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The La Conner Kiwanis Club High School Student of the Month for April is Yamileth O'Campo Contreras. Yami is a freshman at the La Conner High School. She is the daughter of David and Karen Contreras. Yami is active in school sports playing soccer, basketball and softball. She enjoys her science and math classes. Outside of school Yami enjoys drawing and painting as well as hanging out with friends and family. After graduating she would like to become an interior designer or an artist. The...
La Conner High School golfers nearly left the country to qualify for state competition in the Olympia area this week. Four of its members – Sammy Williams, Gage Tenborg, Abi Udlock and Natalee Koch – emerged from Northwest Tri-District 2B trials at Loomis Trails Golf Course in Blaine with single round scores allowing them to advance to the state tournament at Tumwater Valley Golf Club. Williams carded a 90 to place sixth on the Tri-District boys’ leaderboard. Tenborg was one stroke back, at 91, to clinch seventh place. On the girls’ side, U...
Jamie Damien-Sams, a senior at La Conner High School, was chosen as Soroptimist Honored student for May. Jamie has been a high school cheerleader for three years and recently received the Jamie Joe Cheer Leadership Award for "dedication to cheer squad, education and school spirit." Jamie joins the other cheer squad members supporting basketball and football teams at home and away games. Jamie has played on the LCHS softball team since eighth grade. She started in the outfield and has moved up...
La Conner School board members toured native plant gardens on Swinomish Reservation last week, a walking tour that appears to have brought the district one step closer to installing something similar as an outdoor hands-on classroom on campus. A school garden project in partnership with the Swinomish Department of Environmental Protection and Between Two Worlds indigenous science program has cultivated growing support since the concept was introduced several weeks ago by proponents Jen Willup and Morgan Brown. “The board is 100% s...
La Conner High School’s Tommy Murdock qualified for the 2023 Washington State 2B Track & Field Championships in Yakima May 25-27. Murdock captured top honors in the boys’ Northwest Bi-District 110 and 300-meter hurdles events in Coupeville on Saturday. He leads eight La Conner students into the three-day state trials next week. Murdock ran a 15.45 in the 110s and a 40.07 in the 300s. But that tells only half the story. The junior also secured state berths in the 100 meters, which he won with a 12.53 clocking and as a member of the Bra...
Tommy Murdock is a state champion who never stops looking to improve. That was again the case at the Stanwood Twilight Invitational Track Meet Friday as the La Conner High School junior set new personal marks while winning his signature events. Murdock captured the 110-meter hurdles in 15.19, edging Peter Wilhite of 1A Lynden by two-tenths of a second and claimed top honors in the 300-meter hurdles with a 39.33 clocking. Murdock on Wednesday had swept both boys' hurdles contests at the NW1B/2B...
All's well that ends well. That sums up the 2023 season for La Conner High School's youthful baseball and softball teams, both wrapping up the campaign with non-league home wins over Muckleshoot Tribal School on Thursday. The Braves, with no seniors this year, finished 5-11 overall and 3-10 in conference action following a 17-6 triumph over Muckleshoot. Braves pitchers Logan Burks and Kenai Zimmerman checked the Kings on three hits and fanned four batters. Brogan Masonholder paced the La Conner...
For 30 years, Suzanne Marble has preached the power of teamwork. Now, ironically, at the end of a remarkable career that has seen her guide La Conner High School volleyball teams to over 550 wins and seven state championships, Marble is collecting a series of individual honors and awards. The most recent was induction last Wednesday into the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Hall of Fame during luncheon ceremonies in Renton. Marble was inducted as part of a 2023 Hall of...
Two La Conner High School seniors have found a recipe for success in the culinary arts program at Northwest Career and Technical Academy . Li Bell and Kristina Hansen gain instruction and train two-and-a-half hours mornings in the academy's combo lecture hall/kitchen and commercial kitchen facility off Laventure Road near the Skagit Valley College campus in Mount Vernon.. The culinary program, taught by former greater La Conner resident Lyle Hildahl, prepares students for careers in restaurants,...
La Conner students stepped up their support for school staff and programs threatened by district budget cuts in a most visible way Monday. About 60 middle and high school students, many of them chanting and carrying signs, walked out of morning classes and marched downtown to make public their concerns with funding shortfalls that will force layoffs and may ax popular course offerings next year. The walkout was organized by high school junior Jack Dougliss, who spoke passionately at the April...
La Conner High School softball and baseball teams continued to post football-type scores against Concrete last week. The Lady Braves (2-14 overall; 2-7 in league) followed up an earlier 35-27 slugfest win at home over Concrete with a 32-27 road victory Thursday to complete a two-game season series sweep of their Skagit County rivals. The Braves (4-10 in all games; 3-9 in NW1B/2B action) followed suit with a 15-11 victory at Concrete. The boys defeated the Lions 14-4 in the teams' first meeting o...
Few can run faster and jump higher than La Conner High School junior Tommy Murdock. Murdock swept the boys' hurdle events at the 115th Skagit County Track and Field Championships at Kirkby Field in Burlington last week, the latest in a string of triumphs this spring for the reigning State 2B titleholder. Murdock claimed the county 110-meter hurdles crown with a 15.77 finish. He captured the Skagit 300-meter hurdles contest by clocking a winning time of 40.10. Murdock, who also placed sixth in...
Advocates for a proposed native plant garden on the La Conner Schools campus have given district officials plenty of food for thought. Several people spoke passionately on behalf of the proposal during a lengthy public comments segment at the April 24 school board meeting. It was the third time the garden project – promoted by the Swinomish Department of Environmental Protection – has been addressed. Board members, in accordance with district policy, did not respond to the comments. “This isn’t a dialogue or question-and-answer session...
The impact of budget ax reality fell sharply and heavily upon La Conner Schools Monday night. And it hurt. Projections of declining student enrollment and loss of COVID-19 emergency funding forced the school board to reluctantly agree to cut four faculty positions as part of a $1.5 million cost-saving plan for the 2023-24 academic year. "This is a very sad day for our school district," Board President Susie Deyo lamented near the end of an almost two-hour meeting, much of it public comments...
As a former La Conner High School football standout, Loran James is used to seeing the number 35 on stadium scoreboards. But not when the game being played is softball. James, coach of the high school softball team, was thrilled to see 35 posted on the Lady Braves' side of the scoreboard in a league slugfest with visiting Skagit County rival Concrete last Wednesday. James' charges came from behind to secure a wild 35-27 triumph, the youthful team's first win on the campaign. Across campus, the...
Josie Harper, a senior at La Conner High School, is the Soroptimist of La Conner Honored Student for April. Josie excels in academics and sports. She is also modest. This season Josie was twice recognized for her basketball skills statewide. She was named to the 2B all-state second team by SBLive, a sports website that tracks statistics and rankings. The other was the honor of being on the all-state team. The team played a real game, in which Josie and Ellie Marble played with girls from all...
The weather was the worst, but La Conner High School thinclads were at their best in Langley Thursday. The track teams fought off heavy rain and gusty winds to post several personal bests at a non-league invitational meet hosted by South Whidbey High School. As has been the case throughout the spring, reigning state 2B hurdles champ Tommy Murdock paced the Braves, who placed second out of seven team entries, trailing only the hometown Falcons by a 141-101.5 margin. "Tommy's been really consisten...
There is reason to celebrate in La Conner on May 3. La Conner Schools has set the day aside to observe the 50th anniversary of Whittaker Field and to recognize its undefeated 1968 high school football team. Its success paved the way for a lighted athletics venue on campus four years later. Whittaker Field, named for legendary one-armed coach and administrator Jack Whittaker, opened during the 1972-73 school year. It remains home to football, soccer and track and field teams. The May 3 program is at 2 p.m., prior to the league championship track...
La Conner Schools officials did more than welcome their counterparts from Conway with open arms last Monday. School board president Susie Gardner Deyo also presented the Conway contingent with floral bouquets. “She’s a garden club person,” La Conner board member John Agen explained as Conway Superintendent Jeff Cravy and board representative Amy Hughes gratefully received the flowers. Gardner and the La Conner Schools team held the nearly two-hour special dinner meeting to discuss shared educational goals and to plant seeds with Conway campu...
La Conner Schools will have to make do with less in the 2023-2024 academic year. District officials were facing that as they begin crafting next year’s budget at their April 10 board study session. Declining enrollment, a smaller than anticipated apportionment of federal impact aid monies and the loss of emergency COVID-19-related funds will result in significant spending cuts, district finance director David Cram predicted in a report to school board members. “We’re looking at a $1.5 million reduction in spending to get to a $500,000 fund...
The Coupeville High School baseball team stole a win at La Conner last Thursday. Not that the visiting Wolves eked out an unexpected NW2B/1B triumph. A veteran Coupeville lineup, ran wild on the basepaths –19 stolen bases – and prevailed 12-2 over the youthful Braves, who averted a shutout when Kenai Zimmerman delivered a bases-loaded two-run single in the third inning. La Conner, falling to 1-7, kept within striking distance up until the game's midpoint. The Braves received a solid start fro...
La Conner High School hurdles standout Tommy Murdock took top honors in his races at the Skagit Showdown Meet in Sedro-Woolley last Wednesday. Students from various sized schools competed, but Murdock was clearly in a class by himself. The junior swept the boys' 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles, hitting the finish line in 0:16.02 and 42.00, respectively. The reigning state 2B hurdles champ placed a strong third in the 100-meter dash, clocking an 0:11.46 finish, behind Carsten Reynolds (0:11.17)...
Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02) is inviting high school-aged students who live or attend school in Washington’s Second Congressional District to showcase their artistic talents in the 2023 Congressional Art Competition. Art submissions and forms are due to Larsen’s office no later than Monday, May 1, at 5 p.m. All art entries must be original in concept, design and execution. Students can find details and a full list of contest rules larsen.house.gov/helping-you/2023-art-competition.htm Source: Office of Rick Larsen...
Divide and conquer is usually a winning strategy. But it didn't work this past winter for foes of the La Conner Middle School girls' basketball program, which split into two teams and collectively won 18 of 20 contests with one squad going undefeated in its 10 games. Coaches Joel Hingston and Ryan Pino weren't surprised at that level of success. "This is a very good group," Hingston, who teaches Spanish at La Conner Schools and works summers as a hornet hive remover, told the Weekly News....
Josi Straathof is the Kiwanis Club of La Conner March High School Student of the Month. Josi is a junior. She is the daughter of Brian Straathof and DeAnna Young. She enjoys her science and history classes. She is active in school activities playing soccer and softball. She has a part in the upcoming school play, "The Odd Couple." Outside of school she is involved in art. Josi is not sure what she will study after graduation, however she is interested in animal science. Kaleb Otis is March's...
