March 2015

By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Not too many seasons ago -- two, to be exact -- Seattle Christan Schools made it a long ways in boys soccer, having gone to the championship game of the 1A WIAA Dairy Farmers Of Washington state tournament for high school play.

"We played Lake Chelan, and they played soccer at a really high level," said Trent Siedenburg, a Warriors' senior captain. "We let in a couple early goals; they had a guy who could dribble and score really well, they had a good team. They played a really high level of soccer. They deserved it."

Final score was in favor of Lake Chelan, 3-1.

SCS, in that 1A title game two seasons ago, went into it, undefeated, according to Siedenburg. But, the team, last year, followed up that stellar campaign with a much lesser mark of 10-7-1, overall, with no return trip to state.

So, what's in store for this season, with a Warriors' team that is very young, with only two seniors that played, that helped them, in a 4-1 loss to host, Foster, in non-league preseason action on Wednesday?
"I think we can be a notch better than last year, but we're young," said David Peters, the Warriors' head coach.

By: Bob Sims

Normandy Park's Brittany McPhee will be playing in her first NCAA tournament game tomorrow, when her team, the fourth -seeded Stanford Cardinal, squares off against No. 13 Cal State Northridge Saturday at Maples Pavillion in Palo Alto, Calif.

The game will be televised on ESPN2 at 3:30 p.m.

McPhee, a freshman guard, has played in 27 games and has started five games for the Cardinal, ranked 14th nationally by Associated Press. She is averaging 3.7 points and 2.3 rebounds a game. She has 14 blocks and 13 steals.

McPhee, a Mount Rainier grad, scored a career-high 24 points against California on Feb. 22. She was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Feb. 23.

By: Tim Clinton

Madelyn Weber of Seattle Christian is among the athletes chosen to play in Saturday's senior all-star girls basketball series to take place at King's High School in North Seattle.

Weber is a member of the Class 1A team that will take on the 2A team at 4 p.m.

The 2B vs. 1B game starts at 2 p.m. and the 3A vs. 4AA at 6 p.m.

Weber is a four-year letter winner in basketball and volleyball at Seattle Christian and has a 4.0 grade point average.

By Ed Shepherd
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Pressure seems to be on this year for Foster, which made it to state last year but lost out early, finishing its season with a tough loss to the South Kitsap Wolves in the first round of the 2A playoffs.

Good news from what's been said so far is a good number of players from that Bulldogs team that lost in state's round one, after having christened themselves as one of the top teams in 2A in the state by getting to that spot, now return a lot of those same players, just a year older.

"Now, we have a lot of experienced seniors," said Nasir Tura, who is in his fourth season as head coach.
Those seniors experienced losing a heartbreaking way to end last season, a shootout loss, against the Wolves, a Kitsap Peninsula area team.

"Even game, pretty much, but, we played better in that game, but we couldn't get the win," said Tura, who graduated from Foster a few years ago, as well as, growing up in the community.

The game began strongly for the Bulldogs before setting into a back and forth match after that against the Wolves at state.

By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Seattle Christian continued its great start to softball season with its second consecutive victory in non league softball action on Wed., March 18.

Abby Hay's bases loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth inning forced home Warrior run number 10 in a five-inning shutout of visiting Seamount 2A Foster.

Seattle Christian scored all the runs it needed in the first inning.

Makenzie May led off with a single followed by a one-baser from Kelli Ronish. Lisa Kumasaka's infield ground out produced a run ahead of Alyssa Baucom's deep blast, one-run double to left field. Hannah Ruffcorn shot a single to plate another run.

Kelli Ronish hammered an RBI triple and Baucom drove home a run on a single as SCS increased its lead to 5-0 in the second inning.

The Warriors steadily connected to add three runs in the third and a single tally in the fourth inning before the fifth inning closure. In the end, Seattle Christian had piled up 16 hits and the entire roster except for injured Taelor Willhoite participated in the win.

By Tim Clinton
SPORTS EDITOR

Boys soccer
West Seattle hosts Cleveland for a 3:30 p.m. match at Walt Hundley on Wednesday as Chief Sealth travels to Eastside Catholic.
Both teams are at home Friday, as West Seattle entertains Eastside Catholic at 3:30 p.m. and Chief Sealth gets a visit from Ballard at 4 p.m.
Highline and Tyee collide on the turf at Highline Memorial at 7:30 p.m. and Evergreen travels to Lindbergh at the same time.
Foster is at Hazen and Mount Rainier at Decatur at 5:30 p.m. and Kennedy Catholic at home facing Renton at 6 p.m.
At 3:30 p.m. Seattle Christian hosts Vashon Island at Valley Ridge.
Tuesday West Seattle goes to Roosevelt at 3:30 p.m. and Chief Sealth hosts Lakeside at 4 p.m., with Mount Rainier at home facing Todd Beamer at 5:30 p.m.
JFK hosts Lindbergh and Tyee travels to Renton at 6 p.m. that day and at 7:30 p.m. Evergreen is at Foster and Hazen at Highline.

Baseball
Evergreen is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. home game against Tyee Wednesday as Kennedy travels to Foster and Tyee hosts Renton.

Dave Montoure, local West Seattle businessman and civic activist has withdrawn from the race for City Council he announced via his Facebook page on Tuesday March 24.

His announcement reads as follows:

Friends, family and fellow small business owners. A little over six-weeks ago, I entered the campaign race for Seattle City Council District 1. It's been a great experience and I have learned a lot from talking to old friends and new acquaintances. However, it is with regret that inform you that I have decided to withdraw from the campaign.
My passion for issues that affect small, independent businesses and the greater prosperity of West Seattle is strong as ever, and I have come to believe that right now, I'm a better advocate as a private citizen than as a politician. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work as simply, Dave.
Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.
Dave Montoure

That leaves Lisa Herbold, Chas Redmond, David Ishii, Pavel Goberman, Amanda Kay Helmick, George Capestany, Phillip Tavel, Tom Koch, Shannon Braddock and Brianna Thomas still running for the position.

The 2015 Annual Westside Awards Breakfast is set for Thursday April 2 at Salty's on Alki with keynote speaker, West Seattleite Mark Tabbutt, Chairman of Saltchuk.

Saltchuk is a Seattle-based diversified transportation company whose local companies include Foss Maritime, Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Carlile Transportation and Interstate Distributor.

Mr. Tabbutt will speak about the region’s commercial and historical ties to Alaska, developments and opportunities in the maritime industry, and the exciting investments his companies are making in clean technologies.

The event will honor three local businesses and one individual who demonstrate success and innovation that contribute to this thriving economic region by attending the breakfast.

The awards to be given are:

• Westside Business of the Year
• Westside Emerging Business of the Year
• Westside Not for Profit Business of the Year
• Westsider of the Year

U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon visited West Seattle Elementary school on Tuesday March 24, to observe successes the school has had with the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) and a focus on local foods.

It was part of a trip to Seattle where he also visited Highline College in Des Moines, Wa., where he announced that Washington State will receive $22 million over the next three years to help unemployed food assistance recipients find well-paying jobs.

Under Secretary Concannon was joined by College administrators, state government officials, business leaders, and others in announcing that Washington, along with several other states, has been selected for a program designed to test innovative ways to help the unemployed or underemployed transition off of government food assistance programs and compete for positions in today’s job market.

CEP, a provision of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, allows schools in high-poverty areas to offer all students school meals at no cost. Benefits include:
· Students have increased access to free, healthy school meals with no stigma, and less time spent in cashier lines and more time to eat.

Last week the City awarded 29 community groups $544,761 in match- funds for neighborhood projects. Two groups from Ballard were beneficiaries: Ballard Chamber of Commerce and Ballard P-patch.

The Ballard Chamber of Commerce received $15,452 to go toward building awareness for parking options in Ballard. Funds will be used for signage, way-finding and strategic marketing.

The Ballard P-patch received $8400 to go toward making the patch ADA accessible.

The Neighborhood Matching Fund (NMF) is a City grant offered for neighborhood-initiated projects. The City awards funds that match other funds raised by community groups.

“These projects are the result of community members collaborating on ways to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood,” said Mayor Murray. “Over its 27-year history, the Neighborhood Matching Fund has been a vital resource for neighborhoods across this city. I’m looking forward to seeing these projects come to life.”