In many ways, 14-year-old Islander T.J. Blackburn is like other kids his age: an eighth-grader, athletic and studious. But unlike most of his counterparts, Blackburn recently spent three days wrapped in Goretex heading for the summit of Mount Rainier.
Former Mercer Island High School basketball player Quin Snyder was named the new head coach of the Austin Toros basketball team last week.
The Mercerwood Shore Club pushed its win streak to 20 meets in a row, including its three consecutive Midlakes league-championship victories, with a 423-280 win over Newport Hills Thursday. But the return of the Mercer Island Beach Club to the top level of Midlakes competition and Mercer Island Country Club’s return to prominence has reheated a once fiery, yet friendly, three-way rivalry on the Island.
The annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be run by different organizers this year and there are a lot of changes in store for the event that normally “tips off” Summer Celebration. Mercer Island High School Girls and Boys Booster Clubs are taking the reigns in conjunction with the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Department this year, as the tournament will be held in the Community Center at Mercerview’s gymnasium instead of at the Lid Park on Friday, July 13.
The pressure to win for any high school coach is high. But in a sport where the team has won eight state titles in 17 years, that pressure becomes measured like G-forces.
The ebb and flow of sports can make fans joyous one minute and heartbroken the next. For the Mercer Island senior softball team, the Rockers, that concept has caught up with the perennial league champs.
The second of three meets between Mercer Island Midlakes swim teams took place Thursday with the Mercerwood Shore Club extending its winning streak to 21 consecutive meets by defeating rival Mercer Island Beach Club, 522-186.
During the past three years the Mercerwood Shore Club has not lost a Midlakes swim meet. But the one team that has posed the biggest challenge to the Manta Rays is Edgebrook, twice nearly ending the Shore Club’s win streak. Mercerwood again showed why its run of now 22 consecutive victories is not a fluke as they defeated their biggest league rival 385-321, despite low swimmer attendance, hot temperatures and hostile surroundings Thursday.
The Mercer Island Girls fifth grade Select Team participated in a Shooting Clinic with the UW Husky Women’s Basketball Team and their new coaching staff, led by new head coach Tia Jackson. The girls won this clinic by selling the most tickets to the student vs. teacher game last spring.
As a kid growing up in Mercer Island, Alex Sirianni wanted nothing more than to play football for Mercer Island High School.
The gymnasium walls at the Community Center at Mercer View were lined with parents, brothers, sisters and plenty of aspiring basketball stars Friday as the annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament played host to more than 100 student-athletes.
For the Mercerwood Shore Club, the third and final Midlakes meet featuring head-to-head match-ups between Island teams was more than just a friendly rivalry meet — it was about making history and finishing undefeated. The 415-291 victory over the Mercer Island Country Club clinched the fourth consecutive regular season title for the Manta Rays and extended their win streak to 23 meets.
It has been a turbulent season for the Rockers, Mercer Island’s coed 50-and-over softball team. The unpredictability continued last week as the team split two games.
The annual Seattle to Portland Bicycle event took place Saturday July 14 and Sunday July 15 with 68 Mercer Island residents taking part. The event hosted athletes from five countries and 44 states.
For the fourth consecutive year ,the Mercerwood Shore Club is the Midlakes Champion. The club swim team won the championship meet with 1907.5 team points, while the Mercer Island Country Club took third (1198.5) and the Beach Club finished fifth (929).
At the King County Aquatic Center
Winning a high-school sports championship during the summer may seem a bit out of the ordinary. But for the Mercer Island High School boys swim winning the National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) National Championship falls right in line with its growing list of accomplishments and overall domination.
