MATT OVERLAND, Kentridge
Grade: Senior.
Sport: Tennis.
He grew up with basketball dreams.
Tennis?
That always has been the second choice of Max Manthou. Yet, when Manthou graduates from Kentwood High next week, the 18 year old will do so as one of the greatest high school tennis players the state of Washington has ever seen.
As much as I enjoy selecting an Athlete of the Year, it’s never an easy task and there’s seldom a cut-and-dry selection.
Kentwood High’s Max Manthou earned top honors this year for a multitude of reasons, most notably, however, is the fact that he came away with six state titles. In all of my years of covering prep sports, I had never seen a kid bring home so many crowns. But Manthou wasn’t just good, he was perfect, finishing with an unbeaten high school mark. That said, academics also played into the final decision and Manthou was just as dominant in the classroom, posting a nearly perfect 3.93 cumulative grade-point average.
The 2010 Rob Sumner Hockey Camp will take place Aug. 16-22 at ShoWare Center in Kent.
Flu-like symptoms slowed down Holly DeHart last weekend at Mount Tahoma High in Tacoma.
But it hardly stopped the Kentwood sprinter from delivering another star-like performance.
After winning a South Puget Sound League North Division title and a district crown, the Kent-Meridian boys track & field team hit a wall during the Class 4A state meet.
Kentwood High's Max Manthou ended Saturday what has been one of the greatest runs in prep tennis history.
And he did it with an exclamation point.
In front of a throng of supporters at Tri-City Court Club in Kennewick, Manthou overpowered Kent Andreason of Skyview (Vancouver) 6-2, 6-3 to claim his fourth straight Class 4A state tennis title.
Avery Kain may not be the ace of the Kentwood High baseball team.
But Saturday night at Safeco Field in the biggest game of his life, Kain certainly pitched like an ace.
Kentwood’s 6-foot-5 righthander allowed just two hits and struck out four in a complete-game gem, leading the Conquerors past the Bombers 8-0 for the Class 4A state championship.
Kentwood’s Rui Li and Kentridge’s Sean McMullen ended their prep golf careers with a bang last week during their respective Class 4A state tournaments.
Li, a three-time state placer, made it 4-for-4, taking second overall after carding a two-day total of 140 (70-70) at Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco. The second-place performance is technically the highest Li has finished in four years at Kentwood. The sweet-swinging Conqueror took 10th as a freshman and sixth last year. As a sophomore, she placed second, but was disqualified from the tournament after a scorecard glitch in which Li reported her own error.
Missed opportunities proved to be the name of the game for the Kentlake High fastpitch team on Saturday a rain-shortened Class 4A state tournament at South End Recreation Area in Tacoma.
Ben Cox delivered in a pinch, Taylor White came through in the clutch, and Austin Voth served up another dominating performance on the mound for the Kentwood High baseball team Friday afternoon.
Add it up and the Conquerors had just enough to overcome Federal Way 3-2 in a Class 4A state semifinal game at Safeco Field.
In a matter of seconds, Kent Hagen’s foot and heart were broken during a pick-up basketball game in January.
Luckily, the Kentwood High golfer’s swing – and hope – remained very much intact. So much so, in fact, that Hagen will be doing more than just competing in this week's Class 4A state tournament at Kennewick’s Canyon Lakes Golf Course just five months after breaking his foot.
She has always has had a knack for aiming high.
Whether it is in the classroom or in the pole-vaulting pit at French Field, Kent-Meridian senior Kelsey Bueno has re-defined what it means to be a student-athlete.
Surprises?
The Class 4A West Central District track and field meet last Friday and Saturday was filled with more than its share of eye-openers.
The Kent-Meridian boys continued their ascension, finishing in a tie with Federal Way for first place in then team race. K-M and Federal Way tallied 66 points apiece, well ahead of third-place Gig Harbor (47.5).
Kentwood's Max Manthou continued his march to a fourth-straight Class 4A state tennis title last week at Sprinker Recreation Center in Spanaway, securing his fourth district crown in No. 1 singles by easily dispatching Gig Harbor's Max Jigantie, 6-2-6-1.
It's not how the Kentlake High fastpitch team envisioned winning a district title, but when rain washed out the semifinal games two innings into those contests West Central District tournament directors canceled the rest of the tournament on Tuesday afternoon.
After several months of searching, Kent-Meridian High finally landed a new head football coach on Monday night.
Brett Allen, who coached wide receivers and linebackers at Kent-Meridian from 2001-2004 and who is an English teacher at Mill Creek Middle School, was officially announced as the new coach on Monday after several weeks of speculation.
After sputtering somewhat toward the end of the season, the Kentwood High baseball team needed an offensive lift.
The Conquerors got one on Saturday at Everett Memorial Stadium in the first two rounds of the Class 4A state tournament.
Behind a slew of home runs, the Conquerors easily dispatched of both Skyline and Mountlake Terrace — 16-4 and 13-2 — to earn a berth in the state semifinals on Friday afternoon at Safeco Field in Seattle. Kentwood (19-3) will play Federal Way (18-5) at 4 p.m. on Friday in the first semifinal while Richland will take on Shorewood in the other half of the bracket. The Class 4A state championship is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday at Safeco.
Getting out to a quick start on Saturday proved to be key for the Conquerors.
“All the offense was pretty nice considering we had lost three games in a row coming into district and state," said Kentwood's Austin Voth, who went five innings on the mound to pick up the win over Skyline. "We really needed to boost our confidence up again and get us going.”
Consider it done.
The fourth-ranked Conquerors (19-3) pounded out 15 hits in the win over the Spartans, including a home run by shortstop Bryant VanEngelenburg. Zach Corpuz added three hits, including a double, while Avery Kain delivered three more hits and three RBIs.
But Kentwood was only getting started, socking three more long balls in its win over Mountlake Terrace. Cash McGuire, Avery Kain and Voth all homered in the semifinal-clinching victory. Kain also worked six strong innings on the mound to earn the win.
"He pitched his best game of the year," said Kentwood coach Jon Aarstad. "It was nice to see that."
Corpuz and Voth collected three hits apiece in the win over Mountlake Terrace.
Kentwood, which is making its sixth state appearance in the last seven years, will be making its first Final Four appearance since 2006. Interestingly, the Class 4A semifinals will have a distinctively South Puget Sound League North Division flavor as the Conquerors will play Federal Way (18-5) for a berth in the championship game. The surprising Eagles knocked off Kamiak (12-6) and Redmond (6-5) on Saturday. Kentwood has beaten Federal Way twice this season. The Conquerors throttled the ninth-ranked Eagles in the season opener March 23, 9-1. In that win, Voth delivered five scoreless innings, allowed just one hit and struck out 10. Kentwood beat Federal Way 7-2 on April 14. Kain went the distance on the mound, allowing two unearned runs and striking out 8.
"It's very hard to beat a good team three times, and we beat them twice," Aarstad said. "We definitely can't look past them."
There is reason for the Conquerors to enter the semifinal contest overconfident.
"It's something we're going to have to deal with this week," Aarstad noted. "Federal Way is a much different team than the one we saw four weeks ago. They're playing a much better brand of baseball now."
Indeed. Since falling to Kentwood in April, Federal Way (18-5) has won 11 straight games. The Eagles will be making their first appearance in the state semifinals since 2003.
As of Sunday night, the plan was to start Voth on the mound Friday and go with Kain on Saturday.
The Seattle Thunderbirds Street Team is entering its sixth summer of promoting the teams. The T-Birds Street Team is a volunteer program that promotes the team at fairs, festivals and parades in the greater King County area during the summer.
MEGAN MCNALLY
Kentwood
Grade: Sophomore.
Sport: Track and Field.
