Photo by Karla Reynolds
La Conner linksters
not rusty despite rain, long layoff
By Bill Reynolds
They say the best things in life
are well worth the wait.
And for golfers, that includes a day on the
course – even in the pouring rain.
The La Conner High golf teams returned to action
Thursday after going nearly a month without a match, and had little trouble
shaking off the rust.
The Braves kept their undefeated season intact,
easily downing visiting Grace
Academy and Highline
Christian in a downpour at nearby Similk Beach Golf Course.
The Lady Braves, meanwhile, boasted medalist
Hilary Edwards, who shot a 59, one stroke under the round shot by teammate
Bailey Wyles.
"I'm proud of the effort," La Conner
head coach Sean Skiles said afterward. "The rain made it tough, but
everybody stuck with it and really turned in some impressive scores considering
the elements."
La Conner's Jake Silva took top honors on the
boys' side, carding a 37. Teammate Brendan McLeod fired a 39.
The Braves' Spencer Finley finished at 42, while
Wilson Crawford shot a 44 in his varsity debut.
Pretty remarkable scores given there was
standing water on some greens, and the
La Conner boys were without three of their top
five players.
"It was nice to get a couple of the JV
golfers a chance to compete in a varsity match," said Skiles,
"without a noticeable drop off in team score."
The Braves finished with a combined count
of 210. Grace Academy was 32 strokes back, at 242.
Highline Christian golfers sloshed their way to a 267.
"It was very wet and never stopped
raining," said La Conner assistant coach Kelly Silva. "So a team
score of 210 was pretty awesome all things considered."
There will be little idle time for La Conner
golfers from here on out. The LCHS teams were slated to host Lopez late
Tuesday, then return the favor tomorrow, Thursday, afternoon.
La Conner wraps up the
week Friday at Snohomish in a dual match with Northwest Christian.
Photo by Karla Reynolds
La Conner thinclads sweep home track meet
By
Bill Reynolds
It was two weeks past Good Friday.
But a good Friday, indeed, for the
La Conner High track teams.
The Braves boys' and girls'
squads each won their half of the five-school La Conner Invitational
Track Meet Friday afternoon at Whittaker Field.
The Braves outdistanced runner-up
Crescent 122-77, with league rival Concrete, 67, claiming third place in the
boys' meet.
On the girls' side, La Conner edged
Concrete 110-96 for the meet title, with Crescent, 67, placing third.
Friday Harbor, 30, and Christian Faith, 17, rounded out the
girls' field.
Christian Faith, 34, and Friday Harbor,
33, waged a close battle for fourth place in the boys' competition.
La Conner's Landy James, Nathan
Sybrandy, Jamall James, and Nathan Parker were double victors for the Braves,
whose mile relay team also captured top honors.
Landy James claimed the high jump
with a personal best leap of 6'-4", easily besting Crescent's Donovan
Christie, who finished second with 5’10”.
James, a senior, also won the
javelin by a wide margin. His winning heave of 167'-5" was more than 24
feet better than the second best effort, a toss of 143'-0" by Quenton
Wolfer of Crescent.
Sybrandy won both the mile and
two-mile.
The La Conner distance standout hit
the tape in five-minutes flat in the 1600 meters. That was seven seconds better
than Friday Harbor's Jose Guerrero.
Sybrandy dominated the 3200 meter
field, clocking an impressive 11:19.00, nearly two minutes faster than the
rest of the field.
An added bonus in the two-mile was
the performance of La Conner sophomores Jack Borusinski, Alec Azure, and Alex
Wirth, all of whom placed in the top five.
Jamall James took gold in the long
jump with 19'-6" and 110-meter high hurdles at 16:16, winning both events handily.
No one was within a foot of him in the long jump. And James was nearly a full
second better than Crescent's Matthew Waldrip in the hurdles.
Parker took both the shot put
(43'-8") and discus (119'-10") in impressive fashion. His
distance in the discus was more than 14 feet better than the second place
finisher, Josiah Martin of Concrete.
The Braves' quartet of Todd
Hoagland, Jamall James, Mitchell Grant, and Dahlton Zavala added to the La
Conner point total by cruising to a win in the 4x400 meter relay.
Their time of 3:43.00 was nearly two
seconds faster than that posted by Crescent's mile relay entry.
Grant and Zavala each
earned silver in solo events, placing second in the 400 and 200 meters,
respectively. Grant's time was :55.60, just back of Hoagland's winning pace.
Zavala clocked a :24.38 in a race won by Concrete's Andy Aiken at :23.94.
La Conner's depth was a key factor
in the girls' half of the meet.
Kelsie Crawford had a role in four
wins, pacing the Lady Braves with triumphs in the 100 meters at :13.75 and long
jump of 12'-9" while also running legs of La Conner's meet-best sprint and
mile relay entries.
Crawford led a 1-2-3 Lady Braves
finish in the 100 as Priscilla Ponce-Venegas placed second at :13.85), just
ahead of teammate Madi Cavanaugh’s :14.44).
Katie McKnight, Emily Anderson, and
Ponce-Venegas likewise turned in blue ribbon performances for the Lady
Braves.
McKnight was first in the 200 meters
at :28.68 winning by more than two seconds over Concrete's Thea O'Brien.
Anderson captured the triple jump with
32'-2.5", an event which saw La Conner teammate Amber Drye place
fifth.
Ponce-Venegas sped to a convincing
win in the 300 meter hurdles. Her time of :50.75 was almost three seconds
faster than her nearest rival, Crescent's Kellie Belford.
Ponce-Venegas, McKnight, and Anderson joined Crawford
on La Conner's winning 4x100 meter relay team, clocking a time
of :53.44.
Ponce-Venegas also finished fourth
in the javelin with 93'-7", three slots ahead of McKnight, who turned in a
toss of 77'-0".
McKnight, Anderson, Crawford, and
Cavanaugh then teamed to claim the 4x400 meter relay, posting a time of
4:29.06, nearly a half-minute faster than second place Friday Harbor.
Cavanaugh, meanwhile, was a strong
second to Crawford in the long jump.
On a busy day, Anderson also finished second in the 100
meter hurdles, a finish matched by La Conner junior Sammie Mesman in the
1600 meters.
Mesman at 6:19.00 was just one tick
back of mile winner Kaitlyn Smith, who finished in 6:18.00.
Mesman also joined Lydia Lenning,
Marina Kochuten, and Victoria O'Brien for a second place finish in the 800
meter relay, turning in a time of 2:08.34.
Lenning further added to the Lady
Braves' tally with a third place finish at 15:38.37 in the 3200 meters.
In related notes:
La Conner head track coach Peter
Voorhees said the meet's highlight was the mile relays for both the boys and
girls. Braves' sprinter Jamall James closed a 30-meter gap on the leader and
seized the lead going into the final exchange. Anchor Dahlton Zavala held on
for the win. Voorhees said the Lady Braves met their pre-race goal in
terms of time, and are now the sixth ranked 4x400 group in the State.
"The girls' relay was a great example," said Voorhees, "of the
athletes choosing to make something happen, working hard for it, and pushing
themselves through to their goal. I'm very proud of them."
Another highlight, stressed
Voorhees, was the performance of Robert Duckworth, who established personal
bests in four events.
Voorhees was grateful for the community's
support of the meet. "The people in La Conner
do a great job supporting school activities. I'd like to thank
everyone who came out to help. It was our last home meet for our seniors and
they all had a great day."
Photo by Lauren Reynolds
Braves defense
falters in two tough losses
By Bill Reynolds
Baseball is a game that can drive coaches
batty – in more ways than one.
Just ask La Conner's Jeremiah LeSourd, who last
week saw his club turn in solid mound work and grind out several quality at-bats.
But it was their defense that let the Braves
down in tough losses to Concrete and Blaine.
La Conner committed critical errors at
crucial points of an eventual 5-3 setback to the Lions, a game marred by
wet playing conditions.
"The game was close throughout," said
LeSourd, "but errors were the difference. Weather conditions also
played a factor, and made things difficult."
Braves' hurlers Taylor Swanson
and Tanner Cyr were poised on the mound Thursday while facing a good
hitting Concrete team.
"They really performed well and kept their
composure," LeSourd stressed.
Cyr also helped his cause with a base
hit.
Hayden Schmidt led La Conner with a pair of base
knocks, while Dakota Hartley lined a run-scoring single.
Cyr swung a hot bat Saturday against Blaine, as well. He went
three-for-three at the plate, with a double, a pair of singles, and two
runs scored in a 14-3 loss.
Erick Reinstra likewise delivered three
hits, while Wil James laced two safeties in four trips.
But, again, it was defensive miscues that sealed
La Conner's fate.
Starter Matt McCauley and Reinstra, who
came on in relief, were victimized by five Braves' errors.
"Matt got his first start on the
mound," said LeSourd, "and did well. Erick pitched the final three
innings and was very aggressive."
Despite the twin defeats,
LeSourd justifiably has a positive outlook on the rest of the campaign.
"Our pitchers are getting experience and
improving with each appearance," he said Monday. "Their
confidence will be an asset in the playoffs."
It's much the same scenario on offense.
"The Braves' attack is improving,"
LeSourd told La Conner Weekly News, "with the hitters having solid
at-bats. We just need to come through with runners on base."
The key will be shoring up the defense, he said.
"That's where we must improve if we're
going to make a run in the playoffs," LeSourd noted.
It's a mission, he said, that can be
accomplished.
"We're working on staying focused and
thinking a play ahead," said LeSourd. "When we can do that we'll
begin to execute on a more consistent basis."
The Braves (3-4 in league) were scheduled
to resume play Monday at home against longtime rival Darrington.
The struggling Loggers entered the week with a
1-5 conference mark.
La Conner is slated to entertain Lummi
today, Wednesday, in a non-league twinbill before traveling Friday to
Coupeville.
