Northshore fall sports: A season to remember

Bothell High, Inglemoor High and Cedar Park Christian School each had their share of exciting stories that came out of what was an action-packed fall sports season here in the Bothell-Kenmore region. While it would be impossible to list all of my favorite stories from the past few months here is my own personal Sportscenter-esque 'Final Four' countdown as we recall this season’s most memorable moments:

By Tim Watanabe • November 30, 2011 5:52 pm
Viking defensive linemen Mikey (No. 53) and Niko Tupou (No. 55) try to take down a Bothell rusher during the Spaghetti Bowl at Pop Keeney earlier this fall. The Cougars won their 10th straight regular-season meeting against the Vikings
Viking defensive linemen Mikey (No. 53) and Niko Tupou (No. 55) try to take down a Bothell rusher during the Spaghetti Bowl at Pop Keeney earlier this fall. The Cougars won their 10th straight regular-season meeting against the Vikings

Bothell High, Inglemoor High and Cedar Park Christian School each had their share of exciting stories that came out of what was an action-packed fall sports season here in the Bothell-Kenmore region.

While it would be impossible to list all of my favorite stories from the past few months here is my own personal Sportscenter-esque “Final Four” countdown as we recall this season’s most memorable moments:

 

4.  Bothell wins tightest Spaghetti Bowl in recent history

The Inglemoor Vikings got so close, they could almost taste it. In what looked to be a down year for the Cougars and a particularly strong season for the Vikings, the Spaghetti Bowl held promise to be a great matchup in front of a raucous capacity crowd at Pop Keeney Stadium, and Bothell’s 32-30 win certainly fit that bill.

The Cougars, winners of nine-straight regular-season matchups against Inglemoor, heading into the game, built up an early lead on a pair of rushing touchdowns by Danny Wilson, the latter of which went 47 yards, and fellow running back Kishan Proctor broke away for a 54-yard gallop to give his team a 25-17 lead.

With Bothell holding a 32-17 lead, the Vikings rallied late with a pair of touchdowns to narrow the score to 32-30, but the Vikings simply ran out of time and remained winless in the Bowl since their 12-6 victory back in 2001.

Both teams would bow out of the 4A playoffs early, with the Vikings falling to Issaquah 40-24 in week nine, and the Cougars losing a week-10 heartbreaker to Bethel on a late 2-point conversion attempt that got swatted away, 24-22.

 

3.  Viking senior Hublou earns berth to 4A state golf tournament

In golf, unlike the other team sports offered in the fall, it’s just you and the course.

If you’re having a bad day on the links, your teammates can do little to pick you up other than offer words of encouragement.  Cole Hublou

Inglemoor senior Cole Hublou (right) put on an incredible display of fortitude, overcoming a terrible start to his final round at the 4A District Tournament at Willows Run Golf Club in Redmond in early October, as well as a year of heartbreak, to make the cut to the state tournament next May in Spokane.

Hublou was sitting pretty after an opening-round 76, and in good position to make the top-14 cut to state. But after a bogey and double bogey on the first two holes of Eagle’s Talon, thoughts of the 2010 District tournament may have begun to creep into the senior’s mind.

Last year, Hublou missed the cut by a single shot.

After his atrocious start, Hublou would go on to play the next 16 holes in 1-under-par, closing with one of the best final rounds of the tournament, a 74, to finish in a tie for second. He will be the only Bothell or Inglemoor golfer at state, which will be held in May at a course to be determined.

 

2.  Three athletes ink D-1 letters of intent

This fall was a big one for all three of our coverage schools, as each of them got one big NCAA Division I signing from a talented senior student-athlete.

Inglemoor High standout Taylor Peacocke, a perennial all-league player in basketball and softball, signed with Sacramento State in mid-October and will play hoops under head coach Jamie Craighead next year as a Hornet.

She was named the Reporter’s 2010-11 Female Athlete of the Year.

For Bothell, three-sport star Kendra Heyer signed with La Salle University in Philadelphia, a private, four-year Catholic university.

While she played and excelled at soccer and basketball for the Lady Cougars, Heyer will take to the fastpitch field at La Salle, where she was named to the All-Kingco first team last year as a co-captain and speedy center fielder.

Finally, Cedar Park Christian School’s Rachel Staudacher followed a family tradition and signed with the University of Montana, in the footsteps of her cousin Ryan, who is playing basketball for the Grizzlies.

Staudacher was named the Emerald City League’s Most Valuable Player last winter averaging 22.2 points per game.

 

1.  Inglemoor’s Speak wins state title, Viks finish on the podium

With the unbelievable times she had been putting up and her dominance in the 100 breaststroke preliminaries, I and most of the crowd at the King County Aquatics Center at Federal Way already knew the likely outcome of the final race.

IHS sophomore Sage Speak indeed brought home her first individual swim title, winning in 1:04.31, a new personal best and school record.

In addition, the Vikings swam very well as a team in the relays and had a number of individual placers, garnering enough points to place sixth at the 4A state meet, the program’s highest finish in four years.

Head coach Perry Dolan, a 51-year veteran instructor of the sport and former All-American himself, got a short break to savor his team’s accomplishments before doing it all over again this winter as the boys’ coach.