Middle School Sports
Published 8:52 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008
Cross country begins program
The first cross country team in the history of Chief Kanim Middle School competed at an invitational meet on Mercer Island recently. More than 400 runners from eight schools tackled a challenging 1.86 mile course. In the girls’ sixth-grade heat, Chief Kanim’s Marley Robbins came in first place overall and her sister, Taylor, took third. In the boys’ sixth-grade heat, team members Keith Barnum, Matt Laird, Evan Ellington, Lee Amador, Derek Harris and Blake Parker finished strong and established personal records.
The seventh- and eighth-grade girls’ teams had a huge competitive field in which to maneuver. Jennifer Davis and teammate Lauren King proved to be competitive. In the seventh- and eighth-grade boys’ heat, Colin Falconer finished third overall. His teammates, Ron and Rich Retzlaff, Aaraon Fisher, Sean Robinson, Sean Mims, Matt Vanourek, Stephen Eytel, AJ Leland and Austin Parker, finished with great times.
Chief Kanim upends Tolt
In a hard-fought eighth-grade match, Chief Kanim pulled out a win against Tolt 14-21, 21-19 and 21-5. McKenzie Ortego had outstanding hustle and aggressive play at the net as she was all over the court making big plays for the Hawks. Wesley Eand had some fantastic plays at the net and was successful in several block attempts. In the third game Symone Shaw was the server of the game with 13 serves in a row to finish off the match and give Chief Kanim the victory.
Eagles thump Hornets
The Snoqualmie Middle School’s seventh-grade football team beat the White River Hornets in a 24-0 thumping. The Eagles came out strong and never let up, scoring two touchdowns in the first quarter. Dane Smith had all three touchdowns for SMS. The Eagles’ rushing was very balanced with fullback Sean Snead having an excellent game. Quarterback for the Eagles was Kyle Cantalini, who led the offensive drives and completed a few passes, too. On the defensive side, Snead and Smith also played very solid.
Hawks defeat Yelm
With Joey Evans scampering for a 66-yard touchdown run at the start of the game, the Chief Kanim Hawks never looked back, defeating Yelm 40-12 last week. Evans darted through holes made by the offensive line of Morgan Jordan, Mark Stetson, RW Johnston, Brian Johnson, Jeff Adams and Zach Guyer.
The Hawk defense stifled Yelm putting the ball back in the hands of the Hawk quarterback Tyson Riley. Riley ran the option offense beautifully, enabling Evans to get touchdown runs of 50 yards, 15 yards and 72 yards. Evans finished with six carries for 233 yards. He also ran a kickoff back 95 yards and caught Riley on an 80-yard touchdown pass.
Defensively the team was led by Stetson, and Evans with five tackles each. Alex Heibert and Chad Billings each had four tackles and an interception.
New cross country program under way
Snoqualmie Middle School has begun a cross country program for the first time. The athletes to date have competed in two meets, the Mercer Island Invitational and a dual meet with Pine Lake Middle School. Outstanding runners this season include: eighth-grader Drake daPonte, who has taken first place in both meets; sixth-grader Megan Past took a ninth place in the invitational and first in the dual meet; and sixth-grader Brett Duncan finished strong in the invitational and third in the dual meet.
Other team members are eighth-graders Owen Strom, Shawn Paskey, Isaac Farrar, Peter Garrison, Josh Amans, Michael Haas, Ashley Wright and Heidi Hall. The seventh-graders are: Devin Aberle, Andrew Klausing and Matthew Lynne. Sixth-graders are: Chase Adams, Suzye Carroll, Ashley Cleary, Peter Haas, Alyssa Melin, Matt Prewett, Gabby Rader, Adam Ransavage and Ryan Simpson. The team hosts its first home meet against Chief Kanim on Oct. 16.
Hawks drop Eagles
The Chief Kanim Hawks’ seventh-grade football team recently defeated their Valley rivals, the Eagles of Snoqualmie Middle School, 32-12. The Hawks’ special teams shined in a game full of big-time plays. The Hawks’ Joey Evans scored on a 55-yard punt return for the first points of the game. The Eagles answered with some solid running and a touchdown by fullback Sean Snead. At halftime the Hawks had a two-point advantage, 8-6.
In the second half, Chief Kanim’s Evans again returned a kick for an 80-yard touchdown. The Eagles answered again with a touchdown from Dane Smith playing at the tailback position. Later in the game, the Hawks’ Evans scored another touchdown on a 98-yard interception return followed by two more rushing touchdowns by Evans. He finished the game with seven carries for 190 yards and five touchdowns. For the Eagles, quarterback and safety Kyle Cantalini completed several passes and had some great defensive hits. Tony Lee, kick returner for SMS, also had a solid game. The Hawks’ defense was led by Tyson Riley with nine tackles. Teammates Alex Heibert and Mike Nelson each had eight.
