The Issaquah Press
s
SPORTS
Page B4
Wednesday October 24, 2012
s
Issaquah freshman nets silver medal Local golfers also take fourth, fifth at district finals By John Leggett ip-sports@isspress.com
BY GREG FARRAR
Megan Chucka, Allie Wood and Sarah Bliesner (from left), Liberty High School runners, recover their breath after finishing second, fourth and eighth to help the Patriots win the school’s first-ever team girls KingCo 3A Cross Country Championship Oct. 19 at Lake Sammamish State Park.
ROAD WARRIORS
Liberty girls win KingCo 3A cross country title By Christina Corrales-Toy newcastle@isspress.com When a key contributor from last year’s Liberty High School girls cross country team went down with an injury before the season, head coach Mike Smith was understandably crushed. “You know we had really high hopes to do better than last year, and to lose one of your better runners was really upsetting,” he said. While Amy Broska’s talent and leadership were missed this season, it didn’t stop the Patriots from capturing the 2012 KingCo 3A cross country title Oct. 18 at Lake Sammamish State Park. Liberty defeated defending KingCo champs Mercer Island by 28 points to capture the school’s first KingCo cross country title. It was a sweet victory for the Patri-
ots, who lost to Mercer Island in a tiebreaker at last year’s event. Led by senior standout Megan Chucka, the Patriots finished the 3.1-mile race with a team average time of 19 minutes, 49 seconds. Chucka placed second and ran one of the fastest Patriot finals ever with a time of 19:19. The performance was just another notch in what has been a dominant year for the senior leader. “Megan has been great,” Smith said. “She’s just pretty much put it on her shoulders that she was just going to take the team back to state and do better this year.” But it took a true team effort to capture the title, and Liberty’s depth shined through at the event. In addition to Chucka’s secondBY GREG FARRAR
See LIBERTY,
Megan Chucka, Liberty High School senior, strains the final Page B5 yards to a 19-minute, 19-second, second-place finish.
Skyline runners power into cross country districts By Lillian O’Rorke ltucker@sammamishreview.com Several area runners are heading to districts after strong finishes at the Oct. 18 KingCo 4A cross country league championships. The race to stay alive in the post season took place at West Seattle’s Lincoln Park, where 154 varsity runners vied for the top 40 finishes in the girls and boys races as only the top eight teams and top 40 individuals would qualify
for the bi-district meet. Making the cut were the Issaquah Eagles girls team, which finished in fourth place overall. Also qualifying were the Skyline Spartans boys team in sixth place and the girls team in seventh place. Working to earn Issaquah that fourth-place finish was Cayla Seligman, who finished the 5,000 meter race in 19 minutes, 8.3 seconds to take seventh; Ellie Clawson came in 13th at 19:19.5; and Ellie Hendrickson was the 21st to cross the finish line at 19:46.6.
“It’s been a fun season. The kids have done well. They’ve all improved a lot,” Issaquah’s head coach Gwen Robertson said. “My philosophy with cross country at the end of the season is if you’re healthy and you run well, anything can happen. And I’ve seen it happen many, many times. So far, so good.” The Issaquah boys team may have not qualified for districts but two of its runners did make the cut. Hunter Sapienza took 25th place at 16:30.3 and Kennan Schrag came in 39th with 16:49.7.
“I was really happy with my place … I’m excited and ready to try and make it to state,” said Sapienza, who, from the time the race gun sounded, had a great race. “I sprinted the first 100 meters. You really have to get out when it’s a huge meet.” While Skyline had three runners in the top 40 on the boys side and five girls finish among the top 40 in their race, the Spartans See RUNNERS, Page B5
Spartans blank Issaquah, 21-0, in battle of rivals By John Leggett ip-sports@isspress.com When you are the No. 1 4A high school football team in the state, used to winning games by 30-point margins, you are able to overcome just about every form of adversity, even if it’s in your imagination. Nationally ranked Skyline High School Spartans senior quarterback Max Browne experienced a lackluster first half by his undefeated 8-0 Skyline football squad Oct. 19, when it hosted the Issaquah Eagles in a battle for local bragging rights. The game ended in a 21-0, Skyline victory.
BY GREG FARRAR
Jack Gellatly (5), Issaquah High School junior running back, is shaken up by a late hit from Skyline’s Blake Young (left) while being pulled down by the jersey by Jack Valencia during the third quarter. Browne did not like the spectacle that unfolded
during a mediocre 24 minutes of Spartans’ foot-
ball in the first half of the annual Issaquah School
District rivalry, which saw Skyline holding a scant 7-0 advantage at intermission. Normally Browne, who leads the KingCo 4A in passing with a 75 percent completion rating and has flung nearly 20 touchdowns this year, lets his actions furnish the inspiration to fire up the troops. On this particular occasion, though, he let his cohorts know what was in his heart, via what must have been a motivating halftime speech. Whatever the fiery Spartans’ signal caller had See FOOTBALL, Page B5
A handful of local golfers from Skyline and Issaquah high schools played a lot of golf in a relatively short span last week, but were rewarded for their endeavors when they showed up among the top 10 finishers of the Sea-King 4A District golf championships Oct. 16 and 17 at Willows Run Golf Course in Redmond. The most consistent local to burn up the links was Issaquah freshman Zack Overstreet, who in the qualifying rounds on Tuesday carded 36s on the front and back nine (72), which is par for 18 holes at Willows. The next day, which proved a bit more playable weather-wise, the exceptional frosh newcomer to the tournament again played well for the Eagles. He outdid his earlier par score, by managing four birdies to fire a 68 and finished districts two strokes off the frontrunner, Eastlake’s Li Wang-138, with a two-day bottom line of 140 for 72 holes, winding up as the tourney’s silver medalist. Meanwhile, Skyline’s Brian Mogg put together a two-day total of 146 strokes to finish fourth. Issaquah’s Bryan Jung was nipping at his heels, finishing in the top five with a 147 stroke effort. As anticipated, a predominantly senior Eastlake High School contingent, took home top team accolades with 84 points. Four of its participants finished in the top 10 with two-day bottom lines of 138 (first), 146 (third), 148 (sixth) and 151 (ninth). Eastlake nearly doubled up on Issaquah (43.5) and Skyline (27.5) point-wise. Liberty placed in the 3A phase of the tournament seventh in the eight team KingCo 3A/2A Division with a score of 451 strokes. The winning squad in the division was Interlake with a posting of 384 strokes. Liberty did not have an individual finish in the top 15.
Patriots can’t stop Bellevue It was Liberty High School’s turn to face the juggernaut that is Wolverine football when the Patriots went on the road to play Bellevue on Oct. 19. While the Patriots fell to Bellevue, 49-11, they were the first team in the state to put up more than 10 points on the Wolverines this season, behind a Josh Johnson field goal and a score by Tynan Gilmore, as well as a 2-point conversion. Heading into the game, the team knew it was a tough test, going up against a Bellevue team that is ranked among the best in the nation, Liberty coach Steve Valach said. “That’s a formidable opponent, and we talk about playing hard for 48 minutes, playing together, and I think for the most part we did that,” he said. The Patriots are now 3-5 on the season and will host Mount Si on Oct.26.