issaquahpress062012

The Issaquah Press

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COMMUNITY

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012

MOVING ON

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Tiger Mountain Community High School celebrates the graduates’ accomplishments from the class of 2012 PHOTOS BY MICHAEL JOHNSON /NEW ERA PHOTOGRAPHY

The 28 Tiger Mountain graduating seniors toss their mortarboards in the air at the conclusion of their June 8 commencement ceremony on campus.

Graduating senior Cortez Ethridge shares a hug with teacher Joy Allison after she reads his testimonial during the Tiger Mountain Community High School class of 2012 commencement.

Above, Audrey Johnson listens to her faculty testimonial. She received scholarships from the Kiwanis Club of Issaquah, Issaquah Women’s Club, Windermere Foundation and Greater Issaquah Chamber of Commerce, was Rotary Club of Issaquah student of the year and received an early acceptance merit scholarship from Northwest College of Art & Design.

At left, Kelli Korenek receives her diploma and a chuckle from outgoing longtime Tiger Mountain Community High School Principal Ed Marcoe.

Erin Andrzejczyk, Kaylene Benak and Carina Aguilar (from left) arrive onstage in a light rain during the processional march.

Cortez Ethridge (left) and Julianna Bingham share the duty of making student speeches to their classmates, friends, family members and faculty.

Erin Andrzejczyk receives the gift of a chef’s jacket for her effort and achievements from culinary instructor Eric Sutherland.

Eric Garcia receives his diploma and handshake from Principal Ed Marcoe.

Mayra Lupercio picks up her diploma and gets her congratulations from Principal Ed Marcoe while wearing a pair of boots.

The Issaquah Press

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SPORTS

Page C4

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

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Return of the

Issaquah lacrosse midfielders named All American

Freak show Tim Lincecum makes his pitching debut at Safeco Field nine years after Liberty’s state title

Above, Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants Cy Young awardwinning pitcher and former Liberty High School star, makes his pitching debut at Safeco Field June 16. At left, he pitches to the Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki, getting him to line out to first base during the third inning of the interleague matchup. The Mariners went on to win the game, 7-4.

By Matt Carstens Issaquah Press reporter With their season on the line in a loser-out playoff game in the KingCo tournament, the 2003 Liberty Patriots knew they something had to give.

After being held in check for six innings, Liberty entered the dugout in the top of the seventh down 2-0. Fed up with the effort, third basemen Sean Webster entered the dugout with a message.

“I don’t want the season to be over,” he said.

Former Liberty ace and current San Francisco Giants star Tim Lincecum, who was in Seattle last weekend to pitch his first game against the Mariners at Safeco Field, said he knew from that point on that this team had something special.

“You could just see the relentlessness, the nevergive-up thing,” Lincecum said in an interview at Safeco the day before the game. “I wasn’t really a part of the game at that point, I wasn’t a position player, I was just a pitcher, so that game I was pretty much watching at that point. And to see us score 10 runs in that last inning and win the tournament, and then go on and play against Yelm in the quarterfinals.”

‘We could win this thing’ Finishing fourth in the KingCo Conference that year, Liberty wasn’t exactly a favorite going into the state tournament, but they knew with a pitcher like Lincecum, nicknamed The Freak, anything was possible.

Current Liberty softball coach Brian Hartman was an assistant coach on the ’03 baseball team and recalled the moment that the staff realized that the team had a realistic shot to make a run at the state title.

While hanging around with the other coaches right after winning the KingCo tournament, the group looked ahead to the next few weeks. They quickly realized with the way the state tournament was set up, they had more than a fighting chance.

“So we were like, ‘Yeah, we could win this thing!’”

Hartman said in a phone interview last week.

“Tim’s going to win one game for us, we just got to figure out how to win the other one that weekend.

So having him really set us up for that run, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Above, Kent Kirk, 76, a Portland resident, Santa Rosa, Calif., native and lifelong Giants fan, wears a Tim Lincecum jersey while watching warmup and batting practice at Safeco Field before Lincecum’s first start against the Mariners.

At left, Tami Veralund, of Seattle, waves Tim Lincecum’s uniform number in the stands as he pitches at Safeco Field. ‘I never cared about the game until I saw him in 2010,’ she said. ‘He got me interested in baseball ‘cause he’s so hot!’

See LINCECUM, Page C5

PHOTOS BY GREG FARRAR

The Washington State Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse announced June 6 that 14 high school student-athletes, including lacrosse players from Issaquah High School, in Washington have been named to the 2012 U.S. Lacrosse All-American team.

The selections mark the first time since the awards were first given in Washington in 1987 that so many student-athletes have been named All-American or AllAmerican Honorable Mention in a single year.

Local selections include senior midfielders Ben Director and Kole Lindor, from Issaquah High, as well as student athletes from girls varsity state champion Bainbridge High School, Boys Division I state champion Bellevue High School, Mercer Island High School and the Lakeside School. Schools with one player selected include View a hisArchbishop Mur- torical list of phy High School, All-American Lake Washington selections in High School and Washington Redmond High at www.washSchool. ingtonhslax.

Student-athcom/history/ letes named to the U.S. Lacrosse awards-andrecords. Learn All-American Team are more about considered the lacrosse in best high school Washington at lacrosse playwww.washingers in the United tonhslax.com.

States.

To be honored, student-athletes must be an All-State selection, must be in good standing at his or her school and must exhibit sportsmanship on and off the field.

Washington recipients are selected by a state committee made up of varsity coaches from the state as assigned by U.S. Lacrosse.

Since 1987, 90 student-athletes from Washington state (58 boys and 32 girls) have been named All-American or All-American Honorable Mention by U.S. Lacrosse.

Washington has experienced double-digit annual growth throughout the past decade, according to the Washington state chapter of U.S. Lacrosse.

With a 34-year local history, 157 individual boys and girls high school teams are available to students attending nearly 200 WIAA schools across the state.

Governed by the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association and the Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association, the sport is played during the spring season and capped by annual boys and girls state championships in late May.

ON THE WEB

Rowers may be kidsters, but they’re serious about national championship

By Lillian Tucker Issaquah Press reporter Listening to a group of local sophomore boys discuss packing an Xbox into their carry-on, you probably wouldn’t guess they were about to hop a plane for the Junior National Rowing Championships. But that is exactly where several local rowers were headed June 5.

“I’m feeling bouncy,” Sam Goertz said. “I’m just excited.”

The sophomore at Issaquah High School belongs to the Sammamish Rowing Association and occupies the stroke seat on the Men’s Lightweight Eight team, which was among the association’s four junior crews that competed June 8-10 at the Junior

National Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Also competing in Tennessee were Karina Yalcin, a junior at Issaquah High, and Ellie Place, a 2011 graduate of Issaquah High, who both row as members of the Women’s Varsity Eight team.

Goertz and his team members gladly admit they like to joke around, but when crunch time comes, they said, the team pulls it together.

“Going to nationals, I’ve had that goal for the last three years,” said coxswain Gina Day, a senior at Skyline High School.

While she has participated in crew for more than three and a half years, this was the first year that she has directed Men’s Lightweight Eight team.

“I’m like a football coach on water — I yell, steer and fix all their little mistakes,” she said. “Keeping them focused is the biggest challenge.”

Nationals didn’t come onto the team’s radar, said crewmember Ben Yuse, a sophomore at Eastlake, until after a few local regattas earlier in the spring.

“We proved, just barely, that we are the fastest team in the Northwest,” said Yuse, referring to the April 27-29 Brentwood Regatta on Vancouver Island.

That was a good weekend for the club, which had 14 firstplace finishes, including one by the lightweight boy’s team when See ROWERS, Page C5

CONTRIBUTED BY SAMMAMISH ROWING ASSOCIATION

The Men’s Lightweight Eight, rowing in the water at Melton Hill Lake in Tennessee, include coxswain Gina Day, Sam Goertz, Matt Essig, Brennan Lewis, Johannes Gees, Andrew Wisegarver, Sean Allen, Max Antono and Ben Yuse. They took eighth at the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships on June 10.