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It might have looked easy, but no effort was spared by the two-time defending state champion La Conner High School volleyball team in its quest to make a return trip to the 2B title tournament in Yakima this week. La Conner, a perfect 18-0 in regular season action – including non-league triumphs over teams from larger schools – secured its latest state tourney berth with a straight-sets win over NW2B rival Coupeville in district playoff action last Wednesday at Landy James Gym. “I’m proud of the girls and the work that the...
Seniority has its advantages. But once lost, starting over becomes the new normal. Such is the fate of the La Conner High School boys’ soccer team, which rode a strong senior class to a respectable 7-8 record and fifth place finish in a NW2B title chase that saw league leaders Providence Classical Christian and Orcas Island win 14 and 13 conference matches, respectively. Now, for next fall, Braves head coach Galen McKnight faces the daunting task of replacing a key core group of seniors, including Skagit County scoring leader Mason Wilson. W...
Anyone would love to have a dollar for every dig that La Conner High senior libero Rachel Cram has recorded during her four years with the school’s state championship volleyball program. Turns out, the Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation is in line for just such a payout. The unbeaten net team raised $1,200 for the foundation and breast cancer research as part of its annual Dig Pink-Senior Night match last Wednesday, coinciding with Cram notching her 1,200th career dig during a tense five-set n...
Throughout a scoreless, injury-riddled season, La Conner High football players were always willing to go the extra mile for head coach Charlie Edwards and his assistants. That was true – both literally and figuratively – on Saturday morning, just hours after the Braves closed out their 2021 grid campaign with a 56-0 loss at league leading Friday Harbor. Several La Conner players showed up for the weekly “Coaches’ Mile” workout at Whittaker Field, a team tradition every bit a bonding experience as much as a fitness session. “Our...
La Conner High volleyball opponents have been seeing – and feeling – nothing but blue this season. But tonight, pink will be added to the mix. The undefeated La Conner netters, who this fall have dropped just one set other than in weekend tournaments featuring teams from larger schools, host 1A Nooksack Valley in their annual Dig Pink-Senior Night match. First serve for the Oct. 27 event is set for 6:30 p.m. at Landy James Gym. Proceeds from the non-conference match go to the Skagit Valley Hospital Foundation to help support breast...
The two-time defending state 2B volleyball team brought its ‘A’ game to Burlington Saturday. La Conner High School, benefiting from superb serving, strong net play and crisp defense, won 11 of 12 sets in pool play and split two matches in the main bracket against teams from larger schools competing at the annual Burlington-Edison Invitational Tournament. La Conner defeated Lynden Christian 25-19, 25-17, 28-26, edged Washington High 25-20, 25-21, 16-25, swept North Kitsap 25-22, 25-12, 25-18 and prevailed over Meridian 25-22, 25-12, 25-18 in...
Ellie Marble is a big hit with La Conner High volleyball fans. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association is a huge fan, too. The WIAA selected Marble for Athlete of the Week honors based on her stellar play at the recent Capital City Invitational Tournament in Olympia. Marble helped La Conner place third among 17 tourney teams from all enrollment classifications. She compiled 119 digs and 109 kills, served at a 98 per cent clip and was 77 of 77 on serve receives. “Marble has been a...
The La Conner High School volleyball team swept three matches last week, two of them in conference play. The team, the two-time defending state 2B champion, followed up on its superb performance at a major non-league tournament in Olympia. It placed third among 17 larger school entries at the Capital City Invitational Tournament earlier this month. The Lady Braves, undefeated in 12 regular season contests, returned from Olympia to defeat 1A Lynden Christian and league foe Concrete at home and NW2B rival Friday Harbor on the road. The...
Neither La Conner nor Coupeville had enough healthy players to field teams the week before meeting at Whittaker Field on Friday. Unfortunately for the Braves, the visitors were able to heal fast and lay a big hurt on a young and rebuilding team that suffered its fourth consecutive shutout loss, falling 46-0 on Homecoming Night. “We played a better second half,” said head coach Charlie Edwards, lamenting that his club gave up six touchdowns before intermission. “We just have to remember our a...
The two-time defending state champion La Conner High School volleyball team took a break from NW2B play last week for matches against teams from larger enrollment schools. And the Lady Braves showed they clearly weren’t out of their league. The team, which had not lost a single set to open the 2021 campaign, defeated 4A Glacier Peak 3-1 in a key road test on Thursday, then placed third overall Saturday among 17 larger school entrants at the Capital City Invitational Tournament in Olympia. “It was so great for us to compete against larger sch...
There were no net gains for La Conner High soccer teams last week. But all was not lost, either. The boys came very close to upending unbeaten NW2B frontrunner Orcas before falling 3-1 on the island Saturday afternoon to a team which has opened the fall with seven straight wins. The team was locked in a 1-1 tie late in the second half after Christian Fix scored on an assist from Spencer Olson. But the Vikings closed with two goals in the final 10 minutes to extend La Conner’s losing skid to three games, each by identical 3-1 scores. The B...
For the La Conner High School boys’ soccer program, wins over league power Mount Vernon Christian have come about as often as the U.S. Census in recent seasons. Which means La Conner’s 4-1 win via penalty kicks at MVC Friday counts for a lot. “This was a huge win for us, beating Mount Vernon Christian for the first time in 10 years,” Braves head coach Galen McKnight told the Weekly News afterwards. “Some of the boys have been playing for five years – since eighth grade – and it really meant a lot to them.” La Conner’s Christian Fix...
It’s true that practice makes perfect. But the La Conner High School volleyball team remained perfect last week without any practice. After having had several playing dates shelved earlier due to COVID-19 infections, the two-time defending state champions were faced with a heavy makeup schedule featuring four league matches in as many days. The Lady Braves (6-0) won each in straight sets, completing a Monday through Thursday sweep of NW2B foes Concrete, Orcas Island, Friday Harbor and Mount Vernon Christian. Ellie Marble dominated the net at M...
All football players are faced with adversity at one time or another and in many cases the most difficult challenges come after their playing careers are over. That was the message delivered to the La Conner High School football team last week by someone who has tackled big tests on and off the field. Former NFL defensive end and linebacker Joe Tafoya, a member of the Seattle Seahawks’ 2006 Super Bowl team, has since gone on to become a successful entrepreneur. He met with La Conner players to offer them encouragement as they struggle through a...
Two weeks after approving a new labor contract with the La Conner Education Association, La Conner School District board members rolled up their sleeves and got to work on several key tasks marking the start of the 2021-22 academic year. The first of those at their Sept. 27 meeting was to unanimously approve a proclamation designating Sept. 30 as Orange Shirt-Residential School Awareness Day during their 90-minute hybrid public session. The board action followed a presentation by district...
The La Conner High School volleyball team is not used to losing. Not even a single set. But it lost last week’s slate of matches due to COVID-19 protocols. Winners of the 2018 and 2019 State 2B net crowns and among the favorites to capture this year’s Yakima tourney, the team is poised to make up for lost time. Head coach Suzanne Marble’s undefeated squad is scheduled for six matches and an invitational tournament over a 12-day stretch starting with Monday’s Sept. 27 NW2B clash at Concrete. With coaches not allowed to comment publicly on COVI...
During La Conner High School’s NW2B football game at Coupeville Friday night a disoriented deer sauntered onto the field. But Bambi had nothing to fear. It was a young and injury-riddled Braves team that was in Coupeville’s crosshairs instead. The host Wolves (1-2), paced by four long touchdowns by Scott Hilborn, extended La Conner’s scoreless streak to three games with a convincing 51-0 league triumph. Hillborn scored on a 48-yard option pitch in the first period, returned a punt 51 yards in the second quarter for a TD and reached paydi...
The chemistry is there, but a young La Conner High girls’ soccer team still came up on the short end of the equation in a key NW2B match with Friday Harbor Sept. 22. The hosts fell 7-1 to the Lady Wolverines, averting a shutout thanks to a goal by senior captain Delaney Cobbs, her second of the campaign thus far. Cobbs and Baylee Smith had found the net when La Conner was edged 4-2 in its Sept. 16 season opener at Coupeville. But La Conner had trouble keeping the score close in its home debut opposite Friday Harbor (1-1 in league, 1-3 o...
There was no saving Grace in Marysville Friday. The La Conner High School boys' soccer team saw to that. The Braves won their first match of the young season with an impressive 4-0 triumph over Grace Academy, helping take the sting out of close losses to NW2B foes Friday Harbor and Mount Vernon Christian that opened the fall campaign. Cameron Burks, Isa Rojas-Gonzales, Thomas Kitchen and Christian Fix – all among a core of key Braves returnees – scored goals for the victors. Mason Wilson assisted on two scores, while Samuel...
Close losses can be either frustrating or encouraging. The latter was the case for the La Conner High girls’ soccer team at Coupeville last Wednesday. La Conner fell 4-2 in its season debut Sept. 15 despite goals by freshman Baylee Smith and senior Delaney Cobbs and strong play from frosh goalkeeper Odessa Bates. “Overall, I felt good about the match,” La Conner head coach Christian Warman said afterward. “It wasn’t perfect, but I believe we were able to prove that we are competitors.” Smith scored La Conner’s first goal of the season off a...
They say it is an ill wind that blows no good. If that’s the case, conditions at Whittaker Field Friday were plenty bad as heavy rain, fierce winds and a partial power outage made for an uncomfortable night of high school football. And that was just in the stands. Down on the field, a young La Conner High football team suffered a 61-0 blowout loss to perennial NW2B title contender Friday Harbor. The Wolverines (1-2), who opted out of last spring’s modified grid season due to a COVID-19 surge in the San Juan Islands, stormed past a La Con...
Idled by the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago, the two-time defending state 2B champion La Conner High School volleyball team couldn’t wait to get back in the gym this fall. And when that time came last week, the Lady Braves got back to business by making short work of 2A foe Sehome and NW2B rival Darrington with twin straight-sets victories to open the 2021 net campaign. Ellie Marble delivered 20 kills and Emma Keller fueled the attack with 30 assists to lead a 25-11, 25-6, 25-20 rout of Sehome last Tuesday at Landy James Gym. Marble added 15 k...
The Sultan Turks shut out La Conner 21-0 in non-league football action at Whittaker Field Friday night. But despite the zero on the scoreboard, first-year Braves head coach Charlie Edwards said all wasn’t lost for his young club in their home test with an undefeated 1A Emerald Sound Conference foe that was coming off a 50-42 win over Evergreen of Seattle the week before. “It was a hard-fought game,” Edwards told the Weekly News afterward. “Our young players stepped up and did great. “We los...
Having turned the page on the Labor Day holiday, La Conner High sports teams are poised to get down to business this week with the return of their regular fall sports schedules. The La Conner High volleyball team, which won State 2B crowns in 2018 and 2019 and did not lose a single set during last spring’s modified season, opened their current schedule with a non-conference home match opposite 2A Sehome Tuesday night. “Filling a non-league schedule with larger schools will help our girls to improve and play at a higher level,” La Conner head vo...
Calling the La Conner High School girls’ soccer team a work in progress is a compliment Lady Braves players and head coach Christian Warman accept with pride. That’s because the retooled roster has taken a blue-collar, hard-working approach to preseason workouts. And the result, according to Warman, is steady progress made leading up to the team’s Sept. 16 conference opener at Coupeville. “Preseason practices have been going fantastic,” Warman told the Weekly News Tuesday. “Our captains worked very hard in the off-season to keep this team t...
