It started as a means to lose weight.
In a little less than a year since, it has blossomed into a passion to become fit, eat better and reach goals that once seemed impossible for Kent’s Sheryl Sprague.
“Originally, I started out doing a 5k walk,” said Sprague, who has lost more than 100 pounds during the last year and now weighs in at 350 pounds. “Each one I did told me that I could do more than I originally thought I could do. Sometimes, you’re scared and think, ‘Oh gosh, what if I can’t do this?’ Then you do it, and you’re amazed and wonder, ‘What can I do next?’“
The rain came.
But that hardly put any sort of damper on the first-ever ShoWare Shootout 3-on-3 basketball tournament, which played out Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 7-8, amidst grey skies and sporadic rain showers. The 160-team, 16-division tournament that took place in the parking lot of the ShoWare Center brought players from as far away as Yakima and Spokane, Everett and Marysville.
A bounty of mullets, the notion that every truck includes a gun rack, and it’s a city that “doesn’t sleep.”
That’s the information I was given about Kent before I moved to the area a little more than 10 years ago.
First-year Kent-Meridian High football coach Brett Allen and the Royals took the field last week at Foster High in Tukwila during a three-team camp that also included Cleveland High of Seattle.
Allen is a familiar face to the K-M program as he coached wide receivers and linebackers for the team from 2001-2004.
They delivered a big comeback in the state semifinals.But the Kent 9-10 Little League All-Stars couldn’t sustain the momentum on Saturday in the state championship… Continue reading
The 10U Bulldogs baseball team, which is comprised of players from around the Kent Valley and practice at the Diamond Sports Training Center in Sumner, won the Summer Knights IV baseball tournament in Federal Way on Sunday, July 25. The Bulldogs won six straight games, culminating with Sunday's 16-8 victory over the Eastside Jettas. Back row, left to right, coaches Kevin Wright, Jeremy Wright, Charles Agron. Middle row, left to right: Zach Redelf, Gavyn Tinsley, Alex Lambeau, Gabe Casselman, Merlin Emery, Nic Roes, Jacob Booth. Front row, left to right: Jacob Butler, Asher Walker, Dominic Agron, Mark Wright, Riley Rowland.
Jared Mackie couldn't look up or around Saturday at Hartman Park in Redmond. Things were that crowded.
Yet, instinctively, the Kent sophomore-to-be knew this was what Little League baseball was all about.
Call it gut instinct.
Whatever it was, Kent Senior Little League coach Kevin Vallala was right on the money Wednesday night at Redmond's Hartman Park.
"I had a good feeling before the game," the coach said. "I told the players we were going to get 15 hits and win 10-3."
Vallala undershot just a bit.
Eight Seattle Thunderbirds players are scheduled to participate in the 2010 Rob Sumner Hockey Camp at ShoWare Center in Kent from Aug. 16-22.
The players scheduled to be at the camp are goalie Calvin Pickard, defensemen Brenden Dillon and Dave Sutter and forwards Luke Lockhart, Brendan Rouse, Brenden Silvester, Tyler Alos and Marcel Noebels.
Talk about having a day.
Kent’s Matthew Franceschina had an entire week rolled into two hours Sunday afternoon.
Franceschina blasted three home runs and drove in six, leading Kent’s 9-10 All-Stars past Pac West of Burien 10-0 in an opening round game of the state tournament at Shoreview Park in Shoreline.
“I don’t know if I have ever seen that,” said Kent coach Steve Wright. “I’ve seen kids hit two (home runs in a game), but three ... that’s pretty rare.”
Kevin Vallala could sense a momentum shift coming.
But would it happen too late?
Thankfully for the Kent/Chinook Senior All-Stars (ages 14-16), the swing of momentum happened just in time during the opening round of the state tournament on Saturday at Redmond’s Hartman Park.
Exhausted and aching in unfamiliar places, Martin “Mitch” Mitchell uttered three words Monday evening that have come to define his character.
“I did it,” Mitchell said.
Aiesha Goodlow got redemption.
It has been a little more than a month since the recent Kentwood High graduate just missed qualifying for the Class 4A state track and field meet in the 100 hurdles. Goodlow, however, received a second chance of sorts during the Nike Track Nationals, which was held from July 1-4 at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.
They received steady pitching, and delivered air-tight defense, too.
The Kent/Auburn 10-11 All-Star fastpitch team also came through with clutch at-bats. Combine the three and the Kent/Auburn Stars were able to put together a flawless District 10 tournament last month at Federal Ways National Complex, winning three straight games to come home with the championship.
Adrienne Wilson’s opportunity of a lifetime proved to be a whirlwind two-and-a-half week excursion of ups and downs that the Kent transplant will never forget.
By the time it was complete, Wilson was able to celebrate the Fourth of July like never before – in a different country, with a title in hand, and with plenty of new friends.
Big challenges are nothing new to Kent’s Martin “Mitch” Mitchell.
Mitchell, 57, recently quit smoking, an addiction that spanned 40 years.
“It’s the hardest thing I have ever done in my life,” he concedes.
For an encore, Mitchell has signed up to ride in the Seattle to Portland Classic, a 200-mile cycling marathon slated for July 17-18. And he’ll be doing it for a good cause, too. To add motivation and increased incentive to the event, Mitchell has chosen to pedal to Portland for peanut butter.
The United States won the first IFAF Women's World Championship gold medal July 3 with a 66-0 victory over Canada at the Zinkensdamms IP Stadium in Stockholm, Sweden.
They were down, but far from out.
The Kent Little League Senior All-Stars got off on the wrong foot Wednesday afternoon, losing to Soundview/Steel Lake 16-1 in a third-round game of the District 10 tournament at Auburn's Brannan Park.
The Seattle Thunderbirds are excited to announce a new summer photo promotion.
Starting July 1 the T-Birds are encouraging fans to send the team photos of them wearing T-Birds jerseys, hats and t-shirts during the summer.
Today marks the last of the three annual honors we hand out here at the Kent Reporter.
Of the three – the Male and Female Athlete of the Year honors – the Coach of the Year was the most difficult to choose.
Why?
For beginners, it’s nearly impossible to choose one coach who guided his or her respective team to a state title over another coach who did the same thing. During the recent prep sports year, Kentwood’s Jon Aarstad (baseball), Michael Angelidis (boys hoops) and Ingrid Bakke (boys tennis) all led their programs to the top.
Clearly, it has been quite a year in the athletic arena at Kentwood High.
