Appropriately, as our country prepares to complete a nationwide census, we once again talk about growth here in the state of Washington.  The 2010 WHSBLA “census” shows 49 programs, now surpassing the number of programs in Oregon.  In fact, the addition of seven new programs this season is the largest growth spurt the WHSBLA has ever experienced!  The new programs are as follows: Gig Harbor, Lake Washington, Liberty, Mt. Si, Providence, Silver Lake, Woodinville. 

 

Division II should be as exciting as ever this season knowing for a fact there will be at least seven new playoff teams since seven of the eight 2009 quarterfinalists were reassigned to Division I. 

 

 

Division II Previews:

(In Alphabetical Order within each conference)

 

Metro Conference

Blanchet – After going .500 for the second season in a row, the Braves will be hungry to become one of the Elite DII teams.  Junior midfielder Dylan Evans and Sophomore Attackman Zane Zielke will lead the team in scoring, and Senior Noble Woods will hold down the defense.

 

Franklin – After going 0-12 last year, Franklin will only be playing one team from last season’s schedule.  This should help since it looks to be another rebuilding year for the Quakers.

 

Garfield – Garfield graduated 7 seniors, however the bulldogs return 10 players with Division I experience, and that can go a long way in Division II.

 

Highline – Talented midfielders Isaac Simpson and Scott Bredberg will lead an experienced group with 12 players returning with varsity experience.

 

Nathan Hale – With leading scorer Sam Osborn gone, the Raiders will be looking to senior captain Ian Harvey to fill the shoes.  Hale also boasts one of the best net-minders in DII in senior Spencer Adams.

 

Roosevelt – Senior attackman, Ben Soukup and junior attackman, Jack Truitt will shoulder the scoring load for the Roughriders who graduated four top scorers. 

 

 

Olympic Conference

Gig Harbor –New to the league, the Fire that have a lot of young talent from the Harbor Fire Youth Lacrosse program.  Though young, they have playing experience and are ready for the challenge.

 

Klahowya – The Eagles have been a perennial playoff team and this year will be no different.  Neil Sell and seven other seniors are ready to make a run at the

Division II Championship. 

 

North Kitsap – North Kitsap will need to find a new goalie this season.  However, senior midfielder, Jake Icard should lead the Vikings in scoring again this year. 

 

Port Angeles – This may be a rebuilding year for the Mountaineers after graduating 10 seniors.  Junior Jacob Dotsie will be a scoring threat from attack.

 

South Kitsap – The Wolves look to make a move up the standings this season.  Senior attackman, David Gibson led the team in scoring last year and senior

TJ Pulkrabek is back to lead the midfield.

 

 

Eastern Conference

Selah – Junior midfielder, Jared Grubenhoff will lead the Vikings, who graduated 12 seniors, including the top seven scorers.

 

Three Rivers – Super soph, Drew Wade will lead a young and talented Coyotes team that looks to better its playoff season from a year ago.

 

Wenatchee –Wenatchee has a great chance at its first playoff birth returning all but one player from last years team.

 

 

Cascade Conference

Lynnwood – The Tigers return their top four scorers from last years playoff team including attackmen Trey Knowles and Cameron Girgus.  Yet, the biggest impact will be senior defender, Jon Williams who will continue to match up with each opponent’s top offensive player.

 

Providence – Although new to the league, Providence doesn’t lack experience.  Junior middie, Ryan Morris will be the top scoring threat.

 

Silver Lake – Another new program, the Timberwolves start the season with one of DII’s top players from last year, midfielder Chas Stringfellow.  Stringfellow moved over from the Mukilteo program.

 

Snohomish – Many coaches are picking Snohomish as the team to beat in DII this year.  Senior defenders Peter Mueller and Greg Lucas, alogn with senior goalie Loren Danielson lead one of DII’s most talented defenses.

 

Woodinville – This new program formed from the incredible growth in the Northshore program.  Several players played with Northshoe a year ago and this will help the Falcons make their mark in DII this year.  Junior attackman J.D. Chapman will shoulder the load.

 

 

Evergreen Conference

Lake Washington – Though officially a new program, the Kangs will be a playoff contender from day one having split from the Redmond program.  Junior middie Jake Bernstein and his sophomore brother, Cody will lead the way.

 

Liberty – Though new to the league, the Patriots boast several players that played in the Issaquah program at the youth level.

 

Mt. Si – Another new program, the Wildcats from the Snoqualmie Valley are relatively unknown.  But as one of three first year teams in the Evergreen Conference, the playoffs are there for a new team to make.

 

Redmond – With the formation of the Lake Washington team taking most of the Mustangs depth, this will be a rebuilding year for one of last year’s top DII teams.

 

Sammamish – The Totems only graduated three players and looks to make a deep run in the playoffs.  Junior attackman, Brian Headland is one of Division II’s best.

 

 

Skagit Conference

North County – The Cavaliers lost all league goalie Gunnar Groothuis to graduation and find themselves rebuilding once again. Senior attackman, Eric Conner will have his hands full in leading the team this season.

 

San Juan – The Dragons have 14 seniors on the roster this year including middie, Forest Drayton, who is sure to have another great year.  The Dragons have arguably the best goalie in the state as well, in senior, Calen Mehrer.

 

Skagit Valley – Senior midfielders, Cody Schwab and Blake Berg lead Flyers team hungry for their first win as a program.

 

Stanwood – The Spartans graduated six key players from last year’s playoff team, including four year goalie Justin Jackson.  However, senior Jesse Aldalpa and sophomore Connor Merrit are back to lead the Spartan uprising.

 

Whatcom – The Warriors are getting better and better every year, and this year will be no different.  Senior middie, Daniel Hernandez will lead the team in scoring again, while senior defender, Peter Funston and sophomore defender, Austin Billiot should shut down opposing offenses.

 

 

 

2010 - Division II - Preseason All-State Teams

 

 

1st team

2nd Team

3rd Team

ATT

Cameron Girgus JR, Lynnwood

Forest Dayton SR, San Juan

Eric Conner SR, North County

 

Brian Headlund JR, Sammamish

Cody Bernstein JR, Lake Wash.

J.D. Chapman JR, Woodinville

 

Chas Stringfellow SO, Silver Lake

Nick Hund SR, Snohomish

Drew Wade SO, Three Rivers

 

 

 

 

MID

Jake Bernstein JR, Lake Wash.

Alex Tindall SR, Lynnwood

Jared Grubenhoff JR, Selah

 

Nathan Wirtz SR, Snohomish

J.T. Farmer SR, Sammamish

Tyler Paris JR, Woodinville

 

Trey Knowles SR, Lynnwood

Neil Sell SR, Klahowya

Ryan Morris JR, Providence

 

Dylan Evans SR, Blanchet

Daniel Hernandez SR, Whatcom

Jack Truitt JR, Roosevelt

 

 

 

 

DEF

Jon Williams SR, Lynnwood

Noble Woods SR, Blanchet

Tyler Cody SR, Skagit Valley

 

Andy Schock SR, Wenatchee

Greg Lucas SR, Snohomish

Quinn Carlson JR, Wenatchee

 

Peter Mueller SR, Snohomish

Clement Signoretty SR, Redmond

Luke Morris JR, Providence

 

Sam Chapman JR, Sammamish

Michael Ericson SR, Lake Wash.

Peter Funston SR, Whatcom

 

 

 

 

G

Calen Mehrer SR, San Juan

Loren Danielson SR, Snohomish

Spencer Adams SR, Nathan Hale

 

 

 

Lacrosse The Country…

Another great showing for the Northwest in the NCAA ranks this weekend… just check out this list:

·        Sam Snow  (Bainbridge) was at it again, this time netting 4 goals for Fairfield.

·        Yale’s Greg Mahony (Mercer Island) registered 3 goals in 2 games this weekend helping the Bulldogs improve to 3-0.

·        Bryan Gilbreath (Bainbridge) scored yet again with the long stick, helping Air Force keep it close versus Lehigh.

·        Caldwell Rohrbach (Garfield) opened his season with a team leading 2g,1a to help St. Lawrence upset Haverford.

 

If you’ve played both sports then you already know that basketball and lacrosse are great compliments to each other.  Makes perfect sense given the fact that the inventor of basketball,

Dr. James Naismith, was born in Canada and participated in lacrosse before developing the game of basketball.  Several WHSBLA players also played hoops for their high schools this winter. 

The list includes:

·        Lakeside midfielder, Sten Jernudd, whom was also named as an All-Metro basketball player

·        Vashon attackman, Hamzah Griffin

·        Eastlake midfielder, Kyle Hansen

·        Eastside Catholic midfielder, Michael Rambaldini

 

 

Lacrosse Four Thought…

Who did we leave off the Preseason DII All-State Teams?

Where will new high school programs pop up next season?

Which teams do you think make the DII playoffs in 2010?

Will the WIAA vote “YES” to sanction lacrosse this coming April?

 

 

Parting Shots…

·        Apologies to the Mennella family.  Last week we incorrectly spelled their name “Manella” multiple times in our article.  Seniors, Alex Mennella (LSM) and Brett Mennella (attack) both star for Bellevue.

 

·        “Rumor has it that several players will start the season on the sidelines including starters from Issaquah, Mercer Island and Eastside Catholic… one of them being one your preseason picks, Kyle Decker.”

 

We’ll give a shot to the best emails of the week and include your comments/quotes/etc in next week’s Sunday Stroll.

Time to hear from you!  Feed us your thoughts, edits, questions… bring it!          EMAIL: TheSundayStroll@gmail.com