Several local high school seniors were among about 16,000 semifinalists for the annual National Merit Scholarship.

The high school seniors have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,400 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $32 million that will be offered next spring.

About 90 percent of the semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and about half
of the finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar title.

The following students were named semifinalists:

Liberty High School — Tyra Christopherson, Anna Malesis, Marek Pierepiekarz, James Ricks and Nathaniel Turtel

Hazen High School — Matthew Robbins

An overtime loss is the only blemish on the Liberty High School football team’s near-perfect record so far.

The Patriots are 3-1 to start the year, with five regular-season games still to be played, including matchups against Bellevue and Mount Si.

By Greg Farrar
Joseph Cunningham (right), Liberty High School senior running back, slips past Hazen sophomore safety Jaeger Scheppe (7) to the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run during the third quarter of their Sept. 11 football game.

Liberty began the season with a 14-6 win over Lakewood in a game that will be remembered as the debut of junior defensive end Mikey Walter. Prior to Sept. 4, Walter never played a down of high-school football.

He has made his name on the hardwood, starring on the Patriots’ varsity basketball team since he was a freshman. But this year, he decided to hit the gridiron, much to the delight of Liberty football coach Steve Valach.

In the Lakewood win, Walter caused a ruckus in the backfield, picking up three sacks in his very first game. The Seattle Times lauded his play as one of the top-10 performances of the night.

Running backs Joseph Cunningham and Dulin Hayden each had 4-yard rushing touchdowns to give Liberty all the offense it would need that night.

Liberty earned the right to chant “We run Renton” after its 28-6 win over Renton rival Hazen High School in Week 2.

The Patriots clicked on all cylinders, overcoming a slow first quarter to eventually overwhelm the Highlanders.

Quarterback Nate Solly found some success through the air, going 10 for 18 passing. But the ground game is where the Patriots truly did their damage.

Cunningham and Hayden each picked up rushing touchdowns for the second consecutive game, while senior Preston Mitsui and junior Austin Regis joined the scoring with runs of 4 and 5 yards, respectively.

Liberty’s defense held the Highlanders to just six points, with Walter again starring on the field with six tackles. Julian Bruce had four tackles, while Hayden did damage defensively, too, collecting four tackles.

The Patriots improved to 3-0 after a 38-27 win at Interlake that required a gutsy second-half comeback.

After heading into halftime down 20-10, the Patriots outscored Interlake 28-7 to clinch their first league win of the year.

Liberty’s Max Batali and Cunningham each had two rushing touchdowns and ran for more than 100 yards. Batali had 128 yards on 16 carries, while Cunningham had 149 on 23 carries. Quarterback Solly also added a 14-yard TD run.

Batali had an equally productive day on the defensive side, where he had a team-leading seven tackles. Cunningham and Walter each had four tackles and junior Juan Flores had five.

Lake Washington handed Liberty its only loss when the Kangaroos edged the Patriots, 20-17, in an overtime win on Sept. 25.

Cunningham continued his scoring streak with a 27-yard TD run in the first quarter. Solly completed a 27-yard TD pass to Isaiah Owens, and kicker Tyler Wray added a field goal to put the Patriots up 17-0 after the first quarter.

Liberty wouldn’t score again as Lake Washington meticulously chipped away at the lead. A touchdown in the second quarter, a third-quarter field goal and fourth-quarter passing TD left the score tied at 17.

In overtime, the Patriots won the toss and elected to start on defense. They held Lake Washington to a 25-yard field goal, but when Liberty’s turn came, Wray’s 40-yard attempt was no good.

Liberty, sits at 1-1 in league play.

As the season approaches the halfway point, not much is going right for the Hazen High School football team.

The Highlanders are just 1-3 on the year, and two of those losses were double-digit blowouts.

By Greg Farrar
Kaleb Magee (34), Hazen High School senior running back, runs the ball against Sam Harrington (left) and Alex Olague, of Liberty, during the third quarter of their Sept. 11 football game at Renton Stadium.

Hazen kicked off the season with a 35-7 nonleague loss at Lake Washington on Sept. 4. It was a game the Kangaroos dominated from the start.

Lake Washington’s Jake Steele picked up two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter, while quarterback Jake Steele threw two passing touchdowns in the second quarter to put the Kangs up 28-0 at halftime.

Lake Washington added one more score in the third quarter to put the game even further out of reach. Hazen earned its only points when Austin Buza rushed for a 32-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Renton Memorial Stadium’s atmosphere was electric Sept. 11 as the Highlanders took the field flanked by ceremonial bagpipers for the team’s home opener against rival Liberty High School.

Both teams took some time to get warmed up in the gridiron battle of the two Renton Highlands schools. But in the end, it was the visiting Liberty student section that earned the right to chant “We run Renton,” as the Patriots secured the 28-6 win.

The Patriots struck first when junior Austin Regis scored on a 5-yard run. Liberty missed the extra point but took a 6-0 lead as the first quarter came to an end.

Liberty’s Preston Mitsui then punched it in from 4 yards out to put the Patriots up 12-0 in the second quarter. Dulin Hayden carried it in for a successful two-point conversion, and Liberty went into halftime with   a 14-0 lead.

Liberty extended its lead to three touchdowns in the third quarter as running back Joseph Cunningham carried it in from 3 yards.

Hazen finally put points on the board late in the third when senior safety Cody Stillings recovered a Liberty fumble and ran it in for the score. The Highlanders missed the extra-point try.

Hayden added a 6-yard touchdown run in the fourth to put the Patriots up 28-6.

Hazen’s lone win came in Week 3, when the Highlanders absolutely dismantled Seamount League opponent Evergreen, 52-0.

There were a lot of stars in the blowout, but none shined brighter than senior running back Kaleb Magee, who rushed for 185 yards and a TD, and added a 23-yard TD reception.

For that performance, Magee was named a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Athlete of the Week.

All varsity-level students in good academic standing at their schools are eligible to receive the WIAA Athlete of the Week award. Winners receive a letter of recognition from the WIAA executive director, a commemorative WIAA Athlete of the Week beanie and a certificate.

Hazen couldn’t maintain a 13-6 halftime lead against Foster, and the Bulldogs went on to win in overtime, 32-29, on Sept. 25.

After yielding 20 unanswered points in the third quarter, Hazen had to overcome a 26-13 deficit as the final quarter began. A resilient Highlanders squad answered the challenge, forcing overtime. But Foster pulled out the win.

Hazen, which owns a 1-1 league record, has five more games this regular season.

KingCo and Seamount conference coaches announced their all-conference selections for sports during the 2015 spring season. Listed below are the selections from Hazen (Seamount League) and Liberty (KingCo 2A/3A Conference).

If you can add information, or you have corrections, email newcastle@isspress.com.

Baseball

Hazen
League co-champions — Hazen and Kennedy Catholic
Coach of the Year — Mike Brundage, Hazen
First team — C Logan Ricord, sophomore; 1B Ryan Gayte, senior; DH Eli Azcueta, senior
Second team — 3B Alex Combs, sophomore; OF Nolan Hoover, senior
Honorable mention — OF Mitchell Hard, senior; OF DJ Anderson, senior; P Ben Hoeper, junior; P Ryan Gayte, senior

Liberty
Coach of the Year — John Martin
Second team — P Nate Steffens, senior; 3B Michael Heath, senior; OF Torey Anderson, sophomore
Honorable mention — Boston Munro, junior; Tyler Haselman, junior; James Workman, junior; Riley Wingerson, sophomore

Boys soccer

Hazen
First team — CD Hector Cervantes, junior; F Reyes Garcia, junior; M Ethan Kem, sophomore
Second team — M Cooper Cerna, junior; F Zach Quesnel, junior
Honorable mention — M Robbie Schroeder, freshman; D Christian Chavez, sophomore

Liberty
First team — D Tyler Wray, junior; M Tyler Jensen, senior; D Ryan Graham, senior
Second team — F Michael DuVall, senior
Honorable mention — JT Anderson, Griffin Lockhart, Noah Anderson, Leoul Hancock

Track and field — boys

Hazen
First team — Jesus Vargas (400 and 800 meters), Rhyan Demile (long jump), Parker Trewett (shot put)
Second team — Taseen Hussain (300 meter hurdles), Rhyan Demile (triple jump)
Honorable mention — Aaron Rothlisberger, Jesus Vargas, Ramsay Bauer and Saivon Johnson (4X400 relay team)

Track and field — girls

Hazen
First team — Sarah Hart (800 and 1600 meters), Alexis Rogers (400 meters), Taliah Coe (javelin), Alexis Rogers, Amy Warmenhoven, Sablena Milinganyo and Sarah Hart (4X400 relay team)
Second team — Plamedie Masiala (300 meter hurdles), Kate Lilly (800 meters), Alicia Nguyen (high jump and long jump), Michelle Lilly (high jump and triple jump), Shannon Dickenson (pole vault)
Honorable mention — Alexis Rogers (100 and 200 meters), Vy Pham (100 meter hurdles), Megan Tucker (discus), Plamadie Masiala (long jump), Brenna Hairston, Sablena Milinganyo, Sarah Sherrod and Taliah Coe (4X100 relay team), Amy Warmenhoven, Brenna Hairston, Sarah Sherrod and Taylor Lenton (4X200 relay team)

Girls tennis

Hazen
Athlete of the Year — Misa Takami, sophomore
First team — Misa Takami, sophomore; Elise Wong, senior
Second team — Kristy Huynh, senior
Honorable mention — Catherine Lin, senior

Liberty
Honorable mention — Sienna Rice

Fastpitch

Hazen
First team — 3B Isabel Teppner, senior; UTL Hannah Loucks, senior
Second team — P Monica Cleary, junior; OF Tessa DeBartolo, sophomore
Honorable mention — C Alyssa Gummere, sophomore; SS Olivia Chapman, sophomore

Liberty
First team — OF Kendall Kauzlarich
Second team — P Sydney Hopper, C Maddy O’Connor, 1B Jayme Shaw, 3B Carina Morris and OF Hannah McMullin

This year’s theme was “Leadership and Legacy in History.” The school sent 16 students to the contest at Green River Community College, and eight of them qualified for the national competition by placing in the top two of their categories.

Vincy Fok, Lorrin Johnson and Issabelle Hayden’s project about Edward R. Murrow earned first place in the senior group exhibit category.

Carlyn Schmidgall, Lauryn Hepp and Sally Rim earned first place for their group website about John F. Kennedy’s leadership during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Andrew Cooper’s website about George Washington Goethals and the Panama Canal also took home first place, and a special maritime award. Dhamanpreet Kaur’s website featuring Margaret Sanger received second place.

Clara Bardot, Tyra Christopherson and Paige Hopkins placed fourth with their website about Emmeline Pankhurst’s leadership in the Suffrage Movement.

In addition, Liberty Principal Josh Almy was named the Washington State History Day Administrator of the Year.

The national qualifiers showed their projects at the National History Day competition in Maryland in June.

Fok, Johnson and Hayden’s Edward R. Murrow project earned sixth place. The exhibit was also chosen for a day of public viewing at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Additionally, Rim, Hepp and Schmidgall’s group website earned sixth place overall.

Colton Ronk

The Patriots won the Class 3A/2A KingCo regular-season title, but couldn’t make it back to the state playoffs after faltering in the conference tournament.

Still, if it weren’t for the leadership of standout midfielder Colton Ronk, Liberty likely wouldn’t have enjoyed the success it did, Tremblay said.

“I was thinking to myself, if we hadn’t had him, we probably would’ve been maybe third in the league at best. I mean he was that impactful for us,” he said.

Ronk was literally all-everything for the Patriots. His list of postseason accolades was long and storied.

It started with the KingCo 3A/2A Most Valuable Player Award, and grew to include The Seattle Times’ All-Area team and the Washington State Soccer Coaches Association’s All-State first team.

After graduating in 2014, Ronk enrolled at Highline College in Des Moines, where he helped the junior-college soccer team win the Northwest Athletic Conference title last fall.

This summer, Liberty fans can find Ronk playing in familiar territory, as he suits up for the Issaquah-based Puget Sound Gunners FC. The Gunners play in the Premier Development League, widely considered the country’s best stop for top-level men’s amateur soccer competition.

The league offers elite college players the opportunity to taste a higher level of competition while maintaining their eligibility. Many Major League Soccer draftees have prior PDL experience.

By Greg Farrar
Colton Ronk (10), Liberty High School senior midfielder in 2014, contends for the ball against Colton Oord (left) and Aaron Baumgardner, of Mount Si, in front of the Wildcats goal during a soccer match.

Ronk heard about the opportunity from coaches, who urged him to try out for the squad. The converted defender impressed Gunners head coach Alex Silva enough to make the team.

“I like his simplicity on the back,” Silva said. “He did very well in the tryouts, and he’s still very young. I think as a prospect, he has a lot of room to grow … but I think he’ll fit in fine. I’m looking forward to giving him the opportunity.”

The Gunners play their home games at Issaquah High School. Their opponents include MLS-affiliated teams, including the Seattle Sounders FC U-23s and the Portland Timbers U-23s.

Ronk said he’s hoping to use this summer as a chance to get better, while he tries to mold himself into a future force at the NCAA Division I or II level.

“My goal is to get some good practice, train at the highest level and compete with the best,” he said.

Ronk still hangs out with many of the Liberty soccer players, even attending a few games this season. He admitted he missed getting out on the pitch with his fellow Patriots.

His old high-school coach has no doubts, though, that Ronk will find a way to reach all of his soccer goals.

“He was a huge, huge impact for us,” Tremblay said. “He’s got everything. He’s got the physique, he’s got the height, the vision, the touch. I think he’ll do just fine.”

Learn more about the Puget Sound Gunners at www.pugetsoundgunnersfc.com.

Reporter Neil Pierson contributed to this report.

Contributed
Alex Bell (right) scales a ladder to get the shot in a scene for his film ‘Superior,’ set in Michigan.

The 2009 Liberty graduate went on to produce video highlights of the Patriots’ sports teams and a video for the school administration, titled “A Day in the Life at Liberty.”Where he really grew as a filmmaker, though, and set the stage for production of his first feature film released this June, was the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.

It was there that he met fellow student Edd Benda, now his partner in Beyond the Porch Productions, the company responsible for the film “Superior,” a coming-of-age story about two friends looking for one final adventure, before life takes them both in very different directions.

“The name Beyond the Porch Productions came from a shared passion for adventure,” Bell wrote in an email from London where he’s working on other projects. “We both connect with the stories that take us outside of our comfort zones and we long to capture that in the projects that we create.”

Set during the height of the Vietnam War in 1969, “Superior” tells the story of Charlie, who is on his way to Michigan Tech University, while Derek is counting the days to his inevitable military draft eligibility.

Before their futures take hold, the lifelong best friends embark on one final adventure — a 1,300-mile bike ride along the shores of the gargantuan Lake Superior.

With two-speed Schwinn bicycles and limited preparation, Charlie and Derek pedal through the massive northern backwoods of Michigan, Minnesota and Canada. Along the way they face hunger, exhaustion and the kind of people in the world who never wanted to be found.

The “Superior” script is inspired by the stories Benda “grew up hearing around the dinner table” while living in the Midwest. Benda serves as the film’s writer, director and producer.

Bell, the film’s producer and director of cinematography, and 10 other filmmakers and actors relocated to the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan for the monthlong movie shoot.

“The film is as much about the characters’ journey as it is about the sights and the people who reside in the Great Lakes region,” Bell said. “One of the things that we love about ‘Superior’ is that it is one of the first feature films ever shot in the remarkably beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

“The region is deep in tradition and nostalgia, which made it easy for us to locate period-appropriate props, locations and even wardrobe.”

The film premiered in early June at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood at the Dances with Films festival. It has since received overwhelmingly positive feedback from both audiences and critics, Bell said.

The “Superior” team wants audiences to see the film, but they’re still working hard to determine the best path for distribution, Bell said.

After graduating from USC, Bell has stayed busy working in the film industry in Los Angeles.

“I’ve gotten the opportunity to work on everything from indie feature films to high-profile music videos,” he said.

The bulk of his work is in producing documentary and corporate videos, though. Bell works extensively with the film branch of The Salvation Army.

“I have traveled to many places around the globe to help create videos that highlight the work of the Salvation Army, from earthquake relief in Nepal to HIV-positive support groups in Zimbabwe,” he said. “It’s been a very busy few years, but a great adventure every step of the way.”

Learn more about “Superior” at www.superiorthemovie.com.

By Christina Corrales-Toy
A 2014 Hazen High School graduate adjusts her cap at the Highlanders’ graduation ceremony last year. Both Liberty and Hazen students will receive their diplomas June 12.

As another school year comes to a close, local public high schools are getting set to celebrate the class of 2015 with the annual commencement ceremonies.

Hazen High School will honor its graduates at 9 a.m. June 12 at the ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St., Kent.

Liberty High School will hold its ceremony at 8 p.m. June 12 at Safeco Field, 1250 First Ave. S., Seattle.

Newcastle Community Conversation (DFCC) — Question 2 by newcastlenews

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