Life is all about soccer for Cedarcrest junior and soccer team co-captain Chris Cole. Sure, he’s played basketball, too, but that phase is over for him.

“I’m done with basketball, so I can focus on soccer,” says the mid-fielder and forward, who’s played soccer since he was 4 years old, and hopes to play in college.

“It was just one of those things. I started playing with the ball and never stopped.”

Cole is looking forward to a non-stop season, too, with such goals as staying undefeated at home, and winning first place in the conference, plus, of course, going to the state championship. They’re not really his goals, though.

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Speed will be the reloaded Mount Si boys soccer team’s main weapon in its hunt for greatness this spring.

“Everyone that plays attack is lightning quick, and we can use that to our advantage,” says senior Alex Censullo.

“We’ve got the leaders that we need, the role players,” says senior keeper Hunter Malberg, who, at practice, stands out as the vocal communicator of the squad.

After last year’s heartbreaking season-ender game to Juanita, the lesson for Hunter is “Don’t take any teams lightly.”

A big group of seniors includes Censullo and Kody Clearman, who were among the top scorers in KingCo as juniors, while current junior Aaron Baumgardner will be a key part of the Wildcat atta

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The Mount Si girls tennis team is practicing on their blue courts. It’s a cool day, chilly, perhaps.

“At least we’re outside,” says senior Cheyenne Dixon, returning volleys in singles practice match. “Last year we were barely outside,” on account of ceaseless rains.

By today, a little more than a week into practice, this team has had more time outside than in the bulk of last spring. That means that this squad is already improving on the 2012 season.

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The new team coalescing on the Mount Si baseball team looks to make its mark with solid defense and hitting.

Ten seniors make for a well-rounded team that includes Wildcat baseball vets.

“We’ve got a good core,” says senior Brian Woolley, who, with Griffin McLain, was part of the unforgettable state championship run in 2011.

“I want the same thing as two years ago,” says Griffin McLain. “We have the talent to do it.”

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Most of the big names are back as the Mount Si softball team reloads this spring.

Familiar leaders, like seniors Mickey Blad, Lauren Smith and Tamarra Crowe, and experienced younger players like Celine Fowler, Paige Weatherbee, Nikki and Jenny Carroll, Rachael Picchena and Britney Stevens, bring strong potential.

Smith, at center field the eyes and vocal brain of the team, has been a varsity player all four years of high school.

She works hard: “I like to push myself on the field, and academically,” says Smith. She wants to push that hard-working philosophy to the whole Wildcat gang.

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It happens in moments. Cheerleaders hit the floor between quarters in a varsity basketball game, unroll a mat. Four form a platform with their arms, and Natalie Holmes, a Mount Si junior, is catapulted into the air. She twists in the air, then lands in the arms of the four girls below. In a few seconds, they’ve rolled up the mat. Their stunt is done, and the game continues.

This performance took many hours to perfect. It may not be the main event of the night. But these cheerleaders are part of a squad that has gone farther than any Wildcat team this year.

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Led by Susan Kenney and Kailyn Campbell, the Cedacrest girls basketball team handled their Port Angeles opponent in the state regional game Friday, Feb. 22, at Lynden.

Kenney, Cedarcrest’s junior guard, scored 18 and Campbell, the cool-handed senior post, added 14 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in the 49-38 win.

Senior guard Sarah Stauffer added nine points, junior Kalee Fowler added three, and Courney McKinney and Lacey Deming added two apiece.

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In their best state showing yet, the Mount Si gymnastics team took an historic third place finish at state championships last weekend.
Competing at the Tacoma Dome, the Wildcats, with a team score of 169, finished third behind state champ team Enumclaw, with 181, and Kamiakin, with 179.6.

It’s the best finish in the team’s five trips to state over the last five years. Mount Si finished fifth last year. Mount Si was undefeated in its meets this season.

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