The Mount Baker Crew team had a good showing during the Northwest Regional Regatta in Vancouver, Wash., behind the power of eight Mercer Island residents. Two shells with Islanders among the crew will compete at the National Championship to be held in Ohio next month.
Mercer Island junior Bryce Borer kept going up this season. The pole vaulter’s success culminated with a jump over 15 feet on Friday, earning him a place on the state track and field championship’s highest podium.
Rain and wind couldn’t deter the Mercer Island boys golf team from its second-best finish at state in the program’s history as four Islander golfers combined to take third overall with 73 points.
One player was a surprise on the mound and the other exceeded his team’s highest expectations at the plate. One player threw a no-hitter and the other hit over .500. Both players admit that this year’s playoff appearance, only the second in a decade, was a team effort. But both seniors, Cullen Russell and Joey Scalzo, undeniably made the Islanders exciting again and gave the younger players a glimpse of what is possible.
Riding the elevator to the Safeco Field press box on May 27, I suggested to a glum Seattle Mariners team official that it just might be the night when the struggling club started a 20-game winning streak. As I’m known less for my prescience than my facetiousness, the official responded with something like: “Yeah, right.”
Yet, as the weekend series against Detroit dawned, the M’s — who had been winless during an infamous late-May stretch of seven games — were within 18 of fulfilling my prophecy.
Leroy Lutu and Laura Maruhashi achieved very different things this year in athletics. One guided the boys basketball program back to state prominence and an undefeated regular-season title. The other won the All-Around district title in gymnastics and helped the girls lacrosse program to the state semifinals in her fourth year playing the sport.
There was nothing but liquid sunshine at Islander Stadium on Friday as West Mercer Elementary (421.5 points) won its third All-grade Island Track Meet in a row. Liquid dropped from the sky but the drizzle and wind was met by cheers, painted faces and the glee of elementary students, some getting their first taste of competitive athletics during the event’s 38th year. Island Park scored 206.5 points while Lakeridge finished with 152 in the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation department-sponsored event.
The Mercer Island Little League baseball team, the Rays, held off a late rally by the Angels to win the AA Division Island Championship, 15-11, on May 29 at the Lid Park. The game marked the culmination of a tumultuous two-week playoff between the six teams of the AA Division, comprised mainly of third and fourth-graders from the Island.
Former MIHS nemesis, current NBA star comes to Mercer Island for basketball camp
Islander Michael Wales won a gold medal after several rowers from Mercer Island performed well over the weekend, when they competed in the U.S. Rowing Junior National Championships near Cincinnati, Ohio. Island teens raced as participants in local rowing clubs. Wales rowed for the championship with the Lake Union Crew’s Men’s Lightweight-4 while two women’s boats featuring Islanders from Mt. Baker Crew raced as well.
Something especially scary greeted fans when the Seattle Mariners started their latest home stand, and not just because the inter-league game against the Washington Nationals was on Friday the 13th. Due to a coincidence of hard times in the financial and batting industries, the M’s management was stuck with a promotional event with Washington Mutual sponsoring a giveaway of Adrian Beltre bobbleheads. The significance: Beltre was coming off a 1-22 week, his batting average dropping to .222, the baseball equivalent of the nadir reached by WaMu stock last week.
Yankees repeat as MI Little League Majors Champions
Ryan Pang grew up playing tennis on Mercer Island. During his high school career, Pang made it to state twice as part of doubles teams for the Islanders. That love for tennis has become Pang’s life, and he is committed to spreading the infectious nature of the sport.
