Sounders team, part of the North American Soccer League). According to this mention on the Sounders FC website, the lights will be up tonight too (the game’s at 7 pm).
Sealth's on the board with a little over 5 mins left in 3rd Q. Prep 26, Sealth 8. pic.twitter.com/Nmcd9qZIig
— West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog) October 28, 2017
That video clip follows the one and only touchdown managed by the Chief Sealth International High School Seahawks in their first and last playoff game of the year tonight at Memorial Stadium.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
The Seattle Prep Panthers eventually overwhelmed Sealth, 33-8.
The Seahawks came into the season game with a 6-2 record under first-year head coach Ted Rodriguez.
But Prep’s defense kept them scoreless in the first half, which ended with the Seahawks down 24-0 after the Panthers got two TDs in the span of less than half a minute shortly before halftime.
That lone Sealth touchdown came with a little over five minutes left in the third quarter, and a two-point conversion followed. But that’s where the comeback stopped.
The Seahawks’ season isn’t technically over – they have to play one more game to round out a 10-game season, but who and when are not yet settled. What is settled: This was Sealth’s best football season in many years.
High-school baseball season is a few months away, but World Series Game 3 is happening right now, so many have baseball on their mind. Among them, a talented young West Seattle-residing player who is looking ahead not only to spring, but also to college – after making an early commitment.
(Kenji Suzuki. Photo courtesy David Suzuki)
He’s Kenji Suzuki, who was a member of the West Seattle Little League Majors team that won District 7 and went to the state tournament in 2014. Kenji attended Holy Rosary School and Westside School (WSB sponsor) in West Seattle before going to Eastside Catholic High School, and while he’s only in 10th grade, he’s already committed to play college baseball at Clemson University.
His proud dad David Suzuki tells WSB that Kenji, an infielder, had many Division 1 opportunities to choose from: “We had visited 14 D1 campuses, talking to coaches and considering the opportunities and offers that he was blessed to have. His short list included TCU, OSU, University of Oregon, Missouri, UW, Kentucky, Alabama, University of Arizona, and Stanford.”
Kenji was a standout from the start at ECHS, earning a varsity starting position at second base in his freshman year, when he subsequently got an All-Metro Honorable Mention and was voted Rookie of the Year. (Eastside Catholic won the Metro championship last year.) He’s ranked as the #2 player in his class in our state, and he made the All-Tournament Team for the 15U Perfect Game World Series, finishing as an All-Tournament Hitter with a .385 batting average.
At age 15 last year, he was chosen to join the Chaffey 19U travel ball team, “rated as the number one team in Washington State who have seen dozens of D1 and MLB players.” He ended that season with a .371 batting average, 4th best on the team.
And now, as a member of the class of 2020, Kenji is looking ahead to his second season with Eastside Catholic – then college ball in South Carolina down the road.
It’s division-championship time for high-school swimmers including the girls that West Seattleite Brent Lindblom e-mailed to tell us all about, in case you want to go cheer them on Friday and Saturday:
Though Kennedy Catholic High School is located in Burien, West Seattle has many students attending the school.
The Kennedy girls’ swim and dive team is heading to the WCD III 4A Swimming and Diving Championships being held at Curtis Aquatic Center (8805 40th St W, University Place).
Congratulations to the Lancer girls moving on to Division Championships:
Front: Madelline Kalenius, Lauren Hofford, Anita Shields, Catlin Mazzuca, Krista Markle, Shala Markle, Lynn Nguyen
Back: Jacqueline Southwell, Chloe Dahleen, Elena Stoll
Not pictured: Audrey Porter, Bronte Shirley
Swimming Prelims: Friday, October 27th
Warm-up: 3:30 pm
Meet Start: 4:30 pmSwimming Finals: Saturday, October 28th
Warm-up: 3:30
Meet Start: 4:30The top 7 fastest times/scores from each event (finals night only) will be allocated to the State meet.
If you’re going – there’s an admission charge for everyone except kids 5 and under. It’s cash only, $8 adults, $6 students with ASB ID and senior citizens, $4 elementary students.
Thanks to Anna Nguyen for photos and reports on two success stories from the West Seattle High School golf season. First, the girls:
(L-R, Berit Syltebo and Lauryn Nguyen)
Congratulations to the WSHS Girls Golf Team on their 3rd-place finish in the overall-team standings at this week’s 3A Metro League Tournament held at Jefferson Park Golf Course. Senior Berit Syltebo and Freshman Lauryn Nguyen qualified for the 3A Metro/King Co District tournament to be held next Spring. Nguyen posted a commanding 4-under par round to win the individual Medalist Honors, beating the field by 7 strokes in the 18-hole Metro League Tournament. Nguyen also captured 1st place during all of the regular season high-school matches. Her dominating performance earned her the WIAA Metro League Player of the Year title!
Here’s the entire team, in a tweeted photo:
What a season! Great job WSHS girls Golf! 3rd place in Metros. A first for West Seattle. @westseattleblog #wildcats #wshs pic.twitter.com/8WhjdNCVhC
— WestSeattleHSGolf (@WSHSGolfers) October 21, 2017
Now, the report on the boys’ team:
(L-R, Cameron Smith and Alex Nguyen)
Two members of the WSHS Varsity boys’ golf team qualified for the 3A Metro/King Co District tournament after competing in the Metro League Golf Championship this week held at West Seattle Golf Course and Jefferson Park Golf Course. Senior Alex Nguyen and Junior Cameron Smith finished in the top 38 to earn a place to compete at Districts next Tuesday (10/24/2017) at Riverbend Golf Complex in Kent.
Both teams are coached by Velko Vitalich, who, as we reported back in June, has retired as WSHS baseball head coach but continued on with the golfers for one more year.
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