Trying to select one female athlete that stood out above all the rest of the talented student-athletes at Kentwood, Tahoma and Kentlake was so difficult we decided to select one from each school this year instead.
From Kentlake there’s Erin Crowley, Kaila Wilkinson represents Tahoma and from Kentwood there’s Kylie Huerta.
Erin Crowley, Kentlake
For all the numbers Crowley posted on the fastpitch diamond this spring — and there are plenty — it might be her amazing throw against Puyallup in the South Puget Sound League championship game that is remembered best: bases loaded, no outs, Crowley nails the runner tagging from third on fly ball to mid-center field.
The SPSL North’s co-MVP, this Falcon crushes the ball at the plate, hitting .559 with 27 RBIs, 23 runs scored, 8 stolen bases, but covers more ground in the outfield than your typical high school center fielder.
In a program that’s produced its share of elite players, Crowley deserves to be right there at the top.
Crowley will return next year to a Falcons fastpitch team that lost just two seniors from its squad this year.
Expect Crowley, who is part of a packed junior class for Kentlake softball, to help push this team to the trophy round at the state tournament next spring. The Falcons, with Crowley hitting lead off, will have a lot to prove after being bounced in the opening round by Kelso, which was the defending champion and went on to repeat in May.
Kaila Wilkinson, Tahoma
Smart and intense, Wilkinson was known for good decision making on the field, the kind of athlete a coach loves because she would work hard as well as lead by example.
Wilkinson stood in goal for the Bears girls soccer team, a position she platooned at with Amber Woolcock, and played center field for the fastpitch squad.
During her senior campaign on the soccer pitch, Wilkinson recorded six shutouts for Tahoma, as the Bears made their second consecutive appearance in the 4A state tournament.
As a co-captain of the fastpitch team, Wilkinson was known for her tough attitude on the field, at the plate and in the dugout.
“I try to give a pump up speech,” Wilkinson said before the West Central District playoffs. “Other than that, I just try to lead by example.”
Her last pump up speech during a loser-out game in the district tournament almost worked as she rallied the Bears in the dug out imploring them to show their opponent why they were scared to play Tahoma, a steady drizzle coming down on a tarp above their heads.
Though the comeback didn’t fully materialize, Wilkinson nearly willed the team to win, just with some carefully chosen words of motivation.
Tahoma’s fastpitch team had its best season this spring, winning a share of the South Puget Sound League North division title as well as making appearances in the league semi-final game and narrowly missing a shot at a state berth.
Tom Milligan, who has coached Wilkinson for four years in fastpitch, said he was impressed by the fact that she not only played soccer on a successful Tahoma team but to add to that all that she’s accomplished in fastpitch, which was not her primary sport.
Wilkinson committed no errors in center field this season — and committed just four in her entire high school career — and only had three strike outs while putting together a .300 batting average and stole four bases, swiping a bag successfully on each attempt in 2010.
“She’s probably the smartest kid I’ve ever worked with, hands down… academically she’s done more than any player, baseball or fastpitch, I’ve ever coached,” Milligan said. “She’s a very patient person … yet she can bring the intensity. Her game speaks for itself.”
Kylie Huerta, Kentwood
Generously listed at 5-foot-1 on the team’s roster, captain of the headband can flat-out play like few we have seen. The SPSL North co-MVP, Huerta tied for the league lead in points per game (18.9), was third in the league in 3-point percentage (40.3), second in assists (65) and led everybody in steals (57). Left out of the stat line is the fact that she never came out of the game during the regular season. Nor does she run out of energy.
During the state basketball tournament, Kentwood coach Dean Montzingo said, “Kylie’s our floor general,” and the junior who won a state title with the Conquerors as a sophomore will continue to do so next year.
Huerta’s best performance may have come in a losing effort at state against Mead, when she ripped off a 16-point third quarter to help put the Conks back in the lead.
In a note posted in March 2009 to ESPN.com’s women’s basketball recruiting page for Huerta, she is described as “truly a wizard with the ball and uses her lack of size to her advantage.”
“She has also mastered contorting her body and shooting off balance to get credible shots up once she gets into the heart of the defense,” the recruiting profile said. “Most impressive, though, is how she finds teammates once she’s surrounded by help defenders… this kid is a competitor who makes plays players a foot taller only dream about.”
A day will come when Huerta looks up into the Kentwood student section during a game and notices most of her classmates wearing identical headbands in support. No doubt, she has earned it.
The nominees
There were plenty of nominees from all three schools and each girl (or group of girls) deserves recognition for what they’ve accomplished this year and throughout their high school careers. They are listed by school and in no particular order after that.
Holly DeHart, Kentwood
Kentwood High track coach Steve Roche summed up DeHart rather aptly late in the season: “She’s just a rock star. She’s amazing.” Indeed. DeHart was a big reason Kentwood was able to capture its first SPSL North track title in school history. This girl was simply built for speed, and it showed at the Class 4A state meet despite the fact that she was battling flu-like symptoms the day before and the day of the meet. DeHart, a one-sport sensation, snagged a gold medal in the 200-meter dash (25.35), took third in the 100 (12.62) and helped the Conquerors 4 x 200 relay team take third. All while she was feeling considerably less than 100 percent. This junior has multiple gold medals in her future.
Courtney Johnson, Kentwood
There are few athletes who are grittier or tougher than this two-sport standout from Kentwood. Johnson wasn’t afraid to get into a tussle on the basketball court, take or give an elbow here and there and is as competitive as they come.
An honorable mentione selection in basketball, Johnson led the SPSL North in field-goal percentage (53.7). The Kentwood junior may even be better at soccer, where she teamed with Megan Walburn in goal to post 19 shutouts on the season and help the Conquerors take third at state.
Expect a big multi-sport senior year from this kid.
Dana Wareham, Kentwood
It was another outstanding year for the Kentwood senior, who helped the soccer team finish third at state and the track team win its first South Puget Sound League North Division title in school history. A defender on the soccer pitch, Wareham earned second-team all-league honors and was the leader of a defense that posted 19 shutouts and allowed just three goals all season. On the track, she anchored the Conquerors’ 4 x 200 relay team, which took third at state with a time of 1:42.91.
Laura Rayfield, Kentlake
One of the most gifted athletes at Kentlake, there’s little Rayfield can’t do. And she’s only a sophomore. The South Puget Sound League North Division MVP (again, just a sophomore) on the soccer pitch, Rayfield accounted for nine goals this season, which was nearly half of what the Falcons posted overall (20). Rayfield was nearly as good on the track, where she has quickly blossomed into one of the North’s top high jumpers and long jumpers.
Chelsea Bailey, Kentlake
Though she didn’t have the meet she was looking for at the 4A state swim and dive championships in November, Bailey is one of the top female high school swimmers in the state, having qualified for all eight individual events as a freshman and sophomore, known as ironman status. As a junior she had it nearly nailed down by the end of the regular season.
At the West Central District meet in November Bailey helped the Falcons to a surprising second place finish by winning the 50 free in 23.98 seconds. Bouffard also placed in the 50 free, coming in 10th, adding to Kentlake’s point total.
Bailey didn’t stop there, winning the 100 backstroke in 55.75, though short of the meet record of 54.99 that she set last year, then swam on the 400 free relay team which won a district title in state qualifying time.
Tarah Duty, Tahoma
A standout on Tahoma’s girls soccer team, Duty will be playing on the pitch at Central Washington University in the fall on scholarship.
A defender named to the SPSL North First Team, Duty scored four goals and had a pair of assists, but provided crucial leadership and experience during her senior season with the Bears.
Central Washington Coach Michael Farand is looking forward to Duty and classmate Kaylee Osterman playing for him.
“We had a chance to watch Tahoma in the state quarterfinals, and we’re really pleased of the progress that both players (Duty and Osterman) have made from one year to next,” Farrand said in a statement on Central’s athletic website.
“Duty is a left-footed defender who passes well, and the new coach at Tahoma did a good job taking that team to another level among state competition.”
Duty earned scholarships from Maple Valley Premier and the Tahoma Education Association as well as Central Washington’s Presidents Scholarship.
Tate Latimer, Tahoma
A stand out track athlete, Latimer placed in the hurdles both junior and senior year, but also contributed as part of Tahoma’s soccer team which went to the state playoffs in the fall.
Latimer scored three goals and had two assists her senior season of soccer as a defender while the Bears made their second consecutive state appearance, though they were bounced by Skyline in a 1-0 loss in the first round. She also earned SPSL Second Team honors.
On the track, Latimer has been among the cream of the crop of hurdlers in Washington state. She finished second in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles at the West Central District meet then bagged second and fourth in those races, respectively, at the state meet.
She helped the Tahoma girls track and field team stun the field at the district meet when it won the team championship over favorite Kentwood as well as propel the squad to a third place finish at state.
In 2009 she took the bronze medal in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles at state.
Latimer has signed a letter of intent to run track at the University of Washington.
Bianca Walton, Tahoma
Seemingly out of nowhere, Walton made a splash during the post-season as she dominated the triple jump and the long jump, winning titles in both at the league and district meets as well as coming home with gold at state in the triple jump.
Walton’s winning leap was her last attempt in the preliminary flight when she pegged 39-5.25 inches.
“I felt good, but I was nervous because the one girl went 38 (feet),” Walton said.
After her winning leap Walton said, “I was still nervous. Even on my last jump.”
Her nerves melted into a wide, happy smile when it became clear she was the best in the state.
Walton plans to attend Ohio State University in the fall where she hopes to run track on scholarship.
Maria Bahlenhorst, Tahoma
Bahlenhorst, one of eight seniors on the Bears volleyball squad, helped the team to its first state appearance since 1977 with a pair of victories over highly touted Graham-Kapowsin and Stadium at the South Puget Sound League tournament in November.
A team captain, she regularly recorded as an outside hitter for Tahoma double digit kills in matches and had a number of games where she put up nearly 20 digs or more during the season.
Bahlenhorst had 10 kills or more in at least four games during the course of the regular season.
Tahoma’s girls 400 meter relay team
Mande McKinney, Kassie Jensen, Cassidy Richmond and Paige Hammock put together a state championship race for the Bears in the 400 meter relay at the state track and field meet at Mt. Tahoma High School.
McKinney, who ran the anchor leg, was behind when she took the handoff but she accelerated down the lane and caught the Inglemoor girl at the line.
“I still thought she might be ahead,” McKinney said after the race. “I was freaking out.”
Jensen was the first one out of the blocks for the relay team, Richmond was second and she handed the baton to Paige Hammock who then handed it off to McKinney for the last leg.
