2009 is memorable fall sports season
SANDPOINT — Another fall sports season is officially in the history books for the Sandpoint Bulldogs, with two more freshly-printed state championship banners slated for the rafters of Les Rogers Court.
Folks in these parts are so used to athletic success that this simple fact is sometimes lost: It’s not easy to win state titles. There are a lot of schools in the Gem State that would love to have even a fraction of the state banners that SHS boasts.
Bearing that in mind, here are some of the highlights from the 2009 fall sports season — top to bottom the best of the five I’ve had the pleasure of covering as the Daily Bee sports editor.
n The Sandpoint boys and girls soccer teams each won state titles, yet again, merely affirming that the best soccer in the state is played way up north in the panhandle.
The girls team made mince meat of the 4A bracket, blowing out the competition en route to the title. The girls lost only four games all season, to 4A Washington powers Pasco, Richland, University and Lewis and Clark. Games against Mead and Central Valley were canceled due to the swine flu.
Every year Bulldogs head coach Adam Tajan loads up the non-conference schedule with a spate of tough games, essentially facing tougher competition than he’ll see at the state tournament. The end does indeed justify the means.
n Randy Thoreson is quickly becoming to Idaho high school soccer what John Wooden was to college basketball. Since 2000, when officially sanctioned state tournaments first started, Thoreson has led his boys teams to a whopping seven out of a possible 10 state titles.
With dynastic numbers like that, a good argument could be made that he’s the best coach in the state, regardless of sport or classification.
n Last spring, I was interviewing SHS track coach Dave DeMers when two members of the team — Mike Hubbard and Anthony Gold — drove up in a golf cart to unload some starting blocks.
“You want a story,” proclaimed Hubbard. “The Sandpoint football team is going to win state next year.”
At the time, I chalked the comment up to the brand of youthful exuberance and hubris that can only be found in a teenager. As it turned out, Hubbard was only about 35 yards from nailing a bold prediction that would have made both Nostradamus and Jimmy “The Greek” proud. The senior receiver/kick returner backed his claim with a rock-solid season.
As for Gold, I didn’t see a more explosive or exciting player this season. At just 5-foot-4, nearly every team saw the sophomore corner on an island and attacked him with jump balls to taller receivers. Without fail, Gold would sky high to make the play.
n It was nice to see senior receiver Brandon Lawrence catch a long touchdown from Ben Fisher in the Bulldogs’ 29-23 loss to Blackfoot in the state title game. Lawrence was primed to be one of the Bulldogs’ best players this year, but an injured knee sidelined him for a large chunk of the season. The catch no doubt took a little sting out of a frustrating senior year.
n A special thanks goes out to SHS teacher Wendy Auld, and freshman Nick Nizzoli and senior Raven Quaring, who kept stats for every football game this year. Auld has been voluntarily compiling the stats for years, and comes by the Bee after every home game to tabulate and type up the finished product, then calls and emails them to all of the regional media.
n Another thanks goes out to Cory Murdock, of Point Photography, who also came by the Bee after every home game to submit his AP-quality football action photos.
On to winters sports it is.