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November 28, 2012
sports
SAMMAMISH REVIEW
Skyline crushes Camas, 51-28 By John Leggett
When the Spartans tangled with the Camas Papermakers in the semifinal round of the WIAA’s Gridiron Classic at the Tacoma Dome Nov. 24, Skyline was the scissors to Camas’ paper. The Spartans started slow, at one point in the first quarter, falling behind, 14-0. Eventually, the Spartans were able to cut through the Papermakers, and douse Camas (12-0), 51-28. As the highly touted skirmish began to unravel before enormous representation from both schools, the Camas crew notched seven points against a vaunted Skyline defense that had allowed an average of 18 points per game. After the ensuing kickoff, Skyline could manage very little offensively. But ,on the fourth down of its second fruitless drive, Skyline senior Sean McDonald booted a skyscraping punt that didn’t allow any return and pinned Camas back on its own 2-yard line. After Camas went the conservative route, sending its running back between the tackles for a
minimal gain in treacherous territory, the Papermakers went for all the marbles. Trying to buy time in the pocket in the midst of a fierce Skyline pass rush, Papermaker quarterback Reilly Hennessey scrambled around for as long as he dared, then hurled the pigskin. The ball found the outstretched arms of Hennessey’s pet receiver, Zach Eagle, in midstride 50 yards away and streaking for paydirt. After Camas’ kicker, Roldan Alcobendas, split the uprights with the point after touchdown attempt, Skyline found itself in a completely unfamiliar predicament, trailing 14-0 with five minutes left in the quarter. “I was really proud of the guys for not panicking and keeping their wits about them,” said Skyline head coach Mat Taylor, “but I will admit at that point they were playing with more of a sense of urgency than they had prior to Camas going up 14-0,” said Taylor with a sheepish grin. Indeed, Camas’ second seven point shot across the bow did appear to serve as somewhat of
Photo by Jim Nicholson
Skyline senior lineman Peyton Pelluer lays out for a shoestring tackle of Camas’s Zach Eagle. a wake up call for the unbeaten lads from Sammamish, as after that point in the proceedings, it became almost all Skyline the rest of the way. The Skyline scoring spree began with a bit of trickery as senior quarterback Max Browne flung a lateral to his halfback, Matt Sinatro. Sinatro, in turn,
tossed the rock into the waiting mitts of a smiling Nic Sblendorio who was wide open 7 yards away in the Camas end zone. McDonald then proceeded to leg through the extra point kick and Skyline had sliced Camas’ advantage in half. Then McDonald, who served as a valuable weapon in the
Skyline arsenal, at one point blasting a 47-yard field goal just before halftime, drove his next kickoff well past the grasp of any Camas return men, for his first of many touchbacks. After the ball changed hands a couple of times as the second See FOOTBALL, Page 15
Swim champ Maria Volodkevich strives to serve country By Lillian O’Rorke
Maria Volodkevich hopes to take to the pool for a military academy next year.
File photo
Maria Volodkevich has always been a team player. It was teammates that motivated her, at age 6, to dive headfirst into competitive swimming. Seven of her eight state titles were for team relay events, and it’s the aspiration of being a part of something greater than herself that motivates the Skyline senior to pursue a military career. “I prefer winning in a team atmosphere,” said Volodkevich. “I’d rather come out of the pool winning with three other girls because that is more exciting than winning by yourself. It’s all of our work coming together to pay off instead of just one person.” It was the group of girls that she started swimming with as a child, she said, that kept her in the sport. And looking back over her nearly 12-year career in the pool, that’s a good thing. Volodkevich was a freshman when she won the 2009 Washington 4A Swimming State Championship in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1
minute and 4.25 seconds. For the next four years, that would be her only individual state title. She went on to swim on seven state championship relay teams, including the 400 freestyle relay in 2009 through 2011, the 200 freestyle relay in 2009 and the 200 medley relay teams in 2010 through 2012. Volodkevich also holds Skyline’s school record for the 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay. This year’s state swim meet marked the end of her high school swimming career. But Volodkevich is far from being finished in the pool. She already has her application in at the United States Air Force and Naval academies as well as the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She went on a recruiting trip earlier this fall to observe the Air Force Academy’s swim team. “They are the type of people I’d like to be around,” Volodkevich said about her posSee SWIM, Page 15