Today marks the last of the three annual honors we hand out here at the Reporter.
Of the three – the Male and Female Athlete of the Year honors – the Coach of the Year was the most difficult to choose.
Why?
To start with it’s nearly impossible to choose one coach who guided his or her respective team to a state title over another coach who did the same thing. During the recent prep sports year, Kentwood’s Jon Aarstad (baseball), Michael Angelidis (boys basketball) and Ingrid Bakke (boys tennis) all led their programs to the top.
Clearly, it has been quite a year in the athletic arena at Kentwood High.
We didn’t flip a coin or draw straws before we selected Aarstad.
No, however, that would have been a bit easier and considerably less time consuming. Instead, we simply compiled the list, broke down the accomplishments of each coach, and made a judgment call. We went with Aarstad because of the simple fact that Kentwood’s baseball team graduated its top pitcher Alexander Lee, and lost its No. 2 ace Kent Hagen, to a broken leg, yet the Conquerors still won a state title.
In addition, Aarstad didn’t have the best player in the state on his team to lean upon as Angelidis (Joshua Smith) and Bakke (Max Manthou) both did.
Still, we can’t stress enough how close of a final call it was.
These coaches – and essentially each one we have ever worked with while in the business – put in more hours than we believe most people realize. There’s practice, games, game scouting, breaking down film and, of course, our constant phone calls to deal with. Through it all, none of them ever complained about a lack of coverage, and gave us their time at a moment’s notice.
With all that in mind, we have to give the rest of those up for nomination an additional tip of the cap in what we’re calling the Reporter’s Elite Eight.
Greg Kaas, Kentlake
There isn’t a classier coach around than Kentlake’s Greg Kaas, who took over a very good program from Mike Larabee in 2002 and hasn’t missed a beat. The Falcons took fourth two years ago and missed the state tournament for the first time in six years in 2009, but Kaas managed to get them right back on track as Kentlake won a share of the South Puget Sound League North Division title this spring, posting a 15-1 league mark.
The Falcons were the only area fastpitch team to qualify for state, and should make a strong run again next season. Kaas returns all but two players — pitcher Nikole Weber and third baseman Brooke Evans — from a team that won 19 straight after an early season loss to Tahoma.
“I have had a blast this year,” Kaas said after the Falcons were eliminated by Richland in the state tournament May 29.
“In all of my years of coaching … this team has really reached its potential. There’s not a lot of groups you can say that about. And to bring Kentlake fastpitch back (to state). I love that fact that it wasn’t just one person.”
In nine seasons, Kaas has an impressive 196-62 record and four league titles, and they have been to the state tournament seven out of his nine seasons.
The most impressive aspect, however, in regard to how Kaas runs his program is the rapport and professionalism he has with his players. These kids will do just about anything on the diamond for their coach, and it shows.
Ingrid Bakke, Kentwood
Talk about success. Few enjoyed a better run than Bakke this year, both in the fall and in the spring. In the fall, she guided the Kentwood boys tennis team to a second-place league finish, a run that was followed up in the spring with the program’s first-ever state team title.
Bakke, however, wasn’t finished with the boys. She also guided Kentwood’s girls team to a league crown and a second-place finish at state in the spring.
Steve Roche, Kentwood
Roche, who juggles both boys and girls track, has churned out multiple top-tier athletes the last few years.
A true ambassador of the local track scene, Roche guided Kentwood’s girls team to its first-ever South Puget Sound League North Division title as it went a perfect 5-0. This accomplishment deserves special mention considering when Roche took over five years ago, only 13 girls turned out for the team.
In addition to the league title, Kentwood also placed a school-best sixth at the state meet and should be back for more next year as it will return standouts Holly DeHart (sprints) and Alyx Toeaina (throws).
Michael Angelidis, Kentwood
Talk about going out on a high note. Angelidis did just that, guiding Kentwood’s boys basketball team to its second class 4A title in school history.
Angelidis, who was in his 29th year coaching basketball and fourth with the Conquerors, stepped down just a couple weeks after the Conquerors knocked off Jackson 67-58 for the state crown. In his four years, he posted a 74-37 overall record, and won two SPSL North co-championships. When it was all said and done, he also was named the SPSL North’s Coach of the Year this past winter.
Diana Ekstrom, Kentlake
Few coaches made as much of an immediate impact on their respective team than Ekstrom did to Kentlake High’s boys swim program this past fall. The Falcons had never won an SPSL North title until this year, when Ekstrom guided the Falcons to a 7-0-1 league mark. The one tie? That came against league favorite Kentridge (93-93), which had entered that meet having won 35-straight league meets.
“During (winter) break we only had four training days so it was a little scary going into that Kentridge meet,” Ekstrom said in January. “The guys really wanted it.”
And if you asked any of the Kentlake boys swimmers what the difference was this year, they all pointed to Ekstrom, who took over the program after nine years at Sumner.
“Diana is a great coach,” said junior co-captain David Dougherty in January.
Tanner Keeling-Garcia, a sophomore who also swims club with KING, had high praise for Ekstrom as well.
“She’s coached for 25 years and it shows. What she’s done with this team has been remarkable.”
Kentlake’s final tally is the best mark in school history.
Sally Eager, Tahoma
Eager is no stranger to success in athletics.
As a high school player she won three state volleyball championships at Renton in the 1980s.
Her husband, Keith, who coaches wrestling at Renton as well as throwers on the school’s track and field team, has coached top wrestlers and Olympic-caliber throwers. And her son, Derek, will be throwing javelin at UCLA next year on scholarship after he won league, district and state titles this spring.
She left Renton’s volleyball post after seven years at her alma mater, building a struggling program into a playoff contender, but the opportunity to come to Tahoma and be closer to where her kids go to school was one she couldn’t pass up.
One of her greatest achievements on her sports resume came in the fall, when she led the Tahoma volleyball team to its first state appearance since 1977, with a pair of post-season winner-to-state victories that shocked everyone — everyone but Eager and her squad with eight seniors hoping to make a splash.
“It was the best feeling I’ve ever had in volleyball,” senior co-captain Megan Brothers told the Reporter in November. “We shocked everybody and proved to ourselves and everybody else that we were good enough to do this.”
Though she lost eight seniors and will have a much younger team this fall on the volleyball court, don’t be surprised to see a much improved Tahoma squad making waves again in the SPSL and beyond.
Tom Milligan, Tahoma
This was a banner season for Milligan, who has coached the Tahoma fastpitch squad for seven years.
When he took over the program, there were more moral victories than actual victories, when losing 2-1 was worth celebrating because the team scored a run.
It was a season of firsts for Milligan. There was the first 10 game winning streak. The first victory ever over perennial contender and division rival Kentlake in late March.
“Tom does a great job and has a talented team,” said Kentlake Coach Greg Kass in an e-mail after the game in March. “It’s the first time in 14 years of Kentlake fastpitch we’ve lost to Tahoma.”
Milligan, however, was not one to take the credit for the team’s success during the season and said his players deserved all the accolades for what they achieved.
He was particularly proud of the fact the girls had won a share of the South Puget Sound League North Division this year.
In 2009 the Bears didn’t win a playoff game after squeaking in as the fifth place team in the South Puget Sound League 4A North Division and the 10th seed into the district tournament. This year they won three playoff games, putting themselves into the semi-finals of the league tournament, and finished the season 21-6 overall after finishing 10-13 a year ago.
“That’s something to be proud of,” Milligan said. “That’s something to build off. Now it’s creating a tradition.”
Much of this year’s team returns next spring as Milligan lost just four players to graduation — Alex Clyatt, Katie Jo Myers, Kaila Wilkinson and Alyse Henkel.
Milligan was also named the SPSL North Coach of the Year.
Expect 2011 to be another year of firsts for Milligan and the Bears fastpitch club.
