News from the Athletic Director
Strength and Conditioning Update
Team News
Holiday Beaver Gear Sales
From the ABC Presidents
ABC Treasurer Needed!
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Nov 21: Winter Sports Parent Meeting
Dec 11-16: Jam the Dam
Dec 18-Jan 1: Winter Break
Jan 6: Ballard Athletics Blast
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Note from the Athletic Director
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Fellow Beavers,
What an exciting start to the 2017-18 school year for our athletic teams. We built strong relationships, won some hardware, and improved our GPAs throughout our programs. As an athletics department, we are so proud of our athletes and coaches.
- Our Cheer team continues to excel individually while also being there to support all of our programs. The ladies took to the National Qualifier in Bellevue and rocked it - earning their spot in the National Competition in Orlando. Hard work pays off, and our Cheer team is cashing in!
- Our XC program had an incredible year! Our young ladies finished 3rd in the State meet, adding to their Metro Championship just 2 weeks earlier. The boys also finished strong with a 6th place showing and finishing as Metro Runner-up in a tiebreaker! Coach Mirenzi was honored as both the Men's and Women's Metro Coach of the Year!
- The Volleyball team, led by Metro League MVP Ruby Fera, was crowned Metro Champions in Coach Reese's final season at the helm of the Ballard program. Coach Reese is retiring following her 20th year as the head coach, and we will miss her leadership terribly!
- The Football team doubled its win total this year, but will be quick to tell you they are just as proud to have raised their team GPA to over a 3.2 average (a significant jump!). The culture is strong and the Beavers head into the off-season with excitement for next season!
- Golf took steps forward under the direction of our 2 new coaches, Coach Hunter and Coach Chandler. 2 young ladies qualified for the District tournament in the spring and our boys team is set up well for the future with a lot of young athletes.
- Girls Swim & Dive qualified many young ladies for Metros and Districts with times dropping all season. Our 200 medley relay along with Olivia Gabanek in the 50 Free both qualified for the State Meet. Great culture yields great results - and our girls are doing well!
- Our Women's Soccer team qualified for the playoffs this past season, while Ultimate also competed well throughout the year.
As we now shift our focus to the warmth of our indoor winter sports, I want to take a moment and invite you to our
Jam the Dam
week, Dec 11th - 16th. We have a host of home events scheduled to build community and support our winter athletes and would love to see a crowd. Look for an email in early December with all the details about our week full of basketball (Men's, Women's, and Unified), wrestling, swim, gymnastics, and dance!
I also want to take a moment to again remind everyone of the
Strength & Conditioning
program in our new weight facility. I firmly believe the key to our successes moving forward lie in working together throughout the year to build explosiveness and camaraderie through sweat-equity. Coaches Palumbo and Matthiesen are doing an excellent job getting our all-sports program up and moving and I invite you to come check it out.
On one final, personal, note: thank you to everyone who has taken the time to come up and say hello to me and my family at various events. It never ceases to impress me how committed and proud our families are of Ballard HS - we have a special place here.
Always Grateful,
Jason
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Strength and Conditioning
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We are excited to watch our winter sports compete as they just finished up our off-season training program! With all of our athletes, we focus on mechanics, form, intensity and accountability. We are looking forward to our winter sports competing, and we are looking forward to continue enrolling new athletes into the system!
We’ve had a fantastic transformation of the weight room this summer/fall, and we are looking for athletes to get in gear. Our Off-Season training continues on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 7:15a-8:15a. We will be continuing to focus on proper dynamic warm-up, Olympic lifts, core and unilateral strength. Don’t wait. Now is the time!
Our In-Season training will occur on Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30a-8:15a. The focus here is on maintaining strength and flexibility throughout the rigors of a competitive season. The program is dialed in and specific, we are looking to prevent soreness, aid in recovery from competition, and maintain hard earned strength and muscle from off-season preparations.
Our focus is on creating a positive and challenging environment in which athletes can excel. We are all on the same team, and we know what it takes. Hard work put in during the off season, will not only prepare for competition, it will carry over through the rest of their lives. Your strength team believes that, lives it, and has experienced it! We are all actually at the gym right now getting ready to go through our own program!
We thank you for your continued support and are looking forward to continuing our progress into the future!
Y
our strength team,
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It has been a wonderful fall sports season for Ballard Cheerleading. We had a blast cheering on our football program during Friday Night Lights and celebrating all our other programs on their amazing seasons. We have had a lot of exciting things happening on our end as well that we are excited to share.
Ballard Cheerleading has grown to two competition teams — our Varsity Tumbling team "Black" & our Varsity Non-Tumbling team "Red." As the defending State Champions, Ballard Black was invited to the UCA Regional Competition where they could earn one of just a few bids to compete at UCA High School Nationals in Orlando, FL in February. This, in itself, was a huge honor and we had been working very hard to be ready.
On November 4th, at Bellevue High School, our Black team not only qualified for Nationals and received a bid, but was the
top scoring team in the entire state of Washington
!! We are so excited to have them represent BHS at the most prestigious cheerleading competition in the country. Both teams will continue to compete this winter season, starting on December 9th in Tacoma.
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Our cheerleading program was also able to host the WSCCA All-State Competition on November 9th. This is a collection of the state's most elite cheerleaders competing for a spot on Washington's All-State Team. This team is comprised of the top 25 cheerleaders in the state and they will perform at the East/West football game this spring and also at WIAA cheerleading state as an exhibition team. We had 150 talented athletes at BHS last week and the competition was TIGHT! We're so excited to share that 3 girls from Ballard made the top 25 and will continue to represent our school this entire year.
We are gearing up for the winter sports season and are excited to cheer on all our teams! Thank you for all your continued support. Go Ballard!
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Congratulations to the BHS Girls (3
rd
) and Boys (6
th
) at the 2017 WA State Cross-Country Meet last weekend, where the team equaled the all-time highest combined finish at State (set in 2015) for BHS.
This unprecedented fourth consecutive trip to State by the combined team (the only team in 3A State to qualify together from 2014-2017), coupled with the consistently high placing each year, has established the Ballard XC program among the elite in the state of Washington. A total of nine athletes were named to the All-Metro team (5 girls, 4 boys) and Coach Bob Mirenzi took home both Coach-of-the-Year honors for Girl’s XC and Boy’s XC.
A special shout-out to our varsity seniors: Veronica Redpath (4
th
State trip); Lou Yardley (3
rd
State trip); Chad Cohen (3
rd
State trip); Danielle Bauder (2
nd
State trip); Chris Ruiz (2
nd
State trip); and Hayden Evans (1
st
trip). Congratulations to these amazing Ballard High School coaches and athletes!
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Ballard Volleyball Metro Champs 2017!!!
What a year.
Can’t get any better than this. We are so proud of our program and teams. The players' hard work, competitive style, teamwork, and belief in the program has proven to be number one in our league.
This is our first time winning the metro title in volleyball and will bring memories to all of us forever. Thank you to all the players, coaches, administration, and student body for all the support this year...Metro Champs!!
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Boys Basketball
The Boys Basketball 2017-18 season is underway with more than 70 young men turning out for tryouts. The players and coaching staff are now hard at work prepping for the upcoming season, building on the many hours on the court and in the weight room put in over the summer and fall. The first non-league game is Tuesday, Nov. 28th vs. Glacier Peak HS in Ballard, with Metro League play starting on Dec. 1st at O'Dea HS.
Follow updates on the entire program online at
ballardboyshoops.com
and on Twitter & Instagram
@BallardBBall
. Go Beavs!
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Girls Basketball
The girls basketball program is excited to get the season started! The season kicks off on Wednesday, Nov. 29th at home against Skyline High School at 5:45 (JV) and 7:30 (Varsity). Follow us at
http://www.ballardgirlshoops.com
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We are incredibly proud of the 2017 season! We took big steps towards meeting our potential both on and off the field. This year we improved our program GPA to a 3.29 at our mid-season grade check! Varsity doubled its win total from the year before, and our end of the season roster finished at 73 players compared to 52 the year before.
The other schools in our league noticed our success’ as well. Sixteen of our football players were recognized with All-League honors: Jalen Bauer (Sr.), OL; Shiloh Ta’ase (Sr.) OL/DL; Gunnar Beck (Sr.), DL; Zed Webster (Jr.), RB/LB; Lucas Waters (Jr.), WR; Kade Queen (Jr.), OL/DL; Alec Sigmar (Jr.), OL; Schuyler Lubin (Jr.), DL; Devin Thibodeaux (Jr.), LB; Erik Peters (Jr.), CB; Owen Albert (Jr.), S; Yohanes Teshome (So.), LB; George Blue (So.), WR; Dajean Wells (So.), ATH/CB; Joe Zahner (So.), P; Ryan Blokker (Fr.), QB.
Senior Shiloh Ta’ase received Defensive Player of the Year, and Junior Zed Webster received Offensive Player of the Year!
The improvements we saw this year would not have been possible without the buy-in of our players to our “You Can Count On Me” philosophy and tremendous support from our families and the Ballard community.
We are excited heading into our second full off-season as a program and having a beautiful new weight room to work in! Going into next year we are returning 9 starters on Offense and 8 starters on Defense plus many JV and Freshman players that will compete with the returning starters for jobs. The future is definitely bright for Ballard Football!
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Golf
Girls & Boys Golf had a great season with the addition of new coaches and a great turnout of 27 Varsity combined Students and 12 JV. The players developed a great bond within the team as they got to know one another.
Throughout the season the weather was a mix of sunny, wet, and windy, but the students stepped up to all the challenges and played nice golf representing our school.
Scores showed improvement throughout the season, assisting the BHS Team to get 9 players into the Metro Championship Playoffs- with 2 moving on toward Districts.
We say goodbye to our Seniors: Mille Jacobson, Catlin Moore, Nina Adams, Katie Reeves, Jennifer Osako, Savannah Argenti, Harlan Hoog, Eric Allyn, Cooper Bassett & Seth Troyer -- and we look forward to Arianna Rauliuk & Mille Jacobson moving to District play in the Spring. However, we have a great Returning Class of Players for the 2018-19 Season, and we thank all the parents and participants for the efforts toward BHS Golf Program!
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Gymnastics
The first week of practice is in the books and we have a great young (over 50% freshmen!) team that is ready to tackle the season. With the amount of improvement shown in only one week, we're looking forward to a strong year full of positivity and team spirit. Top returners and state competitors Celyn Stermer and Ava Alvord are joined by talented newcomers Lianne Kistler, Clare Mullins, Zoe Seeman, Frances Magnuson, and Kelsey and Megan Bowles. Our first meet is at Ballard on Friday, Dec 1st, at 7pm. Come check us out!
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Boys Lacrosse
After a fantastic 2017 season, the BeaverLax Boys haven’t skipped a beat, with a very Ballard-heavy NWImpact dominated the Battle of Bothell Tourney. With many players competing with travel teams such as Stars and CitySide, and others jumping to their other favorite sports, they’ve kept busy.
We had our first official team meeting on Nov. 1, where we got to meet many new players, and made some big announcements:
1.
Ballard Alum Sam Hanske will be moving up to the Varsity team as our Defensive Coordinator.
2.
Captains for 2018 are Cooper Bassett, Guss Simpson, Jack Berard and Max Ramstad.
3.
Ballard is moving back to Division 1 this season!
4.
Registration opens on Dec. 4 and closes Jan 31.
We’ll have one more team meeting in February, with the season starting on Feb. 26.
Over the last couple of seasons, the team has been working hard to closely connect with our local community. This summer players and parents worked with UW for stadium cleaning fundraising, and we had our first annual Mighty Beavers Youth Camp. Both of these were a huge success not only for helping to raise funds for the program, but in raising awareness and excitement locally for our program.
This year also marks the first time in history that Washington High School Boys Lacrosse will have a “Fall Ball” season! The season is open from Nov. 3 through Dec. 3, and culminates in Ballard’s participation in the Space Needle Shootout the weekend of Dec. 2-3. Ballard is one of only two teams specially invited to participate in the Shootout, based on our past performance and impact on and off the field.
We’re working hard this offseason in preparation for another great spring. For program info email
beaverlax@gmail.com.
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Boys Swim and Dive
With the 2017/18 Swim/Dive season off to a quick start, we’re already pushing and excelling faster than in previous seasons. The athletes are seeing a new organizational structure to the program and seem to be adjusting and stepping up to the coach’s expectations. We start our dual meet season on December 1
st
against Ingraham and we are excited to get to competing!
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Girls Swim and Dive
The 2017 BHS girls swim and dive season was a season to be remembered! The "Core Covenants" we tried to incorporate into our season this year were to be supportive, determined, and ambitious. Our team definitely met and exceeded that expectation. Throughout the whole season, our team learned, improved and grew closer together.
It took a lot of determination and ambition to wake up at 5:30 in the morning to swim every single day and we learned that by supporting each other, it made the season so much more amazing. Overall the season was a great success. Congratulations to our Seniors: Makenzie Blaney, Therese Evangelista, Olivia Gabanek, Louise King, Anna Kreshel, Kaitlyn Lechmann, Hanna Parker, Sophia Rice, Samantha Stewart, and Cassidy Wilton!
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Ultimate
Boys Season Update
The 2017 Fall Boys Ultimate season is now behind us. The BUF Boys secured a City playoff spot but lost out in the first round to eventual State Semifinal contender Ingraham. They played a good game but couldn't match the mistake free offense that Ingraham put together during that game. We said goodbye to our eight seniors this year which included Corbin Attack, Sam Wilk, Elijah Nobis, Lucas Beidler, Willem Nottingham, Cian McGinn, Max Ramstad and Ian Harvey (pictured). With 4 four-year Varsity players, that is a heck of a lot of talent walking out the door and could prove to be difficult to replace next season. The good news is that we have multiple returning juniors AND Coed Season kicks off this week with tryouts so we haven't completely said goodbye to them yet.
Winter Coed Update
BUF Mixed, last years SPS 2nd place finishers, kicks off in the wind and rain this week with tryouts on November 15th, 17th and 18th. Given the interest by our BUF Girls this year, we plan on having two teams, a Varsity and a JV. Full practices start the last week of November with first games happening the first week of January. The season will last through the end of February. We plan on submitting two bids for the Spring Reign tournament in April which is the largest Youth Coed Ultimate tournament in the world, held in our own Burlington, WA and organized by
DiscNW.org
which is our local Seattle based Ultimate organization.
Girls Season
Things are really looking up for our BUF Girls program. The BUF Girls season will begin in Spring with practices starting toward the end of February. We plan on having both a Varsity and JV team for our girls season as well. Having two girls teams will be Ballard High School first. If you have any interest in playing for our girls team, we take all experience levels (including none) and you just need to contact
John Nobis
if you'd like to come out and play.
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Beaver Gear for the Holidays!
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The elves have been busy and we have a
new lounge pant design for 2017
! Made from ring-spun cotton that only gets softer with each wash, these pants are great all year round! Adjustable drawstring waist. Red plaid with white BALLARD logo on the leg.
We have sizes for the whole family! This year we are offering a wider size range. Junior Ladies XS and Small, Unisex/Mens sizes Small through 2XL.
Women will size down one size to fit the unisex sizes.
(Example: a Ladies Large would be Unisex Medium)
SIZES AND QUANTITIES OF THESE POPULAR PANTS ARE LIMITED.
These won’t be reordered, so if you would like a pair, place your order today or pick them up at our in-person sales outside the Gym
November 28
and
December 8
.
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SPECIAL HOLIDAY DEAL THROUGH DECEMBER 10!
The perfect match up! A Reversible Supporter Scarf with Beavers on one side and Ballard High School on the other is teamed up with a pair of authentic Strideline socks. Both companies are local so not only is it great to support our school but local businesses as well. A win win!
This deal is only good through December 10, and
this winning pair is just $30!
(regularly $38 sold separately). This is a great gift and sure to please the hard to shop for teen in your life!
Download our Holiday Order Form here
or see our bright smiling faces at our in person sales outside the gym from 5:00-8:30 during the home games for Basketball on November 28 and December 8!
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As we approach the time of year when we like to show gratitude to those people who make our lives better and often easier, Lauren and I would like to thank some of the people that help us do our jobs.
We are thankful for the amazing parents that sit on our ABC Board. We appreciate our energetic new Athletic Director, Jason Thurston, and the endless hours he is putting in at the school. We are grateful for all of our dedicated coaches, team parents and supporters who make every game and match no matter the conditions. We love our athletes and hope they feel our support from the sidelines. We appreciate and thank every one of you that goes above and beyond by volunteering in some way to make athletics better at Ballard. All of you along with our administrators, teachers, alumni and fans are the Ballard athletic community.
Lauren and I are in our last year of sitting on the board. Lauren has held a variety of positions on The ABC for five years and I have been on The ABC Board for four years. It is our goal over the next six months to make sure we leave this community stronger than when we began our adventure as Co-Presidents. We are working with our board and Jason to put systems in place so that in the future the athletic community at Ballard is not defined by individual teams but as a group of athletes, parents, coaches and directors all working together.
In the next few months you may notice your coaches and team parents asking for volunteers to help the ABC for an hour here or there; our hope is that by doing this you as parents will get a better understanding of what we do and perhaps (but not necessarily) chose to take on a bigger role in the athletic community. Please feel free to reach out to either Lauren or me (Jen) if you would like to work with us on what we hope to leave behind or if you just have questions.
Again we are so thankful for all of you and your athletes.
Lauren Molloy-Johnson & Jennifer Doherty
ABC Co-Presidents
P.S. If you haven't already, please
don’t forget to join the ABC!
Your membership fees make it possible for us to support BHS coaches and athletes.
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We are still looking for someone to join the ABC Board as our Treasurer. Come be a part of the team behind the teams!
Responsibilities include using Quickbooks to handle deposits, check requests, and reports for all BHS Athletics teams. This position sits on the ABC Board as an executive member. Training provided, start date January 1st.
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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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