The Liberty High School boys soccer team clinched the KingCo title with a 2-1 victory against Mount Si on May 2.

Connor Noblat and Josh Johnson scored the two goals for the Patriots.

The win means that Liberty now goes directly to the state tournament, where it will host the No. 3 team from the WesCo 3A tournament at 7 p.m. May 15.

Liberty has had a dominant season so far, posting a 10-1-3 conference record. The team’s only loss this season was against Bellevue.

By Greg Farrar
Jake Ericksen (left), Liberty High School senior defender, and Mercer Island senior midfielder Jamie Lungmus share a collision, while trying to gain control of the ball from each other in the first period during a hard-fought 90 minutes of soccer which ended in a scoreless draw.

UPDATED: The Liberty High School boys soccer team clinched the KingCo title with a 2-1 victory against Mount Si on May 2.

Connor Noblat and Josh Johnson scored the two goals for the Patriots.

The win means that Liberty now goes directly to the state tournament, where it will host the No. 3 team from the WesCo 3A tournament at 7 p.m. May 15.

Liberty has had a dominant season so far, posting a 10-1-3 conference record. The team’s only loss this season was against Bellevue.

The Liberty High School boys soccer team has gone toe to toe with Mercer Island twice this season, both games resulting in draws.

It’s an admirable feat against an Islander team that placed second at state last year, but that has little bearing on the league-leading Patriots’ minds as they prepare to wrap up the regular season.

“We’re hoping it’s our year,” Liberty coach Darren Tremblay said after the Patriots’ earned a scoreless draw against Mercer Island April 26.

As the Liberty players left the Mercer Island field with nothing but zeroes on the scoreboard, their faces carried a marked look of disappointment after an intense, hard-fought 90 minutes of play, including overtime.

“We’re frustrated because we feel like we were the better team,” Tremblay said. “We had a lot of shots, a lot of opportunities, but everything we hit went right to their keeper. Give him credit though, he’s good, and we knew that.”

Mercer Island senior keeper Sam Miller put together a dominant performance against the Patriots, making several impressive saves to thwart Liberty’s offensive attack.

Liberty goalkeeper Nate Mak was credited with the shutout.

It was a particularly physical game between the two conference foes. The official issued at least three yellow cards and Liberty’s senior captain Jared Bales was nursing an injury at the end of the game.

“I thought the referee let it get too physical and get a little bit borderline out of control,” Tremblay said. “The safety of the kids, that’s their first priority, and their coach agreed that it just got a little bit ugly.”

Despite the tie, the Patriots are still where they need to be in the league standings as the final week of the regular season gets underway. At press time, Liberty sat atop the KingCo 3A/2A Conference with an 11-0-3 record.

It’s likely that the KingCo 3A/2A champion will be determined May 2 when Liberty travels to Mount Si, but the results were not available at press time.

“We want to try and wrap things up before we travel to Mount Si,” Tremblay said. “We don’t want to be just a game up heading to their place, on their senior night, because that could be tough. That place is tough to play in.”

It’s been a successful season for the Patriots, ranked third in the state, according to Score Czar. Score Czar offers computer rankings based solely on numbers. The ranking is based on results through April 28.

“Right now, it doesn’t mean much. It’s just a ranking,” Tremblay said. “We know we have a target on our back, but these guys have played consistent all year. We haven’t had a letdown game.”

By Greg Farrar
Max Batali (20), Liberty freshman defender, and Wyatt Johnson (14), junior defender, go after the ball against Tahoma attacker Blake Lucky (left) and midfielder Dakoda Barger in a lacrosse match April 24 at Maywood Middle School.

The Liberty Lacrosse Club has garnered enough interest to expand its program to include players younger than high school on the Eastside.

The expansion includes young players from the east side of Issaquah, Renton Highlands and Newcastle. Previously, young Eastside players have played in Issaquah Youth Lacrosse.

The club is part of the Greater Eastside Lacrosse League, which organizes and governs lacrosse on the Eastside from as far north as Woodinville and Bothell all the way down to Tahoma in Maple Valley.

“Every community on the Eastside has a program these days,” Brian Rinkenberger, youth director for the Liberty Club, said.

The Liberty Club started four years ago as a high school club, but this is the first year for a youth program.

“We got to the point where we had enough kids for the sport in our area, and enough parents who would be willing to take on a volunteer role and help us launch a youth program, so we have done it this spring,” he said. “For our youth program, we draw from the Liberty, and Hazen school communities and all the way into Newcastle, because Newcastle area does not have a club until you get down to Factoria.”

Nearly 100 players now

Rinkenberger said the program started as a Liberty High School club four years ago, and now has four teams and is pushing 100 players.

Janna Johnson, club president, said the high school club has grown so that it now has a JV club.

“Our club goes from fifth grade through high school,” Johnson said. “Next year, we hope to expand to what is called the Lightning League, which is younger kids, second- through fourth-graders.”

Lacrosse is not a sanctioned public school sport and operates through a club structure. When the practice season starts in March, finding practice space is a scramble, Johnson said.

“The tough part is getting fields that are lit as the season starts before Daylight Savings, and we compete with everyone else for practice space,” he said.

Originally an East Coast sport

When asked about the history of the sport, Rinkenberger and Johnson agreed it has its beginnings with American Indians. Rinkenberger said lacrosse has historically been an East Coast institution found in prep schools. He said as these prep-school kids graduated from college and came here seeking their fortunes, they brought the sport with them, and it is gaining momentum here.

“When I graduated from high school in Mercer Island in 1994, we had to travel far and wide to find teams to play,” he said. “Nowadays, every high school has a club affiliated with it.”

He said the thing that brings kids to the sport is that it is fun to play.

“We are not taking aim at any other sport, but if you ask a kid, ‘Do you want to go stand around on a baseball diamond for nine innings, or do you want to come out here where you are moving nonstop, and you have a stick in your hands, you get to throw, pass and run into other kids?’ most kids say, ‘That’s what I want to do,’” he said.

The honor of the game

“It is the fastest game on two feet, and it is the fastest growing sport in America,” Johnson said. “It is so fast paced, the kids have sticks and they wear pads, almost like football. It is an honorable sport, and one of the main things we talk about in lacrosse is the honor of the game. You honor the refs, you honor the players, you honor the other team.

“We try to keep it so that the fans, the players, everybody stays in control, and that really is what we are striving to do, so that there is not nastiness on the sidelines.

“We have field managers at every game, and they go around to spectators who are yelling at the players, coaches or refs and ask them to stop,” Johnson added. “If a spectator gets out of hand, it can cause their team to get a penalty, or the ref can ask the spectator to leave the game.”

For those not yet familiar with the sport, Rinkenberger said it is a contact sport played on a field about the size of a soccer field. It is similar to hockey in terms of the amount of contact allowed and the flow of play. There is a goal at each end of the field. The players have a stick with a net on the end. With this net, they catch and pass a ball to move it down the field.

“The first skill a player has to master is how to catch and throw the ball with the stick,” Rinkenberger said. The ball is about the size of a baseball only heavier and denser. “It is go, go, go all the time.”

“I had heard about lacrosse, but I had never seen a game,” Johnson said. Her son started with baseball, “but, then he played lacrosse, and we have never looked back at baseball, because it is so much fun.”

If you go

All teams of the Greater Eastside Lacrosse League will be playing May 4 at Liberth High School starting at 1 p.m.

Contributed
The Hazen High School soccer team poses for a group shot after it clinched the Seamount League championship with a 1-0 victory against Kennedy Catholic on April 26.

After about 75 minutes of scoreless play in the Hazen High School soccer team’s April 26 contest against Kennedy Catholic, senior Devin Sando was sitting on the bench with a bloody nose. Just a few spots next to him sat freshman Reyes Garcia, on the sidelines because of a yellow card.

As the Highlanders were about to approach the game’s final minutes, Hazen coach Ken Matthews was forced to put Garcia and Sando back in to spell some of the other players. It would prove to be an ingenious decision.

In the 79th minute, Sando connected on a corner kick from Garcia for the goal that crowned Hazen the Seamount League champions for the second consecutive year. Senior keeper Freddy Jeronimo recorded the shutout for the Highlanders.

“For me, you remember all of the games, but you really remember a few,” Matthews said. “For those 19 guys we have on our varsity roster and everyone that we had in the stands, they’re going to remember that the rest of their lives.”

It was the ideal exclamation mark to what has been a nearly perfect season for the playoff-bound Highlanders. At press time, Hazen had an 11-1-3 record with the only blemish a nonleague loss to Interlake.

Days after the memorable game, coaches, players and fans still couldn’t help but smile when talking about the match, Matthews said.

“As their fan, not necessarily their coach, just to see that happen for them, just for them to be able to pull that off and get that win against Kennedy, it’s phenomenal,” he said. “Anytime you can clinch a league championship and do it in that dramatic of a fashion, it’s very rewarding.”

Hazen is among the top teams in the state, ranked sixth in the 3A classification according to Score Czar, based on results through April 28. Score Czar offers computer rankings based solely on numbers.

The team is flattered by the ranking, Matthews said, but they understand it does not really mean much.

“I always tell the kids that they have this cool thing at the end of the year called the state tournament where you really find out where you’re ranked,” he said.

This year’s league championship is a little sweeter than last year’s, after the league slightly altered the way points were calculated to determine the winner, Matthews said.

“We feel like we earned this one. This one, in my opinion, is so much better,” he said.

The senior leadership on the 2013 team has also led to more cohesiveness than last year, the Hazen coach added, something that can only bode well as the team heads into the playoffs.

“We kind of know who we are and when you know who you are and what you have to do to win games, you just do it,” he said.

Hazen’s Bunnell racks up awards

The play of Hazen High School senior Sam Bunnell has caught the attention of people across the state this season.

After a week in which Bunnell accumulated six goals and two assists against Foster and Lindbergh, he was named a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association athlete of the week.

Just a few weeks later, The Seattle Times named him a star of the week, after he netted four goals and six assists against Highline and Foster.

“He just has a presence on the field,” Hazen coach Ken Matthews said. “I believe he’s a guy that will do very well in the future in life and with soccer.”

Bunnell will continue his playing career in college at Southern Virginia University.

Contributed
The Hazen High School drill team poses with its state championship trophies at the Yakima SunDome March 22. Hazen placed first in 3A pom and second in 3A military.

Hazen High School is home to a burgeoning dynasty, even if its leader, drill team coach Kristin Sargent, may be too humble to admit it.

That’s what it’s called when a team wins back-to-back state championships and has placed at the state competition every year since 2008.

The Hazen High School drill team added to its overflowing trophy case with an impressive showing at the March 22 Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s Dance and Drill State Championships in the Yakima SunDome.

The team placed first in 3A pom and second in 3A military, after taking first in both events last year.

“Getting a back-to-back win is not common, so it was very exciting for the team,” Sargent said.

Hazen’s military score was actually higher than last year’s, but the score was not enough to capture first this time.

“When you’re in a subjective sport like that, you can’t control how your competition scores,” Sargent said. “It was close and could have probably gone either way, but it went this way and we’re happy with it.”

After spending time competing in high school gymnasiums around the area, getting a chance to perform in the large Yakima SunDome is always a thrill for her girls, Sargent said.

“It’s like a beehive in there, and everybody’s just walking around, so when the girls first walk in, you can see their eyes just get big,” she said. “It’s a magical thing, and the WIAA does an amazing job of making this event special for the girls.”

It is not easy to so consistently excel at the state competition, Sargent said. The team’s 26 girls practice for about 10 months of the year, rarely stopping for holidays, vacations or school breaks.

“It’s a huge time commitment, but it’s worth it,” she said. “You can definitely see the results.”

The team practices four days a week for about two hours. Members must maintain a 2.5 grade point average, higher than the usual 2.0 sports standard.

“It’s a lot of work, but it doesn’t take long for the girls to catch the fever of what it means to be a Hazen driller and what that expectation entails,” Sargent said.

Sargent knows firsthand what it takes to don the Highlanders’ colors, having done so as a Hazen student herself. She was a member of the Liberty High School drill team before coming to Hazen, where she was the drill team captain in 1999.

“I’m grateful that I was able to be at both schools. I learned a lot at Liberty,” she said. “To come back to Hazen, though, it felt so comfortable. I came in and I can’t leave. It’s so rewarding and it’s so much fun.”

In addition to competitions, the team also participates in community parades, football games, basketball games, community and charity events, and Hazen pep assemblies throughout the year.

Captains Lydia Sim, Newin Pales, Quynh Nhu Tran and Valerie Tran lead the team. Lieutenants for the team are Christine Ta, Errin Williams and Michelle Tsuboi.

Members of the team from Newcastle are Kelsey Chin, Uugii Munkhdelger, Sim and Tsuboi.

On the Web

Learn more about the Hazen High School drill team at www.hazendrillteam.shutterfly.com.

Liberty rugby player Ian Wright is used to donning the blue-and-green uniform of the Liberty Rugby Football Club.

The Liberty High School senior temporarily traded in the Patriots’ colors, though, for the familiar red, white and blue of USA Rugby, when he represented the country at an international competition in February.

Contributed
Liberty Rugby Football Club player Ian Wright attempts to evade a defender as he runs across the pitch. Wright was selected from a pool of more than 120 elite athletes to join the USA Rugby High School All-Americans.

Wright was selected from a pool of more than 120 elite athletes to join the USA Rugby High School All-Americans. Only 24 athletes were chosen to fill two teams that competed at the Las Vegas Invitational Sevens Tournament, going up against squads from Canada.

“Actually having the chance to represent my country, it means more than anything,” Wright said. “Words can’t describe it.”

Wright’s selection came as no surprise, given his work ethic and determination to succeed, Liberty Rugby Football Club coach Jeff Candler said.

“I can probably count on one hand how many practices he’s missed in five years,” Candler said. “He’s not one to sit out a drill or a game. He doesn’t miss opportunities to better himself.”

Wright’s refusal to quit stems from his aspiration to compete in the world’s premier sporting event — the Olympics. Rugby returns to the Summer Olympics in 2016, after almost a century away from the games.

“As a high schooler, being able to represent the USA is awesome, but being able to represent your country in the Olympics would be even better,” he said. “Just knowing that I possibly have a chance to be one of those top guys is pushing me to do even more and get even better so I can make that team.”

Wright’s selection to the High School All-Americans is a promising first step as USA Rugby prepares for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Candler said.

“This is part of the player pool that they’re seeking for the Olympics,” he said. “This is the age group that they want. They’re developing this group of athletes, and they’re going to pick out of them for the Olympic team in 2016. It’s a great honor.”

The USA Rugby High School All-Americans fielded two teams at the Las Vegas tournament. Wright was placed on the second team, but it was the first team that emerged as the victors, earning the chance to continue playing at tournaments in England and South America.

Though Wright was not on the winning squad, his performance in Las Vegas stood out, and he was one of three athletes selected as reserves to the team that traveled to London at the end of March.

The sport of rugby is a bit of a different animal, Candler said, but its popularity in the area has grown by leaps and bounds over the years.

“We’ve expanded from a club of 20 people to 100 people,” he said. “It’s entirely different from your mainstream sports. Our sport brings kids closer through the physicality of it and the bond that’s created from going through the learning process of a sport they probably didn’t know before.”

That physicality is what attracted him to the sport five years ago, said Wright, who also played football for Liberty. Rugby, similar to football, has been a useful outlet to relieve stress and clear his mind of distractions.

Wright’s favorite part of the sport, though, is the relationships he has cultivated with both his teammates and competitors.

“The camaraderie in this sport is amazing,” he said. “I consider them all as part of my family, my rugby brothers. I just wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

The March 28 win against the Totems didn’t feel like much of an achievement for the Liberty coaches and players, though.

By Greg Farrar
Miranda Bukantz, Liberty High School catcher, grins as she prepares to put out Haley Newton, of Sammamish, on a double play, to retire the side March 28 during the third inning of the Patriots’ 3-1 win over the Totems.

“We won, but we really didn’t win,” first-year Liberty coach Zach Bartholomew said. “Mentally, it was a disaster and to play in this league, you’ve got to be better than that.”

The Liberty softball program has had a lot of success through the years, making several state tournament appearances, including a ninth-place finish last year. As a result, the Liberty coaches and players hold themselves to a higher standard.

That’s why the mental miscues, including missed signs and poor pitch selection, were so frustrating for the Liberty head coach.

“We can come out and hit with the best of them, we can throw with the best of them, we’ve just got to get the mental side of the game to be perfect,” Bartholomew said.

One Liberty player that showed a great deal of mental fortitude was sophomore pitcher Sydney Hopper, Bartholomew said. Hopper held Sammamish to one run in seven innings, allowing just three hits with eight strikeouts.

“When I talk about mental toughness, she is what we want everybody else to be,” Bartholomew said. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on around her, she’s going to do everything she can. She’s going to throw her heart out, and from a sophomore, you can’t ask for more.”

While Hopper continued to throw strikes from the mound, the Liberty offense struggled to string hits together. After five innings, the game was tied, 1-1.

The Patriots were able to muster just enough offense in the sixth inning, scoring two runs. Olivia Kutzke drove in one with an RBI single and Ashley Knox drove in the other with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Liberty offense has all the potential to be explosive, Bartholomew said. Just a week before, the Patriots collected 22 hits against a tough Inglemoor team. The Liberty hitters struggled to adjust to Sammamish’s pitcher.

“It goes to the mental focus,” he said. “You’ve got a slower pitcher out there today, so you’ve got to adjust. You’ve got to sit back and be able to hit line drives and we couldn’t do it. We just managed to splint together some runs.”

The coaches weren’t the only ones disappointed by the performance. The Liberty players know they need to step up their performance as well.

“We all know we’re capable of playing much better than we did, and we just made some mistakes,” Hopper said. “It’s early in the season, but we’re going to pick it up a little bit next game.”

Liberty was without a key performer in all-league third baseman Liza Van Camp, who injured her ankle in a previous game. Van Camp was expected to return to the diamond the first week of April.

By Greg Farrar
Raymond Ha, Liberty High School senior, cuts through the pool, en route to repeating as 3A state champion in the 100-yard breaststroke Feb. 16 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

As Liberty High School senior Raymond Ha approached the starting block to swim in the final 100 breaststroke race of his high school career, the sounds of Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat” blasted from the King County Aquatic Center’s speakers.

The participant with the top-qualifying time in each event gets to choose which song is played as the swimmers walk onto the pool deck to compete in the final race. Surprisingly, Bieber was Ha’s artist of choice.

“I like to do it to psych people out, to get them off their serious edge, so I get an advantage,” he said of the song selection.

It must have worked because Ha, a senior, successfully defended his title in the 100 breaststroke with an All-American consideration time of 57.79 seconds at the 2013 3A Boys State Swim and Dive Championships on Feb. 16.

The 3A state champion admitted he was a bit nervous coming into the last state competition of his career, but credited the support of his coach and teammates for helping him to succeed.

“It was very nerve-wracking, coming up to the event,” he said. “I’m actually really glad I’m done with high school swimming, but I’m glad to end it on a good note.”

Liberty coach Kris Daughters said Ha’s performance was the perfect finish to a solid high school career.

“That’s kind of an emotional finish,” she said. “He’s just a great kid and a really fierce competitor.”

Liberty sophomore Nick Klatt also put together solid performances, taking fourth in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:42.95 and third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:36.69.

In the 500 freestyle preliminaries, Klatt emerged with the top-qualifying time, making his third place finish in the finals, a bit of a disappointment, he said.

“In the 500 free, I was seeded first but I came in third. I had more in me. I could have done better,” Klatt said.

While Klatt did not come out on top in the 500 freestyle, he did post his best time ever, and still has a lot of swimming ahead of him, Daughters said.

“He swam really well. That’s an incredible time for a sophomore,” she said. “I think he wanted a win, but at the state meet, even if you’re first in prelims, you’ve got to come out and give it your all, and I think he did that today.”

Liberty junior Connor Biehl finished eighth in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:57.78.

It was an overall successful day for the Patriots, who placed 10th at the meet, and Daughters said she looks forward to having swimmers such as Biehl and Klatt back next year.

“It was just really exciting to see the boys swimming so fast and having all their hard work pay off,” she said.

Hazen improves on last year’s performance

After a respectable top-25 finish at last year’s state championship, the Hazen High School swim team had hoped to creep into the top-10 with a strong performance at this year’s competition.

Unfortunately, the Highlanders just missed it, coming in 13th place, with 73 points, just six points behind 10th-place finisher Liberty.

Still, the Highlanders had much to be proud of based on the significant improvement they showed from last year, thanks largely to the team’s strong relay performances.

“We want to be a top-10 team at state, and it happens with strong individuals but great relays,” Hazen coach Rick Wertman said earlier in the season.

Hazen relay teams secured two top-eight finishes with successful swims in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

The relay team of Nolan Hoover, Chris Foth, Malcolm Mitchell and Kyle Nelson placed eighth in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:42.10.

The Hazen team of P.J. Warmenhoven, Connor Broughton, Mitchell and Hoover took eighth place in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:21.27.

Hazen junior Mitchell also took home an individual medal for his seventh place finish in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.32.

By Greg Farrar
Joanna Moreira, Liberty High School sophomore, complete with nosebleed, is declared the 10-5 winner over Centralia’s Jenna Gillaspie in her first-round, 137-pound bout during the state 3A wrestling championships Feb. 15 at the Tacoma Dome.

Her face was caked in sweat, her shoulders had mat burns and her nostrils were leaking red. And yet, Joanna Moreira could not stop smiling.

The Liberty High School wrestler had just defeated Angelica Vaschenko, from Franklin Pierce High School, in the second round of consolation at the state tourney in Tacoma. The win, a 12-8 tussle of wills, assured that the 137-pound Patriot from São Paulo, Brazil, would finish better at state than in 2012.

“This is a big accomplishment,” she said. “I wanted to be better than I was last year.”

In 2012, Moreira, a freshman, had lost in the second round of consolation. This year, she finished eighth. A week earlier, she had finished third at regionals in Sedro-Woolley, improving her 2012 performance by one spot.

“I would love to come off every match and say I did my best,” she said after regionals. “I would love to place at state this year.”

No wonder she was smiling under the bright lights of the Tacoma Dome, then.

As her nose would attest, the road to the podium in Tacoma was not without its bumps. Moreira started the tourney by beating Centralia’s Jenna Gillaspie, 10-5. She then lost to eventual fourth-place finisher Juliana Trujillo, of Lakeside, by pin in the first.

After Moreira defeated Vaschenko, she lost to eventual fifth-place finisher Jamilah Ahmath, of Rochester, in the third round of consolation, 4-2, and lost to Warden’s Alexys Jolley by pin in the third, during the match for seventh place.

Moreira was not the only Patriot feeling rather satisfied with her, or his, performance at state. Conner Small, wrestling at 152 pounds, finished fifth.

“I think I went out there with more aggression,” Small said after his defeat of Jacob Elledge, of Glacier Peak, hours after a painful 5-1 loss to Stanwood’s Zach Schut had sent Small to the consolation bracket.

“I was intimidated by him,” Small said of Schut. “I knew he was big. He was a senior and all that stuff. I went out there with intimidation, which I probably should not have.”

The intimidation factor was gone, Small said, when he met Schut again, in the fifth-place match. Small said his coaches and his dad helped him stay focused when facing Schut again.

“I wrestled my hardest and got the outcome that I worked all year for, and I owe a huge thank-you to my coaches, friends and family,” he wrote in an email Feb. 17.

Small won, 6-3. His win closed the book on a tough but promising campaign for Liberty wrestling.

Hazen sends three to state

After an inconsistent season, the Hazen High School wrestling team sent three athletes to compete in the state tournament at the Tacoma Dome.

It was a far cry from the record eight wrestlers the Highlanders sent last year, but minor restructuring in the postseason pairings this season made the path toward the Tacoma Dome a little more treacherous.

Still, Zach Moore, Malik Haythorne and first-year wrestler Jairo Barahona represented Hazen well, going up against the top competitors in the state.

Moore, wrestling at 120 pounds, dropped his first match of the day to Eastside Catholic’s Matt Iwicki, who was eventually crowned the 120-pound champion. Moore would go on to defeat his next opponent in the consolation bracket, before losing to Mercer Island’s Luke Wilson, ending his run in the double-elimination tournament.

Haythorne, wrestling at 145 pounds, and Barahona, wrestling at 182 pounds, each dropped their first two matches.

Reporter Christina Corrales-Toy contributed to this story.

Hazen athletes Zach Cable, Dee Dee Green and Cody Moorhead signed letters of intent to play for Division I schools, while Sam Bunnell, Drew Kelly and David Hughes made commitments to play for Division III schools.

By Christina Corrales-Toy
Hazen High School athletes (from left) Sam Bunnell, Drew Kelly, Dee Dee Green, Zach Cable, Cody Moorhead and David Hughes made their college decisions official on Feb. 6.

Zach Cable, an all-league linebacker for the Hazen football team, will attend the University of Idaho. The linebacker follows in the footsteps of his father, Tom Cable, who played and coached at the school.

“When I went on my official visit, it wasn’t like a new place. I felt like I was going home,” he said. “You could just see the intensity and the love for Idaho, and I just can’t wait to get the program back to what it was.”

Dee Dee Green will travel to the Southeastern Conference to continue her athletic career, where she will play soccer for the University of Arkansas. The tight-knit Razorback community and the extensive academic support attracted her to the school, she said.

“The community is really close, like a family, and everyone is supportive of the athletic programs,” she said.

Hazen’s all-state lineman, Cody Moorhead, will play football for the U.S. Air Force Academy. The determination to play for the Falcons represented a decision that is about more than just football, he said.

“I can’t even tell you guys how excited I am to serve my country and be a part of something a little bit bigger than myself,” he said.

Sam Bunnell will play soccer for Southern Virginia University. The mix of academics and connection to his faith drew him to the school, he said. Bunnell expects to take a two-year mission with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I chose Southern Virginia because it’s a small school,” he said. “It’s also a Mormon-affiliated school, and I feel like that will help me balance soccer and my faith.”

Hazen’s Drew Kelly will play football for Pacific University in Oregon. The chance to join the school’s burgeoning football program was appealing to him, he said.

“Their program is just starting back up again and I’m really looking forward to going through the same thing we kind of did here with coach Drew Oliver and his new system,” Kelly said.

Hazen’s David Hughes will play baseball at Pacific Lutheran University, but it was the school’s top-notch nursing program that ultimately enticed him, he said.

“Playing baseball at a school that also has a great program in the field I want to work in is a great opportunity,” he said.

Four Liberty soccer players sign with colleges

Four members of the Liberty High School soccer team will continue their athletic pursuits in college.

By Christina Corrales-Toy
Liberty soccer players (from left) Nicolle Marlow, Kailiana Johnson, Katie Noonan and Kiana Hafferty sign their letters of intent to play collegiate soccer.

Nicolle Marlow, Kailiana Johnson, Katie Noonan and Kiana Hafferty signed their letters of intent in a special signing day ceremony at the school Feb. 6.

Both Marlow and Johnson will play for Washington State University, while Noonan will play for Southeastern Louisiana University and Hafferty will suit up for Seattle Pacific University.

The Patriot soccer team placed fourth in state this year, under the tutelage of first-year coach Tami Nguyen.

The Liberty coach played soccer at the University of Washington, helping the Huskies capture the Pacific-10 Conference championship in 2000. So, it was a little bit difficult seeing so much crimson and grey at the ceremony, she joked.

“I’m a Husky, but I love these guys,” she said, pointing toward her athletes.

The players’ departures will indeed leave immense shoes to be filled, Nguyen said, but she thanked the group for bringing the Liberty soccer program to where it is today.

“This class, in general, for Liberty and girls soccer, definitely has put us on the map,” she said. “They have so much to be proud of.”