Bellevue is now home to the “Fittest Woman Over 50.”
Laurie Carver, a soon-to-be 51-year-old Bellevue woman recently captured that title with a gold medal at the 2010 CrossFit Games in California.
Carver, a coach at Northwest CrossFit in Bellevue, came in first after finishing well in three separate workouts. Carver explained the CrossFit Games as a “ramped-up version” of each different CrossFit gym.
“It’s an awesome energy with great people,” she said. “It’s super difficult stuff.”
After a rough first day at the U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club, Bellevue’s Tom Brandes went into Friday’s second round with nothing to lose.
At the conclusion of Thursday’s first round, the amateur from Bellevue had posted a 12-over-par 82 round, one of 41 golfers in the field of 156 who couldn’t crack 80 at the Sammamish course.
With the cut following the second round, Brandes simply relaxed and played golf.
“I had nothing to lose,” said Brandes, 53. “I had already shot myself out of the thing. It was kind of like ‘hey, let’s just play.”
Brandes ended up shooting a 6-over-par 76, a much improved score. He credited his performance to the smaller crowd (he teed off early Friday morning, instead of in the afternoon like Thursday) and a little momentum – momentum that had to endure a lengthy fog delay.
To call Jennifer Cromwell’s summer a whirlwind would be an understatement.
Cromwell, a 2006 Sammamish graduate, kicked off her summer by helping the University of Virginia women’s rowing team capture their first NCAA Championship on May 30 in Gold River, Calif.
Rather than let the achievement sink in, Cromwell was off just two days later to try out for the United States Under 23 National Team, a process that culminated Sunday when her women’s Varsity Eight boat won gold at the Under 23 World Rowing Championships in Brest, Belarus.
Combine the rush of graduation with the thrill of a national title and the pride of a world championship and it’s understandable why Cromwell just wants to take a few days for herself now that she’s back home.
Tom Brandes took a minute to reflect Thursday afternoon following his first round at the U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club.
Standing outside the large Sahalee clubhouse, Brandes had just finished a 12-over-par 82 round, one of 41 golfers in the field of 156 who couldn’t crack 80.
The amateur from Bellevue talked about his expectations in the event, his second straight Senior Open appearance.
“Trying to break 80, getting a 75, 77, something like that, that’s pretty realistic to me,” said Brandes, 53. “I didn’t get it done today.”
Bellevue’s Jimmy Trull placed seventh in the nation in at the USAW Cadet Freestyle National Championships last week in Fargo, N.D.
Trull’s top-eight finish at 215-pounds earns him All-American honors as well as a “stop sign” – the trophies named for their resemblance to the road signs.
Trull also finished 10th at the USAW Cadet Greco-Roman National Championships.
Tyler Allen sat in the heat, robe on and hat affixed upon his head, taking in all that was his college graduation.
The sun was shining on Husky Stadium at the University of Washington that Saturday. Allen, about to officially receive his mechanical engineering degree, allowed himself a moment to let it all soak in. Four years of hard work, four years of late nights, four years of taking on all that he could. All accomplished on this warm Saturday afternoon.
Finally, the ceremony hit its conclusion. As per tradition, Allen and the new graduates tossed their hats high into the sky.
Then he was gone, on a dead sprint to the family car.
It was race day at the South Sound Speedway in Rochester, Wash., and the 22-year-old Interlake graduate wasn’t about to miss it – even if it was commencement.
“As soon as those caps were in the air,” Allen said, “I was gone.”
Four Bellevue youths will attempt to medal in the Fencing Summer Nationals, which begins Saturday in Atlanta, Ga.
Austin Li, Jonathan Li, Alina Marshall and Conor Beckerman will be among the more than 6,000 fencers competing in the tournament that runs until July 13.
Kenechi Udeze couldn’t shake the headaches.
They’d started in Minnesota, where the former first-round NFL draft pick out of USC had just finished his fourth season with the Vikings. Killer headaches that morphed into migraines when the 6-foot-4, 281-pound defensive end went home to California for the offseason. Migraines that couldn’t be stopped with Motrin, or anything else. He couldn’t shake these headaches like he so often did the massive arms of a reaching offensive tackle.
A few days later, Udeze woke up dizzy. The then-25-year-old NFL rising star checked himself into the hospital.
On Feb. 6, 2008, doctors called Udeze while he was watching SportsCenter at his wife’s parents home in Idaho. You have a highly-aggressive form of cancer, they said. We need to treat this right away.
The diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a cancer of the blood and bone marrow.
The Sammamish High School Gridiron Club will host the second annual Hawaiian Luau football fundraiser to support the Sammamish football program.
Bellevue’s Nick Moyer and Newport’s Trace Tam Sing have been selected to play in the All-State Series this weekend in Yakima.
The All-State series, a cross section of all classifications throughout the state, will feature selected players spread across four teams participating in a mini-round robin tournament.
The Bellevue College men’s golf team took first place at the NWAACC Golf Championship tournament played at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton on May 23-24.
Bellevue freshman KC Chang’s eight-under-par on Monday was the deciding factor, easing BC into the win over the Spokane team who was only one stroke behind the Bulldogs, having closed the gap after being seven strokes behind at the close of play Sunday.
Sammamish’s Anissa Bryant-Swift and Malia Lum proved once again to be the state’s top doubles pair by repeating as state champions last weekend in Vancouver, Wash., at the 3A state tournament.
The Bellevue Christian girls track and field team repeated as state champions at the 1A state championship meet at Eastern Washington University.
Key to the Vikings win was the performance of junior Mackenzie Altig, who won the triple jump with a leap of 34-10.50. Altig also finished second in the 300 meter hurdles and long jump and took third in the 100 meter hurdles. Her 32 points scored on the day accounted for over half of Bellevue Christian’s 63 team points.
The Newport girls golf team finished third in the Class 4A state tournament, held Tuesday and Wednesday at the Sun Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
The Knights scored 78.50 team points, coming up short to Lewis and Clark (80.00) and champion Bellarmine Prep (85.50).
Things weren’t looking good for Sammamish’s Anissa Bryant-Swift and Malia Lum.
Sure, they’d won the first set of the district finals against Bainbridge’s Grace Porter and Kate Jameson 6-4. But now they were sitting in a big hole in the second set, which they eventually lost.
Bryant-Swift, a senior, was down. She felt nervous, uncomfortable. That’s when her doubles partner Lum, a junior, threw a few words at her.
“I said ‘Maria Sharapova is the best because she has the worst memory’,” Lum recounted Tuesday. “Even though that was completely cheesy, it was just funny and made her laugh and think about something else.”
When Heather Tracy speaks to her Bellevue softball team about playing in the state softball tournament, she preaches from experience.
Tracy, in her sixth season as Wolverines head coach, was an assistant at Shorecrest in 2001, when the Highlanders won the 4A state title.
So when she tells her players about the need to live the moment, but not let it overwhelm them – well, she has the state ring to back it up.
Interlake swept the boys and girls team titles last Saturday at the West Central 2A district meet at Mount Tahoma…
Fred Funk remembers his initial thought when he stepped on to the tee box for the first time at Sahalee.
Trees. Trees everywhere. There were lots and lots of unavoidable trees.
“I really don’t think any other golf course has the trees that Sahalee has,” Funk said last week. “You almost feel claustrophobic on some of the holes. It’s intimidating.”
Bellevue’s Brett Mennella has been named to the 2010 U.S. Lacrosse High School All-America team.
Mennella, a senior attacker, leads Bellevue with 43 goals and 16 assists. His 43 goals are fourth in the state.
BC women’s tennis earns sixth-straight NWAACC championship
The Bellevue College women’s tennis team earned their sixth consecutive NWAACC championship with a nine point victory over second-place Green River, the closest margin in any of BC’s titles.
Sophomore Vanessa Estes beat Mona Tefesh of Green River 6-3, 6-3 to earn the No.6 singles championship, while Kendra Maeser and Nicole Smith earned the No.2 doubles title.
Erica Leong’s third place finish in the No.1 singles gave Bellevue enough points to pass Green River in the team title hunt.
