West Seattle, Washington
24 Tuesday
It’s not the Olympics without an opening ceremony, athletes parading onto the field – so that’s what everyone got to do last night at West Seattle Stadium as “Olympic Day” events got under way, sponsored by your local Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Centers. Also part of the parade – a few groups that know a thing or two about parading:
Such a beautiful night, even the Seattle Chinese Community Girls Drill Team members couldn’t help smiling – which you won’t usually see during their precise, intense routine! Another renowned local drill team took the field – the Electronettes:
And then, let the games begin – this group tried out some martial-arts moves:
Two accomplished athletes were the guests of honor, 2000 Olympics pentathlon silver medalist Emily de Riel and her husband, Paralympics soccer star Mike Peters:
Healthy treats were provided by Roxanne and Andrea in the Kid Picks truck from PCC Natural Markets (WSB sponsor):
You’ll see Kid Picks again this year at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s Summer Concerts at Hiawatha starting June 29th, co-sponsored by PCC and WSB among others. Olympic Day commemorated the 116th anniversary of the revived Olympic Games – which hadn’t been held for a millennium and a half till June 23, 1894!
No, not Major League Baseball – 4 months too soon for that – it’s Bronco Baseball, from Southwest Seattle PONY Baseball. Thanks to Jeff for the tip:
The Bronco Baseball Championship game is tonight at Lincoln Park starting at 5:30. The game features 11 and 12 year old baseball players. The Mariners are taking on the Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks are coming from the losing bracket and the Mariners from the winners bracket. The Diamondbacks will have to beat the Mariners 2 times to win the championship; if the Mariners win tonight they are the champions.
With the USA team playing its second match at 7 tomorrow morning (vs. Slovenia), it’s time to bring back our “where to watch FIFA World Cup 2010 soccer in West Seattle” list. It’s had a few tweaks since its debut a week ago, and please note the comments as well. The newest addition – Freshy’s Coffee in Admiral says you’re welcome to come watch the game in “Freshy-Vision” on their bigscreen tomorrow morning (the one they use for Fine Films at Freshy’s on Wednesday nights) – proprietor Amber says there’ll be “mimosas and breakfast.” Here’s the list again, with recent amendments (please let us know if you’ve got word of any more!).
Two notes from West Seattle Runner, the new running store at Charlestown/California. Right now until about 7 pm, WSR’s Lori McConnell tells us, the Mizuno Bus is there, for shoe fittings and analysis, plus giveaways. Then next Saturday, Northwest Hope and Healing‘s Alki Beach 5K has its official kickoff – or should we say runoff? – with an in-store registration party at West Seattle Runner, 10 am-3 pm, including prize drawings, free coffee, chair massages and training tips – here’s the flyer. This year’s Alki Beach 5K is August 29th.
Back on Tuesday, we reported on two baseball players with West Seattle High School ties – one senior, one alum – drafted by the majors. After our report, a third one was drafted, and tonight we have a wrapup on all three with details courtesy of WSHS assistant baseball coach Scott Meaker:
3 players from West Seattle that played at WSHS for Head Coach Velko Vitalich were drafted by Major League Baseball (MLB) this week.
It started with the second day of drafting on Tuesday. Zach Varce, currently a Junior RHP for the University of Portland, was drafted in round 11 (355th overall) by the NY Yankees! Zach reportedly is on his way to the east coast soon to sign with one of the most storied sports organizations in the world! Congratulations to him and his West Seattle family!
Also on Tuesday, current WSHS Senior SS Trevor Martin was drafted in the 20th round (619th overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals. Trevor was the unanimous MVP of the Metro League this year, the league that has brought home the Washington State 3A Baseball title for the last 2 years (O’dea HS in 2009 & 2010!). Trevor has an offer to play at perennial national champion contender Western Nevada College near Carson City, NV. (see story about his signing last January)
Coach Meaker’s report continues after the jump:Read More
(NOTE: Updated repeatedly since first publication; thanks to Nancy for the added research)
More than a few people requested a list of West Seattle establishments that plan to have the World Cup on their bigscreens as play begins this week (here’s the schedule) – and it also came up in the WSB Forums. So WSB contributor Keri DeTore started investigating. The following venues say they’ll be showing World Cup games during their regular business hours, unless otherwise noted – such as Abbondanza, Angelina’s and Beveridge Place Pub, which will be open some special hours for viewing. (For hours/contact info, we have linked establishment names to their website – except for those that do not have readily locatable sites, in which case we’ve used other online listings). Click ahead for the list (and let us know if there’s someplace we’re missing!):Read More
Even as we await true summer, winter’s not so far away, and the new West Seattle Snowsports Council is looking ahead, with its second planning meeting tomorrow night, 6 pm at Mountain to Sound Outfitters in The Triangle. We asked Mountain to Sound’s Greg Whittaker what this meeting will focus on:
– Finding a nonprofit Fiscal Sponsor interested in partnering up with us!
– Determining the Days/Nights offering.
– Developing a registration plan.
– Determining Meeting/Dropoff location.
– Finding a Web Guru to set up a website.
The council’s mission is “creating an accessible snowsports program for West Seattle youth, and Whittaker adds, “Join if you would like to help create a community based program providing West Seattle Youth a safe reliable option to learn alpine snowsports and experience our NW Mountains!” You can find out more by calling Mountain to Sound @ 206-935-7669 (SNOW).
ORIGINAL 3 PM REPORT: Thanks to Mary for the tip: Today during the Major League Baseball draft, 21-year-old West Seattle High School alum Zach Varce was drafted by the New York Yankees. Zach’s a right-handed pitcher who’s been playing for the University of Portland, where he’s a junior; he was the Yankees’ 11th pick, 355th draftee overall. According to his bio on the Portland site, he sat out his senior year at WSHS with an injury. ADDED 3:20 PM: Also drafted today, 18-year-old WSHS senior shortstop Trevor Martin, by the St. Louis Cardinals, 619th draftee overall. (We’re checking the draft list for anyone else with local ties – let us know if you hear of someone!)
(Photos by Kellie Moeller)
Look closely at the top-left section of that photo, and you’ll see what 96-year-old Fordie Ross was throwing at last Saturday’s Northwest Senior Games Track and Field events at West Seattle Stadium. Kellie Moeller from Merrill Gardens – sponsor of Saturday’s competition, and also a WSB sponsor – shared some photos, which can certainly inspire us all. Also in the shot put, 64-year-old Peggy Anderson from Bellevue:
And check out 69-year-old Fred Zapf of Issaquah in the pole vault!
Kellie adds:
These events are taking place all around the Seattle area during the month of June. These events give seniors across the state the opportunity to compete in athletic events of all disciplines. Winners will go on to compete on a national level.
The NW Senior Games website doesn’t have this year’s results up yet, but taking a peek at the 2009 list, we see Ross and Anderson both took their age divisions in shot put!
After our report yesterday on a delay in the start of Delridge Skatepark construction (see the story here), several people asked for a followup on when work will start at nearby Delridge Playfield, scheduled for renovations including new artificial turf. We checked with project manager Ted Holden, who has just replied with a major update: He says the bids were just opened yesterday (one week later than planned). His summary:
Seven firms submitted bids. The apparent low bidder is A-1 Landscape and Construction, Inc. The apparent low bid is $ 1,034,376, which is $596,894 or 36.6% below the Engineer’s Estimate. Parks shall check the required Bidder Qualifications, and if all checks out shall recommend immediate award.
Holden also shared a copy of the current construction schedule, which calls for work to start in early July and, if all goes well, to be finished by October. (For more details on what’s involved in the playfield project, here’s our story from the 2nd and final public meeting last November; here’s the final “schematic design” from the Parks website.)
Tonight at 6:30 – like just about every Thursday night, and two other times each week – you’ll see that group on the go in West Seattle. Dave Howard shares that photo and news of a change:
I am the president of West Seattle’s local running club, where we have been supporting local runners since 1994. We have just made an important change and I want to share it with the neighborhood. So here is our story.
After 16 years as West Seattle’s own running club, West Seattle Runners is changing its name. We are now called what we truly have always been, the West Seattle Running Club. As we have from the beginning back in 1994, West Seattle Running Club continues to create opportunities for runners of all levels to meet and run with others, to provide support and encouragement to members in achieving their personal goals, and to be a lot of fun. We have three organized runs each week, participate in a lot of local events, and put on a few of our own. No matter what your pace or distance our club can work for you. We start out together and fall in with those at our pace. One evening a week we do pizza after the run. On Sunday mornings after the run we head into the Alki bakery for coffee and conversation. Not to mention the cinnamon rolls. As always, our running schedule can be found at our website. Visit us at www.westseattlerunningclub.org and come run with us.
Just a few hours after Seattle Lutheran High School won the state championship in 2B baseball, the jubilant players were welcomed home just after 10:30 tonight – our first clip shows the honks, whoops and cheers as their bus rolled up outside the gym, where they, their coaches, and a spirited group of family and friends celebrated. They beat Colfax 10-6 in a late-afternoon game in Yakima. ADDED 12:51 AM: As the players joined well-wishers and coaches inside the SLHS gym, they first gathered for “one last prayer as a team,” before another burst of exuberance:
And a few words from the coaching/athletics team (Steve Meehan speaking, with – from left – Dan Imori, William Clowney, Mike Hay):
Bil Hood of SLHS tells WSB that two players also won individual sportsmanship awards over the past two days – Jordan Webb on Friday, Mike Register on Saturday. This is the school’s first baseball championship and its first state championship in 12 years – they have a boys’ soccer championship from 1990, boys and girls cross-country championships in 1992, and boys track in 1998.
From our regional-news partners at the Seattle Times: West Seattle High School‘s boys’ track team took second in the state championships with 53 points, two behind defending state champ North Central. WSHS won the 400-meter relay, and Markeem Adams won the 100-meter race. (Detailed results here.)
(Photo added 8:11 pm, sent by Bil Hood of SLHS)
Congratulations to the Seattle Lutheran High School Saints baseball team – within the past half hour, according to the @seattlelutheran Twitter feed, the team won the 2B state championship, beating Colfax 10-6. The game was played in Yakima. More details later!
As promised, Seattle Lutheran High School sent updates on Twitter all day on how their athletes were faring in big games/meets – and the biggest news of all, the Saints baseball team beat Mossyrock 14-7, advancing to the finals tomorrow. They’ll play Colfax at 4 pm in Yakima. In other sports, the softball team lost its first game of the day but rebounded for a win later and is still alive in the state tournament, and two runners are off to their finals too – check here for all the tweets.
From Bil Hood at Seattle Lutheran High School:
Congratulations
1. to the baseball team for getting to the final 4. They will play in Yakima Friday @ 4:00 opponent to be determined. They are 2 wins away from being a State Champion.
2. to the Fast Pitch team they are 3rd in Tri-District and will be playing Friday in the 16 team State Tournament in Yakima.
3. to the following track individuals who will be going to Eastern University to compete in the State Track Meet Friday: Jilllian Smith in Long Jump and Pole Vault, Elyssa Watord in the Long Jump and shot Put, Alina Yovetich in the 400, Lucas Driscol in the Shot Put, Dylan Heckett in the Shot Put, Gordy Mueller in the Javelin, Jake Nigon in the Pole Vault, Shot Put and the 400.
We will be Tweeting results all weekend long @SeattleLutheran
Joseph Seia, Pacific Islander Family Advocate at West Seattle’s Southwest Youth and Family Services, shares that photo, with news of the big achievement just scored by the kids who posed for it:
I just wanted to pass on this awesome piece of news! At the “Washington’s Strongest School” competition held last Saturday at Memorial Stadium, the kids from Southwest Youth and Family Services placed second!
This group of South Pacific Islander kids has been working for about a year now in becoming more active, and this illustrates how far they’ve come. It was exciting for them to be competing against schools like Juanita, Garfield and O’dea, and they were really proud of themselves for doing so well.
A little online research about this first-ever competition reveals that West Seattle High School had a team there too. They and SWYFS are among the schools featured in a photo report on the Bulky Boy Clothing Company’s website.
(Our main report on the West Seattle 5K, with video of the winners and of all starters, can be seen here)
Just crossing the finish line at Sunday’s West Seattle 5K – like any race/run/walk – is an accomplishment. From left, with the big smiles, that’s Irene Stewart (former School Board member), Sharon Nickels (wife of former mayor Greg), and Stewart’s husband Bruce Butterfield (Fauntleroy Community Association president). Just before the finish line, we also spotted Stroller Strides‘ Athena Frederick (and, of course, kids in stroller), whose business includes workout classes that routinely meet on Alki:
More than a few kids crossed the finish line under their own power, like this little girl:
We didn’t see her number, but since we can see this next guy was 111, we know that’s 8-year-old Oliver, who finished in 29:33:
For everyone who wore timing chips, the results are available now online – see them here. For those too impatient to wait for that, there was quite the crowd around the posted result sheets immediately afterward:
We reported the top female and male finishers, and showed video of their finish-line crosses, in our Sunday morning coverage. Another note – according to the online results, the oldest finisher was 81-year-old Philip Norton of Seattle, crossing the line in 58 minutes. And last but not least – on behalf of the organizers, the West Seattle High School PTSA, Jo Bader sent out an acknowledgment note last night – including our fellow co-sponsors, dozens of volunteers, and more – click ahead to read it:Read More
West Seattle Soccer Club players at Hughes Playfield in Sunrise Heights got to meet a pro this afternoon – that’s Seattle Sounders FC defender Zach Scott and son Kalei, who visited as WSSC’s spring season wrapped up. (WSSC’s Tim McMonigle previewed the visit and fall registration – which starts June 1 – in this WSB report on Saturday.) Also from this afternoon:
That’s part of the mini-bazaar set up inside the West Seattle Eagles‘ HQ in The Junction, for the season’s first big Pencil Me In For Kids‘ fundraiser. Creative Memories, Party Lites and Tupperware purveyors all were on hand, donating part of their proceeds to the nonprofit that raises money to buy school supplies for kids in need. Find out more about PMIFK here. Meantime, one last Sunday afternoon view:
If you were outside – perhaps at Seattle Summer Streets on Alki, as we were (here’s our afternoon coverage) – you probably got caught in the 4 pm-ish drizzle. It was a classic sun-rain mix, and as shown in Max’s photo, it brought along a rainbow. (The forecast for next week looks fairly mixed, so far, too.)
Two local high-school baseball-playoffs notes: Seattle Lutheran is in the 2B Final Four, scheduled for next weekend in Yakima – thanks to Dan I for the tip; the SLHS scores page on SeattleTimes.com (WSB partner) reports they beat Northwest Christian (Lacey) 8-0 and Napavine 8-2, both games yesterday. Meantime, a heartbreaker for West Seattle High School yesterday, as they lost to Enumclaw 13-8 in Mount Vernon (here’s the Times‘ report).
(added 12:12 pm: clip shows the race start, 1st runner to last walker, about 2 1/2 minutes in all)
ORIGINAL 9:35 AM REPORT: The West Seattle 5K (co-sponsored by WSB) has 1,120 runners this year, 75 more than last year, according to the semi-official count from organizers. We’re waiting now for the first finishers. The sunbreaks are mostly gone but it’s still dry. 10:03 AM: Runners and walkers are still coming across, 39 minutes later. Here’s the first finisher, crossing the line, announced at 16:08:
That’s David McCulloch, finishing a full minute faster than last year, when he was the 6th male. The first female runner crossed at 17:41- Lauren Breihof from Western Washington University. (added 11:07 am, here’s video of her finish – the audio is incorrect, she was indeed the 1st female) – 16 seconds better than her time from last year, when she was the 3rd female:
(photo added 11:36 am) Shortly after the first finishers crossed, the inflatable start/finish line started to lose a little of its air – so volunteer power came to the rescue!
(Photo by David Hutchinson)
When the results are available online (they’re not yet, as of just past noon) – you’ll find them linked here. We’re also reviewing our photos for more memorable moments and will add some in a second wrapup later!
10:40 AM: The 5K’s over and all its trappings are being packed up; the Summer Streets festivities officially begin around 11 – it’s still dry, but chilly, so bundle up!
That’s a new, enhanced map from the city webpage for Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets, showing tomorrow’s detours and special features, and giving us new fodder for one more reminder before the big day arrives: From SW Maryland near Don Armeni, to 63rd SW by Cactus, Alki Avenue will be closed to vehicle traffic tomorrow from 9 am-5 pm (except for an inside lane to be used mostly by the King County Water Taxi shuttle – and the city website notes that extra shuttle service will be added). The day begins with the second annual West Seattle 5K Run/Walk, organized by and benefiting the West Seattle High School PTSA, co-sponsored by local businesses including WSB. If you haven’t registered yet, you can sign up tomorrow morning starting at 8 am by the bathhouse. After the WS5K, a full day of activities unfolds along Alki, starting around 11 am – you can see some of the activity locations listed on the map above; one waterfront business that always goes all-out on the “car-free day” is Coastal Boutique – here’s what they’re planning. If you have any questions about vehicle access and parking, here’s a link to the FAQ on the Summer Streets site.
(Photo courtesy Bob Watford of iSportPhotos)
Two updates from Tim McMonigle of the West Seattle Soccer Club:
Tomorrow is the last day of our spring season. We have been very fortunate to have had great weather on Sundays this season, so hopefully tomorrow will cap the season off well. Also, Zach Scott from the Sounders FC plus the Washington Youth Soccer Hummer will be visiting EC Hughes playfield on Sunday. Zach should be there around 2 pm and stay for about an hour to hang out with the players and watch the games.
Also, a reminder that registration for the fall season runs from June 1-30, and we are expecting our largest registration ever. Please register early. There are also multiple soccer camps being offered in West Seattle this summer. WSSC is sponsoring two UK International camps. You can find this info on the right side of our home page at www.westseattlesoccer.org. If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to wsscboard@gmail.com
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