High School Sports Blog

Mason Kelley covers High School Sports for The Seattle Times. Sandy Ringer and Josh Mayers are also frequent contributors to this blog.

November 22, 2009 at 8:47 AM

Washington distance runners take to the Border (Clash)

Posted by Darren Fessenden

Later this morning, the top high school cross country runners from Oregon and Washington will race in the 2009 Border Clash at Nike's headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. The current weather report down there shows the temperature to be in the the mid 40's with humidity approaching 90% and mild winds.

Besides the humidity factor, these conditions look identical to those that the Washington runners endured at the state championships two weekends ago in Pasco. For Glacier Peak freshman Amy-Eloise Neale and Garfield senior Anna Dailey -- the 3A and 4A state winners, respectively -- hopefully that's a good omen.

They headline a Washington contingent that's based upon top state finishes throughout all classifications. Local girl stand-outs include: Northwest School duo Maddie Meyers (1A state champion) and Eliza Rice (1A runner-up), Juanita's Tansey Lystad (third in 3A), Stanwood's Minna Fields (4A runner-up), and Redmond's Devin McMahon (third in 4A). On the boys side, Seattle Prep's Drew O'Donoghue-McDonald (second in 3A) and Redmond's Mack Young (2008 4A state champion) should be in contention.

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November 22, 2009 at 6:49 AM

Reese and Pioneers 'Raise 7 For Matthew' against King's

Posted by Darren Fessenden

There's so much to discuss after a game like what was staged Friday night at Woolsey Stadium. But in Nooksack Valley's 54-47 Class 1A quarterfinal win over King's, another story broke out that superseded even the Pioneers escaping from under a 27-point hole.

First off, however, I need to back up just a bit to clarify that the difference-maker down the stretch for Nooksack Valley was Anthony Reese (and not Quinton deGrasse). Saturday's story (link here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/highschoolsports/2010321889_fessenden21.html) has since been corrected, so that's good. This mistake stemmed from taking the roster at face value: deGrasse was listed as No. 7; Reese wears No. 85.

But for this game, it turned out, Reese opted to go with lucky No. 7 for a touching reason. Here's where the real -- and most important -- story begins.

The Pioneers entered Friday involved in a cause greater than themselves, greater than a chance at reaching the semifinals for the first time since 1975. They were playing for Matthew Newman, the junior quarterback for Highland (Cowiche), who suffered a concussion in a game Sept. 18 and immediately underwent surgery to remove a portion of his skull to help lessen the swelling and pressure around his brain.

Newman is currently at Seattle Children's Hospital, after spending three weeks at Yakima Regional Medical & Cardiac Center. Here are two links if you'd like to get involved in a variety of ways: www.Raise7forMatthew.com and http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/matthewnewman1.

Back to Reese and his tribute to No. 7 for the Highland Scotties. Not only did the Pioneers' all-purpose star honor Newman, he was also seen along with other teammates holding up seven fingers after touchdowns.

There were plenty to go around, as Nooksack Valley's high-octane offense scored 41 points in the second half to shock the host Knights. These gestures go a long way in continuing the onslaught of support being shown to Newman as he enters his seventh week at Children's.

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November 22, 2009 at 12:05 AM