What a day for Colin Slingsby, boys’ basketball coach at Chief Sealth High School. Not only did the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce announce he’d been chosen as Westsider of the Year, he also got to celebrate his team’s successful season during the Sealth winter-sports banquet tonight. Also on hand, athletic director Sam Reed:

His wrap-up of the winter-sports season, e-mailed last weekend, was printed out and handed out at tonight’s banquet. Here’s what he wrote:

Nearly four months after the season started, the last of the Chief Sealth Winter sports teams concluded their season last week, when the boys basketball team was defeated in a winner-to-state, loser-out game versus Franklin High School. While the 68-65 loss wasn’t the desired result, it doesn’t dampen the amount of ‘Sealth Pride’ that was built throughout the season.

All of our Winter Sports have things to be proud of. Foremost, it was a season marked by excellent coaching. Long-standing coaches Dave Rosario (wrestling) and Colin Slingsby (boys basketball) each took home Metro League Coach of the Year honors and added regional awards as well. Tony Trahan, in his first year at the helm of the girls basketball team, and Katie Hathaway, also new to the school as head swim coach, helped craft hard-working teams that competed well throughout the season. Gymnastics was led in conjunction with West Seattle High School and coached by Echo Balliett-Legge.

A number of outstanding student-athletes also received honors for their play. Wrestlers Brandon Rosario, Luis Jimenez, Quang Nguyen, Jashuana Adams and Markashia Wilson all made appearances in the state wrestling tournament, and helped Chief Sealth take 2nd place at the Metro League Tournament. Boys basketball players Tomas Ogbaslassie (1st team all-league), Keon Lewis (3rd team), Daniel Davis and Greg Wilson (both honorable mention) led Sealth to the Metro League championship game and a 2nd place league finish. Natalie Mackey led the girls team in scoring while Senior Jasmine Walker supplied leadership, intensity and a strong work-ethic. One Sealth’s top gymnasts, Junior Samantha Westler was forced to sit out the league championships with an injury, but supplied value experience to a young team. The swim team was led by the promising performances of Freshmen Melissa Soria and Junior Zachary Newston.

In addition to the hard work of our athletes, the season was made more successful by the community of support felt all season long. Special thanks goes to Marcus Pimpleton and the dedicated members of the band who were there every step of the way. On many occasions I had friends and supporters comment on how they didn’t want to leave their seat during timeouts or halftime because they “didn’t want to miss what the band would do next!” The band, together with our cheerleaders who are led by advisor Keiosha Williams, helped to create a substantial home court advantage throughout the season.

(WSB clip of the band “on the road” – at Bellevue College for the Feb. 26 basketball game)

Mention also need to goes out to the parents of all of our student-athletes. The positive support, not only toward their own sons and daughters but also toward all of our athletes, means so much to each team and to the school as a whole. Throughout the season it was also exciting to see so many staff members, and members of the community-at-large in the stands at each of our events. Much of that community support would not have occurred were it not for the coverage from local media such as the West Seattle Blog, West Seattle Herald and the Seattle Times which all published more than a handful of Sealth athletic updates. Thank you for spreading the word!

And while it is disappointing that the basketball team wasn’t able to extend their season with a victory last week, I can say firsthand how rewarding athletics can be. To be in the locker room, to see and hear how those young men picked each other up and supported each other through the sadness, created a very bittersweet moment for all of the coaches. Sports can truly teach so much about teamwork, about sacrifice, about dedication, and about much more. As a coach you don’t expect kids to realize all of that until well after their experiences have come to an end…but when they do, and when it comes right after a tough loss, well, it’s a pretty cool experience :)

Thank you for everything,

Sam Reed
Activity Coordinator / Athletic Director
Chief Sealth High School

Congratulations to the winter athletes! Reed also says the spring season has more than 170 athletes signed up to participate in boys’ soccer, track, baseball, softball and tennis.