During the last winter Olympics, almost 1,000 people came to a two-day open house at the Granite Curling Club in North Seattle. Before the club even opened the first morning, the parking lot was full of people excited to check out a sport that most had only ever heard of.
For all of the experiences and accomplishments that Christian Niccum has had, there has been something he gave up to make it a possibility. It’s the plight of many athletes, especially those in a sport which requires training across the country and competitions around the world. But the possibility of competing in the Olympics kept the longtime luge athlete coming back to the sport, despite training on the opposite side of the country from his family.
One-half a revolution may have cost her an Olympics bid, but Ashley Wagner believes her dream will come full circle.
Wagner, 18, placed third at the U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Championships in Spokane Jan. 23, missing a berth to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver by one spot.
A handful of local swimmers earned spots at the state championship with their performance this past weekend at the West Central District Championship meet at Rogers High.
In the team race, Kentridge finished ninth and Kentlake finished 10th, while Gig Harbor ran away with the district title with 211.5 points.
Kent-Meridian’s Nora Keith was banged up on Saturday during the Class 4A sub-district meet at Kentwood High.
Kentlake’s Lynnsey Thielman wasn’t banged up, but was suffering from a bad cough.
The Reporter preps of the week
The Reporter boys and girls 4A and 3A basketball poll | week
Plenty of the expected was joined by one big surprise Saturday at Kent-Meridian High during the South Puget Sound League North Division sub-district wrestling tournament.
With an ear-to-ear grin, Kentwood’s Alec Wilson happily gave out his autograph to a youngster Friday night at Kentlake High.
Kentwood traveled to Kentlake to take on the Falcons.
The Reporter boys and girls 4A and 3A basketball poll | week nine
Lindsey Moore knows what it’s like to play for one of the top teams in the country, she did it just last year while a senior at Kentwood High, which lost only one game en route to a 4A state championship.
Moore is now a freshman at the University of Nebraska where she is starting for the Huskers, one of two undefeated teams in the country — the other being defending national champion University of Connecticut — and it is ranked sixth in the country.
On the eve of National Letter of Intent day Tuesday night, some student-athletes were still mulling over their choices.
Kentlake soccer standout Frederike Dubeau, however, wasn’t among those still debating.
It wasn’t the result Kentlake wanted, a fifth place finish at the South Puget Sound League boys swim and dive championship on Saturday, but the Falcons didn’t have an answer for the sheer depth of Curtis, Beamer and Kentridge, which finished one-two-three.
The horses were back on the track at Emerald Downs Monday morning as training began for the 89-day meeting beginning Friday, April 9.
Emerald Downs stable superintendent Vern Baze said 328 horses were on the grounds, as of Monday morning. Training hours are 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. daily.
Tahoma High senior Hannah Roberts has scheduled a soccer camp Feb. 6 at Tahoma High multipurpose field for her senior project.
The camp is one day for youths in grades one through six and will be taught by Roberts and Tahoma coaches and students. The cost is $20
The camp hours are 9-12 p.m. for grades one-three and 1-4 p.m. for grades four-six.
Brooks Abel, who graduated from Kentwood High in 2008, recently signed on to play football at Utah State University in Logan.
Abel, a 6-foot-6 300-pound lineman, spent this past season playing at College of the Siskiyous in Northern California.
The Reporter preps of the week
The 15th season of Emerald Downs 89-day race meeting begins Friday, April 9, and continues through Sunday, Sept. 26, pending approval by the Washington Horse Racing Commission.
Race days are scheduled Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning in April.
Some of high school’s biggest names in the local prep basketball circuit will be under the spotlight at the ShoWare Center on Friday for the second annual Les Schwab Shootout.
Like last year, the Shootout will feature five games, four of which will be all-Kent matchups.
