Kent-Meridian’s Alexia Martin may just be a freshman.
But last Thursday at Fort Steilacoom Park in the South Puget Sound League 4A sub-district meet, she ran like a veteran.
Root beer has mostly given way to orange soda for Michael Christiansen.
But the Kent-Meridian volleyball coach couldn’t be any happier with the change in soft drinks. It simply means the Royals are winning. Drinking an orange soda after victories has become tradition for Christiansen. And root beer?
Well, that comes after defeat.
This year, the recipe for success for the Kentridge tennis team was a simple one: Combine a strong core of talented players in a program with a long-standing tradition of excellence and spice it up with a heaping helping of team unity and spirit – and voilá, an SPSL North team title and a perfect 16-0 season record.
In dire need of another win, Kentridge delivered on Friday night at Auburn Memorial Stadium.
Behind a stout defensive performance and a pair of early touchdown runs from junior running back Alex Tyson, the Chargers turned back Auburn Riverside 28-6 in a South Puget Sound League North Division game
She had plenty of choices.
But when it came down to it for Kentwood High basketball star Lindsey Moore, the University of Nebraska just seemed like the right decision.
“I went out there, I checked it out twice and found it was the right fit for me,” admitted Moore, who recently made a verbal committment to the Big 12 university.
The rain couldn’t do it.
Nor could hail, wind or a highly-talented Kentridge team.
Such has been the case this year — and last — for the Kentwood boys golf team.
The Conquerors, behind their usual blend of talent and depth, continued to deliver last week, coming from behind to beat Kentridge in a South Puget Sound League North Division match, 83-73, at Fairwood Golf and Country Club.
The trifecta didn’t quite happen for the Auburn High football team on Friday night at French Field.
But win No. 50 for seventh-year coach Gordon Elliott did.
Behind the three-pronged rushing attack of Chris Young, Austin Embody and Jeff Gouveia, the Trojans steamrolled to 449 yards and six touchdowns on the ground in a 42-7 South Puget Sound League North Division victory against Kentlake.
Jefferson girls soccer coach Wade Webber had a pretty good idea Tuesday’s match against Kentlake would be a low-scoring affair.
“We had seen them play against Kentridge ... and it made some things come into a little clearer focus in regards to their formations,” he said. “They look a lot like us. They are difficult to score on and play good defensive ball.”
The Kentridge boys tennis team hasn’t yet mathematically clinched its second straight South Puget Sound League North Division title.
But at 11-0, the goal is certainly within reach.
It played out like a game of cat and mouse.
The Kentwood High volleyball team has been on that kind of run the last four years, often appearing to toy with its opponents before finishing them off. And Wednesday night’s South Puget Sound League North Division showdown against rival Kentridge was no different.
Rogers 40, Kentlake 13: Cody Arp and Jordan Smith each caught touchdown passes, but it wasn’t enough for the Falcons (3-1, 3-2) in a nonleague loss to the Rams.
Wins and zeroes continued to pile up for Kentwood’s girls soccer team last week.
The Conquerors, who opened the week ranked eighth in the state poll, upended Auburn Riverside, 1-0, on Thursday and continued the onslaught on Saturday with a 10-0 drubbing of Kent-Meridian.
Another game, another shutout.
Such is life these days for the eighth-ranked Kentwood High girls soccer team.
Wins have been few and far between in past seasons for the Kent-Meridian volleyball team.
But even before the season began, third-year K-M coach Michael Christiansen has preached that this year’s team is different.
The Royals proved as much Tuesday night, knocking off perennial power and South Puget Sound League North Division foe Auburn Riverside in four games: 25-16, 25-20, 24-26 and 25-17.
They admittedly came into Tuesday night’s South Puget Sound League North Division volleyball match against upstart Tahoma a bit out of sync.
But the Kentlake Falcons certainly found their rhythm before it was too late, using big matches from senior hitters Sarah Ralph and Melissa Kozy to knock off the Bears in five games, 25-18, 16-25, 21-25, 25-22 and 15-13.
In their four years together, a whole lot of depth has added up to a whole lot of nothing for the seniors on the Kentridge girls swim team.
But it’s a good nothing:
Because this group has nothing in the loss column.
Just three games into the football season, the Kentlake High football team is doing something it fell short of in previous years.
For nine straight years, the Taylor Trophy has been out of the Auburn High display case only long enough to be carted to the annual football game between the Trojans and Kent-Meridian.
The South Puget Sound League North Division just got a whole lot tougher on the volleyball court.
