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May 21, 2014
community
SAMMAMISH REVIEW
Two Eastlake students win merit scholarships By Neil Pierson
Photo by Neil Pierson
Ryan Holmdahl, left, and James McCutcheon will be graduating from Eastlake High School next month, and both earned $2,500 National Merit Scholarships this month for their outstanding academics and test scores.
Video doesn’t lie: Local students recognized for talents By Neil Pierson
Music videos are a form of storytelling, and four Skyline High School students decided to weave a story of their own around a well-known song. Students Damian Banki, Jeremy Millar, Langston Nichols and Andrea Gomez acted in, filmed and edited a 3-minute, 46-second video set to the background of Coldplay’s “Paradise.” Their work was recently nominated for a student Emmy Award by the Northwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Their adaptation of “Paradise” is one of six nominations in the music video category, and they’ll have a chance to win the award at the 51st annual Northwest Regional Emmy Awards, June 7 in Seattle. Millar, who edited the video, also played the protagonist, who has to find a way to escape a beating from a bully, played by Banki. “It is basically me getting beat up by Damian … and I retreat
into my mind and go on this whole adventure through the forest, and I find Andrea,” Millar explained. It wasn’t a lengthy shoot as Banki and Millar finalized their idea and filmed for about five hours. The editing process, however, took about six weeks. Gomez, who said she has very little prior acting experience, appears as a friendly angel of sorts in the dream world. “I guess I was trying to help him escape from the pain that he was feeling,” Gomez said. “Honestly, they just kind of called me up and said they had an idea for a video and they wanted me to be in it. So I just agreed to that and went along with whatever they had planned.” Nichols and Millar also teamed up for another Emmy-nominated video, “A Smile for the City,” in which they showed homeless residents at Tent City 4 in Sammamish getting free dental care. Miller directed and edited the 3-minute, 20-second piece, and
Nichols served as cinematographer. It includes interviews with Tent City residents and the dentists who cared for them, and is one of three award nominees in the public affairs/community service category. “Jeremy was really the one with the idea, and the one who drove the whole project,” Nichols said. “I was just kind of there to help. It was kind of an interesting process – not really structured. We just started going up to people who were coming in and asking them if they wanted to be interviewed.” Nichols began doing video See EMMY, Page 11 Photo by Neil Pierson
From left, Skyline High School students Langston Nichols, Andrea Gomez, Jeremy Millar and Trevor Thacker-Beach, along with Damian Banki (not pictured) have been nominated for student Emmy Awards for their outstanding video productions.
James McCutcheon and Ryan Holmdahl have spent the past four years building impressive résumés, and their diligence has paid off with some rare recognitions. The Eastlake High School seniors were among the list of 2014 National Merit Scholarship winners announced May 7. A total of five students from the Lake Washington School District were chosen, including Holmdahl, a Redmond resident, and McCutcheon, a Sammamish resident. The other three are also Sammamish residents – Cameron Akker and Samhita Karnati of Redmond High, and Anwell Wang of the International Community School in Kirkland. Although every student in the nation who takes the PSAT is initially eligible for a National Merit Scholarship, a very small percentage actually gets the $2,500 award. Of the 1.5 million students who take the PSAT annually, about 50,000 are given letters of commendation for their high scores, and only 16,000 are selected in September as scholarship semifinalists. Roughly 15,000 national final-
ists are chosen in February. Those students, McCutcheon explained, are given the opportunity to complete an online application – which includes their academic standing, teacher recommendations and an essay – and compete for one of 2,500 scholarships, 50 per state. The merit scholarships are chosen without regard to a student’s financial standing, the college they’ve chosen or the career path they’re pursuing. McCutcheon lived in New Zealand and England before moving to the U.S. six years ago, and thinks that may have placed a part in his selection. “I’ve got a lot of diversity in my application,” he said. Holmdahl called the scholarship “a nice validation” of the work he’s put in at Eastlake. “They say that it starts when you take the PSAT,” he noted, “but it was a lot of work you had to do before that, keeping up with your grades, keeping up with your studies, doing the SAT prep work beforehand, just making sure you’re off on the best footing you can be.” Both Eastlake seniors are well-rounded in their academics, See MERIT, Page 11
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SPORTS
May 21, 2014
SAMMAMISH REVIEW
Eastlake baseball wins first conference title By Neil Pierson
posing for pictures with family members, Agnew reflected upon It was a birthday celebration the journey the Wolves (14-9) worthy of a dog pile. have taken to reach the state When Eastlake High School tournament for the first time senior pitcher Mick Vorhof since 2003. struck out Woodinville’s Brent “I’m just proud of my guys,” Donlan for the game’s final out, he said. “They really worked his teammates poured out of the hard, and when it got tough, they dugout and mobbed him on the stuck with it and they never quit mound. on themselves.” Minutes later, as the teams Both Eastlake and Woodinville were clear(14-7) got hot at ing the field the right time, “They never quit on following pulling some themselves.” the Class mild upsets in 4A KingCo the tourney – Kevin Agnew, Conference to reach the Coach – baseball tourtitle game. nament title Both teams are game, the Eastlake players sergoing to state, which begins this enaded head coach Kevin Agnew weekend. As the top seed from on his 30th birthday. District 2, Eastlake will play at 1 It all came together for the p.m. May 24 at Art Wright Field Wolves May 15 as they captured in Kent. the program’s first conference The Wolves had to fight championship with a 3-1 win through the adversity of a rollon Woodinville’s field, the place ercoaster regular season. They where Agnew played so many of never had a winning streak lonhis high-school games more than ger than three games, and lost a decade ago. See BASEBALL, Page 15 After exchanging hugs and
Photo by Greg Farrar
Mick Vorhof (left), Eastlake High School senior pitcher, is lifted in the air by senior Mitch Augenstein after throwing the last strikeout in the game to win the 4A KingCo tournament championship May 16 against Woodinville.
Tennis players test themselves at KingCo championships By Neil Pierson
Photo by Neil Pierson
Skyline High School senior Theresa Huang serves during her May 13 match with Garfield’s Fiona Cerf at the KingCo girls tennis championships. Huang was eliminated with a 6-2, 7-6 decision.
Lioubarski. “I think we were confident in our game, and that’s The 28 singles players and 28 important.” doubles teams that converged Ye and Lioubarski looked solid on the Skyline High School tenin their May 13 quarterfinal victonis courts last week knew they’d ry, getting out of the gates quickhave to be on top of their games. ly and shutting down Roosevelt’s At the Class 4A KingCo Julia Mirick and Izzy Mason. Conference girls tennis chamThere weren’t a lot of extendpionships, only the two finalists ed points during the 6-1, 6-2 vicin singles and tory, as the doubles were Spartans’ duo “I think we were guaranteed served well and confident in our game, kept Mirick berths into the state tournaand Mason and that’s important.” ment, while pinned to the – Jasmine Ye, the third-place baseline, forcTennis player – finisher had ing mistakes. to win a cross“Normally, over match we both play with a Wesco Conference foe to singles, so that’s a lot of running,” get there. Ye said, “and in doubles, we As it turned out, the competicover half the court, so I think it’s tion wasn’t the only thing that a little easier for us.” proved daunting over the course Ye and Lioubarski played of the three-day event. Eightydoubles for two early-season degree temperatures greeted the matches, then returned to singles players in the afternoons, making for the bulk of the season to best fitness even more vital. help the team. “I think the heat really makes But the KingCo singles bracket us tired, but I think we played was stacked with talent, Ye really well today still,” said explained, so Spartans coach Skyline junior Jasmine Ye, who Bettina Gehle reunited the duo was paired with sophomore Julia to give them a better chance of
advancing to state. They were one of the top-four seeds into the tourney, giving them a first-round bye. After dispatching Newport’s Kari Nasu and Sara Park (6-0, 6-1) and the Roosevelt duo, they lost in the semifinals to Inglemoor’s Jenae Chinn and Michaela Jendralova, the eventual champions. They rebounded with a victory over Issaquah’s Kelsey Wilson and Halle Gordon. Lioubarski, a right-hander, said she complements well with the left-handed Ye. “It’s fun playing with Jasmine because she knows how to pump you up and motivate you, and she doesn’t get mad if you miss, so it’s an easy partnership,” Lioubarski said. Lioubarski and Ye were the No. 3 seed from the tournament, and lost a winner-to-state crossover match May 16 against the Wesco Conference’s third seed. Skyline’s other KingCo qualifiers were singles players Theresa Huang, Sherry Huang and Hilary Taylor; and the doubles teams of Rianna Eduljee and Shreenu See TENNIS, Page 15