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Note from the Athletic Director
Team News
Beaver Gear for Sale until 3/31
Blast Report/Parties for Sale Online
Breakfast of Champions Postponed
Note from the ABC Presidents
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Apr 1: Running of the Beavers
May 1: All Sports Team Parent Meeting
Jun 7: Beaver Nation Athletic Awards
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Note from the Athletic Director
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Fellow Beaver Athletics Fans,
I wanted to take a few minutes and thank you for your support of our student-athletes, coaches, and fellow fans. The camaraderie I have seen amongst the Ballard faithful in my first 6 weeks has been outstanding, as has been the effort and heart shown by our kids. I truly am excited to be a Beaver!
As we head into the Spring Sports season, I want to highlight just a few of the many things I have experienced so far on the job. While I do not have the space to mention everyone, there are great things going on across our campus.
- Men's Basketball - The boys - along with an excellent coaching staff that keeps the focus on the right things - showed us that iron truly does sharpen iron. Competing in arguably the toughest league in the nation, the boys continued to fight and believe - turning a 16 seed in Metros into a 5-1 run to start the post-season. The boys narrowly missed a chance at state, but earned the respect of many throughout the area and state. Very proud of our team.
- Women's Lacrosse - One of the first events I was able to attend was a parent meeting for this emerging sport and group of athletes. I was excited to see 50+ parents in the library getting ready for the season. Our coaches and team parents are passionate about the sport and have been preparing hard with big smiles as the season approaches.
- Men's Swimming - My family was able to travel to Snohomish (in Friday rush hour - we called it "bonding" time!) for the Metro meet. Our roster is filled with young kids, but they competed until the last stroke in each race - there was not one time that I saw a swimmer pull up. The fans in the stands were so welcoming and eager to share their sport with my family - it felt like being at home!
- Dance - The hours our young ladies have been practicing and focusing on each detail have paid off. Our team has made it to State! It has been a privilege to watch the girls and coaches working in the evenings here in the AC and Commons
- Football - Our coaches are willing to put in the time to help our athletes at any stage of development. We consistently have a full weight room - building excitement, teamwork, discipline, and attention to detail among our athletes. I have witnessed many conversations helping our young men keep their priorities straight in the classroom, and was pleased to hear the staff excited to return from a conference in Oregon that put the focus on program development and using athletics as an extension of the classroom.
- Wrestling - I couldn't miss an opportunity to watch a bit of wrestling, even if it came with a drive to the east side! What a first class event the league put on, and the finals kicked off with 2 Beavers under the mat light in the finals. Isaiah Larkin pulled out an outstanding overtime win to take the 106 League Championship.
- Cheer - The squad continues to impress. From heading to various events and providing support, to competing in their own right, they are everywhere! Our cheerleaders earned the 2A/3A WIAA State Championship on January 28th in Everett!! Wow!
- Unified Basketball - Our athletes and partners are putting in the work as well. Both our Red and Black teams advanced to the State Championship in Wenatchee and finished in 3rd and 4th in their respective divisions. Such a pleasure to watch
- Gymnastics - Coach Gundel and crew took on the invitation to run what we can dub "mini-state" at the Dam and did so with class and professionalism. Parents worked hard throughout the day to put on a first class event for not only 3A, but 4A Districts as well. Thank you! To top that off, the team competed at State with Celyn Stermer finishing in 7th place on Vault at the State meet.
So many other interactions and exciting things that I could mention, but they all come down to a simple phrase that I have learned - It is always great to be a Beaver!!
Thank you to everyone who volunteers in so many capacities. It takes a village to run an athletic program and I, along with the coaching staff, am so thankful for everyone that gives their time to provide experiences for our kids. We could not do it without you!
Until next time,
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Cheer
Ballard Cheerleading is so excited to share that they have won the 2017 State Title in the Small Varsity category!
Small Varsity is a tumbling division that has up to 12 athletes per team. This was the largest division at the WIAA championships and we scored higher than not only all the 3A teams, but all the 4A schools too! We couldn't be more proud of our girls. We also had the pleasure of supporting our winter sports teams this season. We got to follow the Boy's Basketball team on their Cinderella playoff run and we had the best time celebrating their success.
One things that the cheerleading team is committed to this next season is trying to harness the power of our student body. We would love to see more buy in from the student section and create an even more encouraging and robust environment for our sports teams. High school student spirit is one of the most fun and engaging parts of the teenage experience and we want to build that up at Ballard!
Tryouts are right around the corner! We are excited to announce that we are adding a non-tumbling varsity team to our program. We hope to attract athletes of all abilities and experience levels to join our family. We will be hosting two "Bring-A-Friend" practices (March 21 & 28 from 6-8) where anyone is welcome to attend a practice with our team and learn more about our sport. Waivers can be found on our website. We will also be having a "Captains Tips & Tricks" workshop on Sunday, April 2nd from 10-12 for $15/participant.
Tryouts will be held April 24-28 in the Ballard Aux Gym. More details will be released soon! Please contact Samantha Burnstead with any questions.
[email protected]
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Baseball
The Ballard baseball team's M's ticket fundraiser is underway! Tickets are $20 each, for the April 15 Mariners vs. Texas Rangers game. When we sell 1,000+ tickets, and they're all grouped together in a couple sections, it really does become a "Ballard Night" at the ballgame.
Click on the flyer image for more details. Interested parties can email Head Coach Doug Montgomery at [email protected]. He's got tickets in his bag at all times!
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Boys Basketball
The 2016-17 Ballard boys’ basketball team wrapped up the season with an unprecedented playoff run, finishing as one of the top eight teams in our region's Sea-King District. Thanks to lessons learned and grit developed during league play in one of the West Coast's most talented leagues, seniors Simon Czyzewski, Shay Curcuruto, Valentin Boyanov and Sam Heikell led an amazing series of five playoff games in five days with wins over Lakeside, O'Dea, Chief Sealth and KingCo Champs Mercer Island to extend the Beavs’ season by 8 games. Every member of the team, as well as a loud and loyal group of parents, students and supporters, deserves credit for the dedication, poise and unity that contributed to the season ending on such a high note. The JV and JVC teams also finished their seasons strongly, showing promise for what is on the horizon for the Beaver basketball program.
Perhaps the most impressive accomplishment by this group of varsity student-athletes was earning a first-semester team GPA of 3.3. Evidence that this group put student before athlete and was as committed off the court as they were on.
Going into spring, the focus transitions to next season with before school open gyms (Mon/Weds at 6:30 am) and weight training (Tues/Thurs at 6:30 am). The team has a busy summer planned, starting with hosting the 2nd Annual Battle in Ballard from June 9-11, team camps, and hosting a new event, the Beaver Hoop Camp (official sponsor needed) for local-area youngsters. Please visit www.ballardboyshoops.com for more details.
Our sincere thanks to the wide group of supporters and sponsors who contributed to another great season of Beaver basketball - one in which the boys defined “team” and “family,” working for each other in every aspect of the game and life. We're very proud of the entire program and look forward to the challenges, opportunities and work ahead!
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Football
The “off-season” has been going very well and we are super proud of the effort our players are giving both in and out of the classroom! Our team GPA has stayed near the 3.0 mark and we have averaged close to 30 players in the weight room. The gains in size and strength that our players have seen is phenomenal and we are confident it will translate to the field! Equally exciting, over half of our team is competing for BHS in a Spring Sport!
If you haven’t already follow us on Facebook (Ballard Beaver Football), Twitter (@BallardHSPride), and Instagram (ballardbeaverfootball).
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Gymnastics
The gymnastics team finished off a great season in February with
girls going to state. Freshman Ava Alvord and sophomore Celyn Stermer
qualified to the state meet on vault, bars, beam and floor. Freshman
Kelsey Barnes qualified on bars, beam and floor. Sophomore Avery
Miller qualified on beam and floor and junior Amirah Karam qualified
on bars and beam. All of them competed well with Celyn finishing 12th
all around and qualifying for finals on vault, bars and floor where
she placed 7th, 15th & 13th, respectively. With the majority of the
team made up by freshmen and sophomores we look forward to several
great years ahead!
Girls Lacrosse
The girls lacrosse season is underway...starting with tryouts in the snow on the first day of "spring" sports! Senior captains Bridget Brown, Lauren
Croxton, and Lauryn Tilev lead a young Varsity team made up mostly of sophomores and freshmen. What the program lacks in age, (there are only 7 upper classmen in the girls lacrosse program!), they make up for in athleticism and talent. The team is excited to build on the experience of the returning and incoming players as we start the season with a jamboree on March 11, our first Varsity games (a
n away game against Stadium HS on March 18 and our first home game against rivals Roosevelt on March 23), and upcoming JV games (schedule TBD)!
Boys Soccer
As the spring rolls around, Ballard Boys Soccer heads to the field for what will surely be a memorable season. After selecting teams from one of the most talented groups we've seen try out, there will be 62 student-athletes representing Ballard during the next couple of months. Led by 14 seniors, the varsity team is looking to make a deep post-season run and vie for a state championship. JV and JVC have highly skilled underclassmen that will battle for the top league record throughout their respective season. We hope to have a successful, fun-filled year for all three teams. See you on the pitch!
Boys/Girls Tennis
The tennis season is underway with quite a few changes this year. Despite the rainy Seattle weather, we have been able to get a few practices in on the courts and were able to complete our tryouts. We had at least 65 students tryout for 48 spots for JV and Varsity. Unfortunately, we would love to have kept everyone that tried out, but due to lack of courts we are limited in numbers. Every year the number of students trying out grows, as does the skill level. Everyone who tried out came with a positive attitude. It was really nice for the coaches to see such hard working, coachable kids.
We have finalized our rosters and, with only 4 returning girls to Varsity, we have a fairly new Varsity girls team, after graduating 7 senior girls last year. Our boys team returns 8 players from last year, but we are building for years ahead with new players to the roster consisting of several freshman. We look for strong leadership by captains Val Boyanov, Maddie Herrenkohl, and Melina Monlux.
This year, a change in the format to tennis was voted on and approved by the Metro ADs. In the past few years since Ballard joined Metro, tennis was a spring co-ed sport, consisting of 3 boys and girls singles, 2 boys and girls doubles, and 1 mixed doubles. This year the format will be changed to keep the boys and girls teams separately scored with 2 boys and girls singles, 3 boys and girls doubles, and eliminating the mixed doubles.
Additionally, after Ballard successfully defended its Metro division title last year, we were moved up a division and will now compete against more competitive “tennis powerhouses” such as Lakeside, Seattle Prep, Bainbridge, and Bishop Blanchet. This will prove to be a challenge to our players, but the competition is welcome!
Varsity will be competing in our first match against Bainbridge on Tuesday, March 14 at Lower Woodland and JV will travel to Bainbridge. Our home Varsity matches are played at Lower Woodland and JV home matches are at BHS courts, generally starting at 3:30 pm. Please come some afternoon to cheer on our players. They always appreciate fans! For our schedule, please visit the link at
http://www.metroleaguewa.org/index.php?pid=0.8.0.17.221
Ultimate
Varsity Coed --
The Ultimate Varsity Coed season was held in Winter this year for the first time. Ballard finished the season strong making it the finals against Franklin. They took them to the very end and had a chance to score to tie the game to force Universe point but a missed disc in the end zone gave it back to Franklin who successfully moved it down the field to score the game ending point. Franklin 10 - Ballard 8, giving Ballard 2nd place in the SPS Varsity division.
Girls Varsity Spring -- The Spring season is underway for our Girls Varsity team and the first game against Bush is Monday, March 13th at Interbay (4:00 PM). We have a young but great showing of girls this season with our biggest Varsity squad in a few years with 16 girls participating. Camille Folweiler and Emmy Hunt lead the team as our Junior Captains. Looking forward to a great season this year. For information on the games you can find our schedule here: https://ballardhs.teamsnap.com/schedule
Boys Friday Club -- We are also participating again this year in Boys Friday Club which is a game only (no practice) club league for boys. We are fielding a mixed JV/Varsity team this year. All games are on Friday nights (5:00PM or 7:00PM) at Magnuson Park.
Youth Club Championships -- Disc Northwest is Washington's regional non-profit which organizes and promotes Ultimate in Seattle and Washington State. Every year, DiscNW sends the area's best players to compete at the National Youth Club Championships in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tryouts for U-20 boys & girls were held over the last month and we are pleased to announce that a few of our players made the roster to compete for a national title. Gabriel Nobis (10th) and Louise King (11th) made their respective U-20 teams and will represent Seattle and Ballard at this national championship event. Corbin Atack (11th) made the team as an alternate and may also join them pending any roster changes. Join us in congratulating these three players on their accomplishment and wishing them luck in Minneapolis.
DiscNW girls (U20 & U17) teams have never lost at these championship events and have taken home the national championship every year since the YCC has started. Louise King and Camille Folweiler represented Ballard at two of these championships. The U20 Boys team has also taken home 5 titles but have come in 3rd place the last two years. The Boys U17 team has won the championship 5 straight years and both Gabriel Nobis and Corbin Atack also represented Ballard for two of those championships.
Wrestling
Wow, what a showing at Metros in February! Our team placed 7th out of the 15 schools in our district.
- Kayla Rogers - 1st Place, 100
- Isaiah Larkin - 1st Place, 106
- Jeremy Miyake - 2nd Place, 113
- Alec Sigmar - 5th Place, 160
- Nigel Hawkins - 5th Place, 182
- Jesse Ogelsby - 7th Place, 152
- Riley McGinnis - 8th Place, 126
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Beaver Gear for sale until March 31
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It's Beaver Gear time again!
Our spring limited edition featured item is the baseball style raglan tee with 3/4 sleeves. It is offered in sizes Youth XL (ladies XS) up to Mens 2XL. Cost is $25 and we have a limited run of 75 total.
Inventory updates:
- Due to popular demand, we now have extended sizes 2XL and 3XL in the classic hooded sweatshirts and the grey short sleeve tee shirt. We also now have L-XL in the Grey Camo hat.
- If you missed out on Strideline socks in December, they're back for Spring!
- We are currently sold out of the knit beanie and the blanket, but will restock for Fall 2017.
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Ballard Athletics Blast Success! Party Tickets for Sale Online!
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Thank you to everyone -- including 22 coaches! -- who attended the Ballard Athletics Blast on March 3. We raised over $10,000 to support the ABC's work for Ballard Athletics coaches and athletes. We look forward to seeing everyone next year! Keep an eye out for a date change as we try to move the Blast back to a fall or winter date.
- Girls Soccer was the winner of the $500 Coaches' Raffle.
- Angie and Pete won the raffle for a pair of Seahawk's tickets -- enjoy the game! Thanks to Carmen Hudson for the generous donation.
- Tickets are still available to the special parties offered at the Blast. Join other BHS parents for cocktails, bunco, or shopping -- have a great night out and support Ballard Athletics at the same time! Tickets are available at https://squareup.com/store/bhs-abc.
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Breakfast of Champions Postponed, Donate to Your Team Online
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Due to an overloaded March calendar, The Breakfast of Champions scheduled for Friday, March 17 has been canceled. The Ballard Foundation hopes to increase participation of alumni by incorporating this event into next fall's Homecoming festivities.
Last year, the Breakfast directly benefited all of our coaches and athletes by giving each team additional money for coaching stipends. These dollars came from ticket sales as well as direct donations made by Breakfast attendees.
Since this important donation opportunity is not available this year,
please consider making a direct donation to your team online
at
https://squareup.com/store/bhs-abc
(scroll down to "Donate to a BHS Sports Team.") This money will go directly into the team account you specify and help to retain and support the coaches that impact our children’s health and success every day.
If you prefer to donate by check, you can drop your donation at the main office or mail it to BHS ABC, P.O. Box 70426, Seattle, WA 98107. Please make your check out to BHS ABC and be sure to specify your team in the memo line so we know where to direct your donation. Thank you!
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Note from the ABC Presidents
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Welcome to Spring Sports! Hopefully it will stop raining sometime soon...
Thank you to everyone who came out and made this year's Ballard Athletics Blast a fun and successful night. We look forward to seeing you again next year!
We'd like to extend a big Beaver welcome to all of the families joining the ABC for this first time this spring. When we support our athletes and coaches by joining the ABC, donating to and volunteering for our teams, attending fundraising events, and showing up to watch our kids play the sports they love, we help keep the amazing Ballard Athletics community going strong.
If you would like to get even more involved with BHS sports, please consider joining the ABC board for the 2017-18 school year. We are looking for volunteers to fill the following spots:
- President
- Vice President
- Treasurer
- Secretary
Any of these positions can be co-positions -- grab a buddy and join us! For questions or more information contact Lauren at [email protected] or Jennifer at [email protected].
Finally, as you're planning your spring calendar, save the date for the first annual Running of the Beavers, a 5k fun run/walk at Golden Gardens that will benefit the Ballard Foundation's general fund. Register for this April 1 event at
runningofthebeavers.com
.
Hope everyone has a great season and thanks for your support!
Lauren and Jennifer
ABC Co-presidents
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Visit the ABC website for specific team info, sports calendars, and more!
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Join the BHS Athletic Booster Club and help us support Ballard athletes!
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