In many ways, 14-year-old Islander T.J. Blackburn is like other kids his age: an eighth-grader, athletic and studious. But unlike most of his counterparts, Blackburn recently spent three days wrapped in Goretex heading for the summit of Mount Rainier.
Former Mercer Island High School basketball player Quin Snyder was named the new head coach of the Austin Toros basketball team last week.
The Mercerwood Shore Club pushed its win streak to 20 meets in a row, including its three consecutive Midlakes league-championship victories, with a 423-280 win over Newport Hills Thursday. But the return of the Mercer Island Beach Club to the top level of Midlakes competition and Mercer Island Country Club’s return to prominence has reheated a once fiery, yet friendly, three-way rivalry on the Island.
The annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be run by different organizers this year and there are a lot of changes in store for the event that normally “tips off” Summer Celebration. Mercer Island High School Girls and Boys Booster Clubs are taking the reigns in conjunction with the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Department this year, as the tournament will be held in the Community Center at Mercerview’s gymnasium instead of at the Lid Park on Friday, July 13.
The pressure to win for any high school coach is high. But in a sport where the team has won eight state titles in 17 years, that pressure becomes measured like G-forces.
The ebb and flow of sports can make fans joyous one minute and heartbroken the next. For the Mercer Island senior softball team, the Rockers, that concept has caught up with the perennial league champs.
The second of three meets between Mercer Island Midlakes swim teams took place Thursday with the Mercerwood Shore Club extending its winning streak to 21 consecutive meets by defeating rival Mercer Island Beach Club, 522-186.
Reporter staff
During the past three years the Mercerwood Shore Club has not lost a Midlakes swim meet. But the one team that has posed the biggest challenge to the Manta Rays is Edgebrook, twice nearly ending the Shore Club’s win streak. Mercerwood again showed why its run of now 22 consecutive victories is not a fluke as they defeated their biggest league rival 385-321, despite low swimmer attendance, hot temperatures and hostile surroundings Thursday.
Reporter staff
The Mercer Island Girls fifth grade Select Team participated in a Shooting Clinic with the UW Husky Women’s Basketball Team and their new coaching staff, led by new head coach Tia Jackson. The girls won this clinic by selling the most tickets to the student vs. teacher game last spring.
As a kid growing up in Mercer Island, Alex Sirianni wanted nothing more than to play football for Mercer Island High School.
Thursday, July 5
