Notebook: Shorewood football team losing coach

SHORELINE — Jeff Weible, the winningest football coach in Shorewood High School history, has resigned his position.

Weible, who had a 27-22 record in five seasons at the Shoreline school, has accepted a teaching job in the North Kitsap School District and will interview next week for the vacant head football coaching job. North Kitsap coaching legend Jerry Parrish retired at the end of last season after a 32-year career. He is one of only 15 high-school football coaches in the state with more than 200 career wins.

Weible graduated from North Kitsap and lives in Poulsbo, meaning he has had to make a daily three-hour roundtrip commute to Shoreline.

"It's the opportunity to go back to my home, where I went to the school that's five minutes away from where I live and get three hours back in my life," Weible said.

Don Dalziel, Shoreline School District athletic director, said he was disappointed Weible is leaving.

"I've known for a while that he has struggled with the commute," Dalziel said. "It has been cumbersome. This will be a better situation for him."

Weible, who also was a physical-education teacher at Shorewood and the assistant baseball coach, said he is "very proud of what I've accomplished" at the school.

"We had our first losing season since I've been here last season (4-6), but the program is going in the right direction,'' said Weible, who started his coaching career as an assistant for North Kitsap from 1989 to 1996. "I think we've earned respect around the league that we are a difficult opponent. And whoever comes in here doesn't have to start from scratch."

In his first year at Shorewood in 2000, Weible guided the Thunderbirds to a 5-4 record. He followed that with back-to-back 6-3 campaigns as the T-birds advanced to the district playoffs. His team was 6-4 in 2003.

Augustavo on All-America team

Stephanie Augustavo, who led Bishop Blanchet to the Class 3A state volleyball championship last fall, has earned All-America honors from PrepVolleyball.com.

She is one of three Washington players among the 150 chosen from 35 states. Jalen Pendon of Spanaway Lake and Rachael Schurman of Mead of Spokane also made the list.

"I wasn't expecting this at all," said Augustavo, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter who will play at Southern Florida next year. "It's quite an honor for me."

Augustavo, a member of the Star Times all-area team, was earlier named the Class 3A state player of the year. Blanchet coach Joanne Gilligan said all of the accolades are appropriate.

"This is exciting for her," she said. "She works so hard and has had such a great prep career, she's deserving of everything she gets. And she's such a great kid."

Pendon, an athletic 5-8 outside hitter headed to Washington State, led Spanaway Lake to fifth place in Class 4A last fall and third in 2003. The 6-foot Schurman, also an outside hitter, helped Mead win back-to-back 4A state titles the past two seasons.

Inglemoor wrestling coach retiring

Tom Sewell hasn't decided how he'll spend his free time. He might go back to refereeing, something he did for awhile in the 1970s. Or he might lend an occasional hand to the wrestling program he helped establish. Most definitely, he'll travel more to see his sons wrestle in college.

"I think I'll always be a part of it," said Sewell, who has announced that he will retire after this season, his 24th as head coach at Inglemoor High. "It just seemed like the right time for me."

Sewell has two sons, both wrestlers. His oldest, Paul, competes at Columbia. His youngest, Mikey, stars at Inglemoor, and is a two-time state champion considering Columbia, Northwestern and Virginia.

Sewell said his decision to step down after 32 total years of coaching was prompted by a desire to see more of his sons' future matches. He credited the support of parents and administrators for helping the program flourish. Under Sewell, the Vikings have won 14 KingCo Conference championships and compiled a 255-51-1 record in dual meets.

"When I started, the competition thing dominated," said Sewell of what he will remember most. "But as you start maturing, you realize it's the kids you meet and all the things that go along with that."

Sewell coached three state champions and 34 state placers.

A get-together in his honor will be held Jan. 27 at the Inglemoor cafeteria after the Vikings' final home match of the season. A new "Wall of Fame" honoring the school's all-time state placers also will be unveiled.

Bellevue hires fastpitch coach

Heather Tracy has known since high school that she wanted to coach a varsity softball team. She now has that chance, having recently been hired to lead the fastpitch program at Bellevue High.

Tracy, 26, played shortstop at Shorewood High and Edmonds Community College, and Tracy has been a high-school assistant at Sehome and Shorecrest. She also has coached softball at Redmond's Inglewood Junior High, where she is in her fourth year teaching physical education.

"This opportunity is going to be really great," said Tracy, a graduate of Western Washington University. "I feel like this is really going to work out."

Last month, the Bellevue School Board approved an $860,000 project to build an on-campus softball field at Bellevue, something the school has never had. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer with the field expected to be ready by mid-spring 2006.

Tracy replaces Bruce Zimmer, who guided the Wolverines to a 23-25 overall record in two seasons.

Notes

• Shorecrest catcher Emily Gould has signed a letter of intent to play softball at Towson University in Maryland. Gould batted .407 last season as Shorecrest advanced to the Class 3A state quarterfinals.

• The Sammamish-Bellevue boys basketball game, scheduled for Jan. 31, has been moved to 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 at Sammamish High.

• Rosalia's boys defeated St. John-Endicott 53-49 at Rosalia on Tuesday, ending an 83-game Whitman County League losing streak. Rosalia's last league win was Jan. 9, 1998 when the Spartans beat Lacrosse-Washtucna 57-45 at home.

Times staff reporters Sandy Ringer and Matt Peterson contributed to this report.