Emerald Downs season opener slide show
Jasmine’s Melody, a 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred that loves to win races, drew off in the stretch for a 7 ¼-length victory Sunday in the featured $8,700 Chase Secured Birthday Purse for fillies and mares at Emerald Downs.
Veteran speedster Olympic Lights routed six overmatched opponents Saturday by 5 ¼ lengths in the $11,900 American Horse Transportation Purse for older horses at Emerald Downs.
With Robert Skelly riding, Olympic Lights ran 5 ½ furlongs in 1minute, 2.63 seconds on a wet-fast track and paid $12.20, $6 and $4. Charles Essex is the trainer and co-owner with Moon Glow Farms and Dennis Trenkenschuh.
Washington Hall of Fame trainer Jim Penney appears to have great depth this season in the filly and mare division at Emerald Downs.
That certainly was the case Friday evening as a festive opening night throng braved cool and rainy weather to celebrate the beginning of the track’s 16th season.
Repeat?
Kentwood High girls tennis coach Ingrid Bakke would love nothing more from her Conquerors this spring, but she’s well aware of how tough the road ahead will be. And to duplicate last year’s success, when the Conquerors grabbed the league title with a perfect 10-0 mark and went on to win a district title and take second at state is almost unthinkable.
Almost.
“I think all the teams (in league) this year are pretty tough,” Bakke said. “I think we’ll have to have a really special year to repeat.”
Kentwood Kentridge baseball slide show
The Northwest’s premier racing venue springs into action Friday when Emerald Downs begins its 16th season of Thoroughbred racing at 6 p.m.
The 82-day meet continues through Sept. 25, with first post 6 p.m. Fridays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Thursday racing will be added July 14 to Aug. 25.
The Northwest’s premier racing venue springs into action Friday when Emerald Downs begins its 16th season of Thoroughbred racing at 6 p.m.
The 82-day meet continues through Sept. 25, with first post 6 p.m. Fridays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Thursday racing will be added July 14 to Aug. 25.
CONQUERORS: AT A GLANCE
• COACH: Ingrid Bakke, eighth year.
• LAST YEAR: 10-0 in SPSL North play (first), 14-0 overall and second at state.
• TOP RETURNERS: Tess Manthou, jr., third at state in doubles in 2010; Eliana Spero, sr., seventh at state in doubles in 2010; Andrea Hatfield, sr.
FALCONS: AT A GLANCE
• COACH: Ken Finley, first year.
• LAST YEAR: 2-8 in league, fifth place.
• TOP RETURNERS: Kara Ikeda, jr.; Kimmy Williams, jr; Lana Watkins, sr.; Alexandra Moyer, sr.; Tia Vinje, sr.
GIRLS TENNIS: AT A GLANCE
KENT-MERIDIAN ROYALS
• COACH: Steve Walters, first year.
• LAST YEAR: 0-10, sixth in the SPSL North.
They’re young. And in some areas, the Kentridge High girls tennis team may lack experience. But this bunch is plenty talented, too.
“We are definitely young,” said coach Jennifer McIntosh. “We had a ton of seniors last year and now we only have one (on varsity), but I have been really, really pleased.”
And understandably so. The Chargers entered the week unbeaten at 3-0, picking up wins over Kent-Meridian (5-0), Mount Rainier (3-2) and Kentlake (3-2). The power-packed Chargers could not have been more dominant in their March 22 win over the Royals as they received unscored upon victories from Kyana Esber (No. 1 singles), Karissa Lau (No. 2 singles) and with their No. 1 doubles team of Alissa Lee and Katelyn Overland.
Sis's Sis, Emerald Downs' champion 3-year-old filly last year, is among five older fillies and mares entered in Friday's $21,000 allowance feature at 5 ½ furlongs. Sixty-six horses are entered on the eight-race card with trainers Howard Belvoir and Tim McCanna leading the way with six and five horses, respectively.
The Tri-Cities Fever cruised past the Kent Predators 60-42 in a professional Indoor Football League game Sunday in Kennewick.
It has been said that soccer is the world’s game.
One doesn’t have to look any further each afternoon and some evenings than the French Field turf, where the Kent-Meridian High boys soccer team is dribbling, kicking, shooting and passing proof that a variety of nationalities, languages and talent are converging on the field. The Kent-Meridian roster includes players from Uganda, Burma, Congo and Gabon among other distant lands.
Kyle Jones couldn’t bring himself to leave.
Not with this senior class, a group that ushered him into the world of prep soccer three years ago at Kentlake High. Not after all they’ve been through together. And, especially not after the team fell short of its ultimate goal last year.
So despite commuting on a daily basis from his home in Olympia and the fact that his wife will give birth to the couple’s first baby any day now, Jones chose to stick around the Kentlake High soccer pitch for one more year.
In an effort to enhance live, race day exposure, Emerald Downs will add new elements to its TV coverage throughout the 2011 season.
During selected races, Director of Publicity Joe Withee will complement his prerace analysis with a brief interview with a race entrant's trainer or owner, as their horse warms up before post time. The interview will be done live, immediately after the post parade. Withee said the new coverage would give racing fans a fresh take on the upcoming race.
Most horse racing fans have heard of trainers Tim McCanna and Doris Harwood. Both are among the leading trainers in the state, and the statistics prove it.
But how about trainers like Larry Wolf and Dino Apostolou?
• FAVORITE: Jefferson.
• CONTENDERS: Kentwood, Tahoma, Auburn Riverside.
• SLEEPERS: Mount Rainier, Kentridge, Kentlake.
• LEAGUE OUTLOOK: Jefferson returns a loaded bunch, including four first-team all-leaguer returners (Chase Hanson, Kasey Kim, Jimmy Oganga and Isidro Prado-Huerta). Kentwood knocked off the Raiders 2-1 in the season opener, but Jefferson still remains the favorite going forward simply due to the wealth of talent back on the field. Jefferson, which won last year’s league crown by two games, brought back 28 of its 46 goals scored a year ago. To put that number in perspective, no other team in last year’s North scored 28 goals all season. .
The dilemma was clear to Kentridge High boys soccer coach Glenn Walrond entering the spring season.
Play for the present or build for the future?
After a 4-8-4 season in South Puget Sound League North Division play last season, the answer appeared simple.
“Do we let (the younger guys) sit around or do we build?” Walrond said. “The game pace is a lot higher at the varsity level and we need the younger guys to experience that. When we graded guys out (during tryouts), there were a few guys on varsity last year who are on junior varsity (this year) ... we just had some younger guys who graded out a little better.
Getting the soccer season off on the right foot likely meant more to Jared Fuller than anyone else in early March. Because not too long ago Fuller, a center-mid for the Kentwood High soccer team, wasn’t even sure he’d be suiting up at all.
“I thought I was finished,” explained Fuller, a senior.
In a split second, the notion that his days of playing soccer might be over hit Fuller like a ton of bricks in Kentwood’s final game of the season last spring. With the ball in toe and looking to gain breathing room to deliver one of his trademark long shot attempts, Fuller was driven into the ground.
He wouldn’t get up.
