March 2015

By Georgie Bright Kunkel

No, I don’t really want to return to the age of dinosaurs because according to the experts there weren’t any people in the beginning. But I would like to improve conditions in this techie world of ours. You have read what I have written about the complexity of life in the corporate, urban world. I am living it so I know what it takes to move mountains to effect change to serve more of humanity. I know that you have all experienced life in this complex world and some of you have given up trying to get all your needs met. Just think, the fat cats who escape into their ivory towers at the top are far removed from people who march for improved conditions for everyone.

By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

And, they're off!

The soccer teams of the Highline Public Schools played in a four-team jamboree where the Tyee Totems took the crown, with two wins, but the Evergreen Wolverines did respectable, getting a loss but also a comeback tie in the event that kicked off the high school preseason into full stride on the Highline Memorial turf Saturday.

Of teams there, Highline, Mount Rainier, Tyee and Evergreen, each team only played two of the other teams. This is just a primer event, a feel-out process, for coaches to experiment with lineups and players to play in a game-like situation.

"Teams have to have eight practices in before the jamboree," said Justin Kesterson, the Highline District Events Manager, who oversees security and things for all events at the stadium. "Typically, jamborees are before competition, it's more of a tune-up, if you will."

These games do not count toward teams' overall records. Also, games are considerably shorter than a 80-minute regular season game, that includes a halve after 40 minutes of play. In jamboree, games are 20 minutes total, with no halftime break.

By Bob Sims

Jordan McPhee got the call and responded.

The 5-foot-10 freshman guard came off the bench to score 11 points and haul in seven rebounds -- each career highs -- to help lift the Seattle Pacific Falcons to a 77-62 win Friday over Humboldt State in the NCAA II women's basketball tournament opener at Anchorage, Alaska.

The Falcons lost to Cal Poly Pomona in the semifinal, 90-74, on Saturday night. McPhee, a Mount Rainier graduate, had four rebounds, three points and two steals in the game.

The sixth-seeded Falcons finished their season at 22-7.
The season also ended abruptly for the top-ranked Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves, and Kennedy Catholic graduate Alli Madison.

The Seawolves (29-2), playing on their home court in Anchorage, were upset Friday by Point Loma, 64-63, thus extinguishing a 17-game winning streak. Madison had six points and three points in the game.

It ended a stellar career for Madison at Alaska-Anchorage. She was key player in helping that program flourish during her four-year stay there.

By Bob Sims

Mitch Penner picked the right time to play one of his best games of the year.
Penner exploded for 15 second-half points to help spark seventh-seeded Seattle Pacific University to a big 81-69 upset win over 16th-ranked BYU-Hawaii in the opening game of the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament Friday in Azusa, Calif.

The Falcons, however, lost to 21st-ranked Cal Baptist 78-77 in the semifinal on Saturday night, ending their season at 24-8. Penner, a Kennedy graduate, had 15 points in that game.

Against BYU-Hawaii, Penner had scored seven points in a decisive 15-0 run in the second half to ignite the Falcons. He began and ended the run with his scoring.
Penner, a 6-foot-5 junior forward had a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds. He hit 5 of 9 from the field and 8 of 9 at the free-throw line.

It was Penner's interior defense that most impressed his coach, Ryan Looney.

By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Committed.

That word seems apt to describe the Highline Pirates' boys soccer team of players as they go into the 2015 season that just commenced, with a split of games, a tie versus Evergreen and a loss to Mount Rainier, in the season-opening jamboree at Highline Memorial on Saturday.

How did the Pirates do last season?

"The team finished mid-table," said head coach, Eduardo Millan, speaking in a thick, South American accent, as he should since he hails from Venezuela. And, there, growing up, Millan played at a very high youth level, having been on the prestigious, U-15, U-17, ages, Venezuelan national team.

Millan is in his second season coaching Highline.

Finishing 'mid-table,' if one does not know that term, as, it's pretty gritty soccer-speak, is when a team finishes in the middle of the standings of a given league. So the Rams finished with an average season last year in the Seamount League.

So, not a great season for the Pirates. Not terrible, but could have been better.

By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

The Tyee Totems competed against two other teams in the four-team, Highline Public Schools 2015 Jamboree, and were the only team of the field of four squads, to win both its abbreviated, 20-minute games.

The Totems scored a 3-0 win over Evergreen and beat Mount Rainier, 1-0, at Highline Memorial on Saturday.

Jamboree is a little different than anything else, for high school. As the above format notes, it's much shorter than regulation 80-minute games, and, also, jamboree games have no halves, and, technically, do not count on a team's overall record.

"A good test," said Totems coach Seyti Sidibay of the jamboree.

He takes over the helm at the varsity level for the Sea-Tac area school, after last season as the junior varsity coach.

The Totems play their first real game of their regular season on March 18, a non-league match-up against Mount Rainier, at 7:30 pm at Highline Memorial. Then, the Totems play their opening Seamount League season game against Evergreen on March 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Highline Memorial.

By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Jamboree!

It's the unofficial start of many high school sports season, and soccer's no exception.

The Mount Rainier boys soccer team participated in that very beginning stage of things, playing shortened games, beating Highline, 1-0, and, losing to Tyee, 1-0, on the Highline Memorial turf Saturday.

"Testing out some stuff," said Rams' coach Steve Mohn of these jamboree games that are a considerably shorter time frame -- 20 minutes -- than the 80 minutes of regular season games. And there are no halftimes in jamboree.

"Teams have to get in eight practices before the jamboree. They, typically, have jamborees before competition, more of a tune-up, if you will," said Justin Kesterson, the Highline District Events Manager, who oversees security and all other things for Highline Memorial events.

Coach Mohn, whose Rams team does not play in the Seamount League like Tyee, Highline and Evergreen, who all were at this jamboree, but does play in the 4A South Puget Sound League's Northwest Division, gave his take on jamboree.

By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Seattle Christian has a multitude of reasons for why it can reprise its role as state participants following last year's banner season.

After being co-champions of the Nisqually 1A League last season plus beating Cedar Park 8-1 in the tie-breaker game, the Seattle Christian girls softball team went on to win the Tri-District tournament championship plus going 1-2 at state for ninth place.

SCS opened state action by defeating Medical Lake 10-8 before losing to Elma 14-0 and Okanogan 5-4.
Returning 15 of 17 players and 8 of 9 starters, the Warriors enthusiastically look to return to state action at an even higher caliber of play.

"This remains a young (two seniors) but fairly experienced team that is looking to return to state action for the fourth time in five years," said SCS coach Rick Ronish. "We have three solid pitchers and solid backups in nearly all positions."

High School

Baseball
Seattle Christian hosts Tyee for a 3:45 p.m. game Thursday and Mount Rainier visits Kent-Meridian at 4 p.m.
Kennedy Catholic drops in on Davis at 3 p.m. Friday and West Valley of Yakima at 6:30 p.m., with West Seattle going to Rainier Beach at 3:30 p.m. and Chief Sealth hosting Ingraham at 4 p.m.
Mount Rainier goes to Kentlake at 4 p.m. Friday and Seattle Christian to Auburn-Mountainview at 7 p.m.
JFK comes home to play Roosevelt at 3 p.m. Saturday, then Monday at 3:30 p.m. West Seattle hosts O'Dea and Chief Sealth goes to Franklin.
SCS is at Vashon and Tyee at Kent-Meridian at 4 p.m. that day, before Mount Rainier hosts Thomas Jefferson at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Fastpitch
Kennedy hosts Seattle Prep at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and Highline visits Lincoln at 4 p.m.
Friday's schedule has Highline at Decatur and West Seattle at Mountain View at 4 p.m., SCS at Auburn-Mountainview at 6 p.m. and Chief Sealth at Eastside Catholic at 7 p.m.
Mount Rainier hosts JFK at 12 p.m. Saturday and West Seattle goes to Evergreen of Vancouver at 2 p.m.

Tools and refrigerator taken from jobsite

On March 3, Seattle Police officers were dispatched to a home on the 7500 block of 28th Avenue Northwest. The complainant told officers that all of his tools were taken from a locked garage. The complainant was a contractor in the middle of a renovating project. A thief cut the padlock that secured the garage. Tools taken were a Blue Graco Paint Sprayer ($2500) and a Red Troybuilt 8KW generator ($1,000). The burglar also took a stainless steel Whirlpool Refrigerator ($3,000). The complainant reported the net value of all the tools and refrigerator taken to be around $20,000. The complainant also told officers that a few days priors to the incident he had hired two subcontractors from a local company to waterproof the basement. He said the contractors completed the work and came back with two other individuals. The complainant thought the men had no reason to come back to the site. According to the complainant, they were the only other contractors that knew he was storing the tools at the site.

More tools taken from home