From the Sidelines

Just got these two press releases came from Justin Grube, an Athletic Communications Assistant at Penn. Dana Bonincontri, who is a sophomore at Penn, was a state champion in 2009 for the Bellevue Wolverines and is a 2009 graduate of Bellevue High School. In only her second season as a college gymnast, Bonincontri has earned a number of accolades and is considered one of the top gymnasts in the Ivy League. More information is available at the Penn Athletics official website.

Photo courtesy of Justin Grube, Penn Athletis

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Penn Gymnastics came into the ECAC Championships with plenty of confidence on its side as the team continued to become more consistent throughout the year. That consistency continued Saturday when the Quakers scored 191.175, which was the team’s fourth time this year in which it scored over 191. Individually, Dana Bonincontri was crowned the All-Around Champion of the meet, scoring a career-best 38.850 in the four events combined. She also led Penn in scoring in each of the four events. In the end, it was Cornell who took the ECAC Team Title as the Big Red squeaked by Penn, scoring just a half point better than Penn on the day. However, the Quakers did manage to finally beat Towson, while also defeating city rivals Temple along with defeats against three other teams in one of the closest ECAC Championships in recent memory.

…Read the rest of this post

Sammamish Rowing Association (SRA) posted outstanding results during the Greenlake Spring Regatta in Seattle on March 19.  In the opening rowing competition of the season, over 200 SRA rowers took part and helped bring home the total points wins in both Juniors and Masters races, winning a total of 19 gold medals in the process.  With crews comprised of adults and teens from Bellevue, Newcastle, Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, North Bend, Woodinville, Seattle and others around the Puget Sound area competed in this annual race, which covers 1000 meters. For more information on the SRA, check out the official website here.

Winning crews and times:

Left-to-right: Paulina Alvarado, Bellevue Katinka Bosch, Medina Megan Hutchison, Snoqualmie Elise Valantine, Bellevue Alanah Bell, Newcastle Ellie Place, Bellevue Erin Antono, Sammamish Sasha Tilles, Redmond Simone Oberholzer (cox), Bellevu

Baseball

Monday, March 21

Bellevue Christian VS University Prep @ Marymoor Park, 6:30pm

Tuesday, March 22

Newport VS Issaquah, 4pm; Sammamish @ Lindbergh, 4pm; Interlake VS Renton, 4pm

Wednesday, March 23

Bellevue Christian VS University Prep @ Marymoor Park, 7:30pm

Friday, March 25

Newport @ Mariner, 4pm; Interlake VS Kennedy, 4pm; Bellevue Christian VS Montesano @ Marymoor Park, 7pm

Saturday, March 26

Sammamish @ Inglemoor, 2pm

Softball

Monday, March 21

Newport @ Interlake, 4pm; Bellevue @ Inglemoor, 6:30pm;

Tuesday, March 22

Sammamish @ Bellevue, 4:30pm; Interlake @ Lake Washington, 3:45pm

Wednesday, March 23

Bellevue Christian VS Life Christian @ Hidden Valley Park, 4pm

Thursday, March 24

*Interlake @ Sammamish, 4:30pm (Little League Day) – All area Little League softball players are invited to come out to the Interlake @ Sammamish fastpitch softball game with parents and friends, wear their uniforms and experience some high school softball action. Players and coaches will be available after the game for a meet and greet. It’s a great way to make a connection with the program, get a closer look at what high school softball entails and build a foundation Sammamish and Interlake softball teams of the future!

Bellevue Christian VS Lindbergh @ Hidden Valley Park, 4pm; Juanita @ Bellevue, 4:30pm

Friday, March 25

Sammamish @ Newport, 4:30pm

• Sammamish 6, Hazen 4-The Totems scored three runs in the sixth inning to overcome a 4-3 deficit and take down Hazen by a final score of 6-4. Joe Giacchetti tossed three shutout innings in relief of starter Paul Heywood to earn the victory…Sammamish 7, Garfield 6 – After surrendering a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning on a Zach Ward two-run base knock that gave the Bulldogs a 6-5 lead, the Totems rebounded by scoring two more in the fifth to take a lead they would not surrender. Craig Sweet finished the day 4-for-4 with 2 RBI and has yet to be retired in the Totems first two games…Sammamish 4, Ballard 1- Totems junior Paul Heywood gave up only five hits and one unearned run to get the victory for Sammamish while freshman sensation Joe Giachhetti earned the save… Newport 7, Eastside Catholic 2 – Senior UW commit Jared Fisher led the way for the Knights in their season opener at Husky Ballpark, striking out four while surrendering no hits in four innings of work. Fisher also went 2-3 at the plate with a triple, knocking in four runs in his team’s 7-2 victory over Eastside Catholic. Junior Nate Anderson went 3-3 including a RBI for the Knights and also scored two runs scored…Mercer Island 2, Newport 0 – Mercer Island junior Max Dammeier out-dueled University of Oregon-bound Cole Wiper to help his team to a 2-0 win. Dammeier allowed only one hit and walked two while striking out six in five innings…Newport 8, Kelso 0- Billy Sahlinger, a junior, struck out six in five innings of three-hit baseball to get the win for the Knights. Both Jared Fisher and Curtis Kojima knocked in two runs in the victory…Bothell 4, Bellevue 3 (8 inn.) – The Cougars scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to earn the victory over Bellevue. Brady Mickelson tossed a couple of scoreless innings to get the win for the Cougars…Eastlake 6, Interlake 2…Ballard 6, Interlake 1- Senior pitcher Danny Thompson struck out five and allowed only two hits while striking out five in four innings of work to pick up the win for the Beavers.

• The Bellevue Christian boys and girls track and field teams competed at the Rainier “Icebreaker” Invitational this past weekend with the girls taking first place and the boys finishing in second. The following link has results for the meet.
  http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/MeetResults.aspx?Meet=115692#301

• The Wolverines softball team used excellent defense and junior Emily Fleischman struck out five in the shutout of Newport. Lisa Bennett went 2-3 for Bellevue and also scored a run in the win.

• Girls Tennis, Interlake 6     Sammamish 1…No. 1 Singles Alysha Dhami(I) def. Malia Lum(S)  6-7(7-1), 6-0,6-3…No. 2 Singles Isabelle Long(I) def. Marine Lebrec(S) 6-0,6-3…No.3 Singles Maggie Locke(I) def. Lydia Rebrak(S) 7-5,6-1…No.4 Singles Chelsea Bucklin(I) def. Chin Tang(S) 6-2,6-0…No.1 Doubles Ashly Wall/Ella Kuzmenko(S) def. Claire Covner/Niyati Raghavan(I) 2-6,7-5,7-5…No.2 Doubles Amy Yasutake/Irina Strenytska(I) def. Demri Horton/Sarah Baker(S) 6-4,6-0…No.3 Shadine Rassaian/Kathryn Joy(I) def. Maha Ghandour/Hannah Bynum(S) 6-3,6-0

• In Girls Division II lacrosse, Amelia Chirichigno, Erin Saunderson and Marlena Masterlo each netted three goals for Lake Sammamish, who overcame a four-goal halftime deficit to slide past Forest Ridge 9 – 8  on Monday. Haley Meier and Kelly Brennan each had 2 goals and Camila Gomez had 13 saves for Forest Ridge in the loss…Camille Sullivan scored 4 goals as Bellevue East earned  a 13 – 6 win over Mercer Island on Monday.
• The Bulldogs baseball team swept Lower Columbia by scores of 9-8 and 5-4 on Saturday, March 5…In game two, Jake Collier struck  out seven without giving up a hit in four innings of relief work in the 5-4 win…Sunday, March 6, Bellevue split a doubleheader against Green River losing 3-2 before winning the nightcap 6-2…On March 8, Bellevue travelled to Yakima Valley and swept another doubleheader on the road by scores of 13-5 and 7-2…On March 12, the Bulldogs and Tacoma Titans played one nine-inning game with Tacoma holding on for a 7-6 win…Bellevue’s next baseball games will be a home doubleheader against Pierce College on Saturday, March 19 at noon.
• Bellevue College softball started their 2011 season by taking two games from South Puget Sound Community College 10-0 and 16-3 on Tuesday, March 8…The Bulldogs face Grays Harbor in another non-league match-up this coming Friday, March 18.  Games will be played at home, starting at 2 p.m.
• The Bulldogs took on the Western Washington women’s tennis team March 6 and came out the winners, 7-2…Bellevue’s Anissa Bryant-Smith, Erica Leong, Amber Portka, and Kendra Maeser handled singles wins, while Bryant-Smith/Maeser, Jazmin Ahayat/Martha Santos, and Maeser/Jenessa Reid won the doubles for BC…Sunday, April 3, will be the next matches for Bellevue women’s tennis taking on Willamette University at 9:30 a.m., then league rival Shoreline at 3:15 p.m.

Bellevue College will play host to the third annual Xfinity Challenge this Friday. The showcase will consist of four basketball games, with seniors playing against other seniors and underclassmen facing off in both boys and girls action.

Five seniors from Bellevue’s 3A state runner-up team will play in the Xfinity Challenge this Friday at Bellevue College. Will Locke, John Ahrens, Evian Richard, Kendrick Van Ackeren and Nate Sikma will all suit up for the 3A White squad and will face their former coach, Chris O’Connor, who will be at the helm for the 4A team. Cole Walton, a junior post player from Bellevue will play in the boys underclassmen game and Katie Savard, a junior guard also from Bellevue will participate in the 3A girls underclassmen game.

Newport will be represented in the boys senior game by Cole Wiper and in the senior girls game by Chanel Cambronero. Chanel Dotson will play in the girls underclassmen game.

For Sammamish, George Valle and John Steinberg will play for the 3A team in the underclassmen game. Kelly Darling will play in the senior girls game representing the Totems.

The teams are comprised of players from both the 4A and 3A KingCo conference and are led by the coach of the year selections from 2010-2011. The 3A senior boys will be Billy Rodgers of Ballard and the 4A senior boys will be coached O’Connor. J. Jay Davis (Skyline) will lead the 3A underclassmen and Gavin Cree (Mercer Island) will be on the 4A underclassmen’s sideline. Sam Lee of Juanita will coach the 4A seniors while Scott Bullock from Woodvinville will take the 3A seniors for the girls. Cory Shepard will coach the 4A underclassmen girls and John Augustavo will take the 3A underclassmen girls.

The first game of the evening will be the girls underclassmen gane, which will begin at 4pm.

The Bellevue boys soccer team opened their season last night at home against the Skyline Spartans with the contest ending in a 2-2 draw.

Mitch Johnson got the Wolverines on the board first with a penalty kick in the 19th minute, which was the only goal scored in the first half of play.

After the intermission, Braxton Griffin netted an unassisted shot in the 57th minute to tie the game before Brett Hightower gave the advantage back to the home team with a goal of his own 13 minutes later with an assist from Ryan Harber. But Griffin would strike again in the 76th minute off an assist from a teammate to knot the match back up at two goals apiece.

Bellevue is led by head coach David R. Smith, who brings an impressive soccer pedigree that includes stints with internationally renowned soccer power Manchester United among others. Smith is also the owner and coaching director of Elite Soccer Development Program, which runs soccer clinics and camps for area youths of all skill levels.

Smith and the Wolverines return to the pitch this Friday at 7:30pm on the campus of Mt. Si High School.

Bellevue High School Varsity Soccer Roster
# Last First Class
3 Beloff Reid Sr
14 Bugbee Bennett Frsh
18 Byargeon Erik Frsh
16 Chabal Alex Soph
4 Costarella Adrian Sr
15 Ellenhorn Robbie Jr
6 Girling Evan Sr
12 Halverson Cutler Soph
11 Harber Ryan Soph
7 Hightower Brett Sr
8 Jackson Garret Frsh
9 Johnson Mitchell Jr
10 Lovas David Sr
13 Lyon Max Sr
17 Malinov Denis Jr
2 Mora Cole Soph
5 Spichak Pavel Jr
1 Vascovitz Kyle Sr

The Bellevue Reporter sports blog is back and will return to regularly scheduled programming shortly!

Just checked in with Newport baseball coach Hal DeBerry and his two aces, Cole Wiper and Jared Fisher. The Knights are looking to make their way back to the state tournament in 2011 after missing out last season. Along with Wiper and Fisher, DeBerry will run out an exceptionally experienced group that includes a total of eleven seniors and no sophomores.

I also met with Bellevue baseball coach Jordan Nilsen, who is entering his second season as the skipper for the Wolverines. Without a true power-hitter in the middle of his lineup, Nilsen spoke at length about the importance of his team’s mental approach to the game and their ability to manufacture runs.

A Bellevue High School alumnus himself, Nilsen is looking to develop a cohesion in the program with fellow alumni on staff and a group that is determined to return to the top of 3A KingCo this season.

Pitching is another area where the Wolverines believe they can present probems for opponents and the staff is led by Jeff Van Orman, a power-throwing righty who is coming off Tommy John surgery. Van Orman is a California transplant and has not been able to throw for two complete seasons as a result of his injury.

Check back with the Bellevue Reporter for in-depth previews and analysis for each of the Prep baseball teams in Bellevue.

Today is my last day with the Bellevue Reporter newspaper. If you haven’t heard, I’m leaving the paper to begin a new adventure. Here’s my final column for the paper – a going away of sorts.

While a replacement hasn’t been named yet, I assure you you’ll be in good hands with the quality candidates in the running. I’m sure they’ll take over this space soon. I hope you treat him or her as well as you treated me.

I’ll still be around though. If anyone wants to reach me, they can email at Joel.Willits@gmail.com or find me on Twitter @Joel_Willits.

I just want to thank all of you readers for making my time here so great. I’ll miss interacting with all of you.

We’ll have much more coming in the next few days, but here’s a look at the weekend and all the state happenings.

-Newport won the Class 4A state gymnastics title. Click the link to read more on that.

-Bellevue’s Jackie Hamilton tied for second on the beam (9.4) and placed third in the bars (8.9) in the 3A/2A individual gymnastics meet on Saturday.

-Eldon Cummings set a meet record in the 100 free (48.33 seconds), claiming a state title and helping Interlake finish second at the Class 2A swim and dive championships at the King County Aquatic Center. The Saints 200 medley relay team of Cummings, Alex Rockwell, Victor Hsiao and Yuji Nelson claimed a state title with a meet-record time of 1:37.35. Rockwell won the 50 free in 22.13. Sehome won the team title.

-Bellevue continued its string of upsets with a 66-48 victory over No.3 Seattle Prep in the Sea-King 3A District Tournament championship. Bellevue gets the district’s No.1 seed to state and will play at Bellevue College.

-Interlake’s Jacob Marks was the area’s highest finisher at the Mat Classic, taking second in the 152-pound weight class. Marks was pinned by Cheney sophomore Elias Mason in the final.

Just call them the Upset Kids.

The Bellevue boys basketball team, which beat No.2 Rainier Beach on Tuesday to qualify for state, did it again last night. The Wolverines knocked off No.1 O’Dea in the semifinals of the Sea-King 3A District tournament at Bellevue College. Bellevue’s 79-72 victory propels the Wolverines into Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. title game against No.3 Seattle Prep.

Will Locke scored a game-high 27 points for No.7 Bellevue (20-5) in the win over the Irish (21-3). O’Dea scored seven three-pointers in the first half but Bellevue kept things close before taking over in the second half.

Here’s a look at the updated brackets:
Boys Bracket

Saturday, Feb. 12 – Loser out
Game 1: No.3 Seattle Prep 77, Mount Si 45
Game 2: No.10 Chief Sealth 44, Eastside Catholic 42
Game 3: No.7 Bellevue 82, West Seattle 60
Game 4: Lake Washington 67, Lakeside 63

Tuesday, Feb. 15
Game 5: No.3 Seattle Prep 61, Franklin 51
Game 6: Chief Sealth 68, No.9 Mercer Island (18-4)
Game 7: No.7 Bellevue 67, No. 2 Rainier Beach 63
Game 8: No.1 O’Dea 78, Lake Washington 71

Thursday, Feb. 17
Game 9 – No.3 Seattle Prep 51, Chief Sealth 48
Game 10 – No.7 Bellevue 79, No.1 O’Dea 72

Friday, Feb. 18 – Loser out
Game 11 – Franklin (13-10) vs. No.8 Mercer Island (18-5)
Game 12 – No.2 Rainier Beach (16-6) vs. Lake Washington (15-10)

Saturday, Feb. 19
Game 13 – Chief Sealth (19-7) vs. No.1 O’Dea (21-3) (winner third, loser fourth)
Game 14 – Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner (winner fifth, loser out)
Game 15 – No.3 Seattle Prep (21-4) vs. No.7 Bellevue (20-5) (winner first, loser second)

Girls Bracket

Saturday, Feb. 12 – Loser out
Game 1: Mercer Island 59, Bainbridge 39
Game 2: Seattle Prep 49, Nathan Hale 37
Game 3: Liberty 41, Bishop Blanchet 30
Game 4: No.7 Juanita 51, Franklin 49

Tuesday, Feb. 15
Game 5: Mercer Island 65. No.5 Cleveland 62
Game 6: Seattle Prep 52, No.7 Mount Si 43
Game 7: Lakeside 42, Liberty 27
Game 8: No.1 Holy Names 74, No.8 Juanita 41

Thursday, Feb. 15
Game 9 – Mercer Island 57, Seattle Prep 45
Game 10 – No.1 Holy Names 62, Lakeside 29

Friday, Feb. 18 – Loser out
Game 11 – No.5 Cleveland (19-5) vs. No.7 Mount Si (17-6)
Game 12 – Liberty (16-9) vs. No.8 Juanita (18-6)

Saturday, Feb. 19
Game 13 – Seattle Prep (16-8) vs. Lakeside (15-9) (winner third, loser fourth)
Game 14 – Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner (winner fifth, loser out)
Game 15 – Mercer Island (17-10) vs. No.1 Holy Names (24-0) (winner first, loser second)

The Newport boys kept their season alive last night, beating Skyline 53-46 in a loser-out game in the KingCo 4A tournament. The Knights (16-8) will face either Lake Stevens or Arlington on Saturday in a winner-to-state, loser-out game. The game will be at Newport.

The Knights trailed 18-4 early against Skyline, but Newport went on a 27-8 run to help them take the lead. Sophomore Isaac Dotson scored a game-high 18 points.

If Newport can win Saturday, they will qualify for state for the first time since 2002.