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Camden Glover rumbles on the hardwood. (Julie Wheat photo)

“I would like to continue to be a reliable team player.”

That was Camden Glover’s stated goal as he entered his freshman year at Coupeville High School, coming off a stellar run as a middle school athlete which included several big-game performances on the hardwood.

And it was one he achieved during a four-year run in which he was as solid as they come.

Stevie’s oldest son, who has always been a protective big bro to his younger siblings, had actually already made his high school debut as an 8th grader, playing for the JV baseball squad, where he tore the leather off the ball.

But once he was a full-time high school student Glover really made his impact felt, both as a hitter and a pitcher across four varsity seasons on the diamond.

Numbers wise, he racked up 67 hits, 18 doubles, 49 RBI, 50 runs, 52 walks, and 47 stolen bases — while rarely being thrown out — while leading the squad in batting average over his final two years by nailing the ball at a .380 and .420 clip.

Throwing the high, hard cheese, and daring hitters to try. (Jackie Saia photo)

Put him on the mound, and Glover was equally as imposing, piling up 172 strikeouts in 101 innings of work on the bump.

Not only was the burly prairie native a danger to other teams whether he was flinging heat or taking swings, he was the kind of dude any coach wants at the center of their lineup.

In both good times, such as the Wolves advancing to the state tourney, or tough times, when he helped hold together a very-thin lineup, Glover carried himself the same.

He was a professional through and through, a leader by action and word, and, to those of us on the outside of the fence, seemed to be the glue which held his team together.

That was a mentality which carried over to his other high school sports, as well.

On the football field, Glover prowled the line, going both ways and anchoring things for the Wolves.

Few opponents got past him when he laid down a block, and he could be a menace on defense, often rumbling into the backfield to stuff a runner or pursue the other team’s quarterback.

Sharing a moment with fellow prairie progeny Lyal Viers (1) and Andy Penrod. (Tammy Glover photo)

Put him on a basketball court, and Glover was a truly intriguing player.

He had the size and strength to pound away in the key, muscling his way through defenders for hotly contested buckets.

But take your eye off of him for a second, and he would also pop out behind the three-point line, where he could be a deadly proficient long-range gunner, splashing home treys before the defense had fully registered what was happening.

Glover put in two really solid seasons of work at the varsity level, finishing with 351 points (and a ton of rebounds).

That has him sitting #80 all-time for a CHS boys’ basketball program which launched way back in 1917, which puts him in the top 18% of scorers among the 433 male hoops stars whose scoring exploits I have been able to chart.

With Glover having picked up his diploma this past spring, Wolf sports teams will have a big hole to fill — both in terms of the stats he piled up, and in the leadership, work ethic, and mentorship he displayed.

His younger brothers, and his cousins, are on their way, though all of them still have a few years before they’ll be at the high school level.

When they do, they’ll already have a role model to emulate, having watched Camden rip things up.

For now, we’ll take a moment to swing open the doors of the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame and welcome Tammy’s first grandson into its hallowed digital halls.

After this, you’ll find Camden Glover up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab, a young man who earned that status by bringing it every day, every play.

A younger Camden with his #1 fan. (Photo courtesy Stevie Glover)

Sherry Bonacci (left) and Aimee Bishop get runners fired up.

Race the Reserve, the biggest fundraiser for Coupeville High School’s senior class, hits the prairie Saturday, August 8 this year.

The annual event, which raises money for “safe and sober graduation activities,” features a 5K, 10K, and half marathon, with runners rambling through the scenic views of Ebey’s National Historic Reserve.

While parents of students from the CHS Class of 2027 are at the forefront of things, they need a pack of volunteers to help pull things off.

If you’re interested in kicking off a new school year in style, you can sign up by popping over to:

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0448A9AF2DA0FFC61-62841214-consessions?useFullSite=false

Take your game to the next level.

Tryouts for 14U and 16U Island Vipers travel softball teams go down August 4-5 at Coupeville’s Rhododendron Park.

All the pertinent details, including contact info if you have questions, can be found in the snazzy pic at the top of this story.

So, scroll back up, then get ready to swing for the fences.

Volleyball guru Cory Whitmore plots strategy. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

His run was truly stellar.

When Cory Whitmore took the reins of the Coupeville High School volleyball program in 2016, the varsity had won seven matches across the previous two seasons combined.

In his first go-round in the CHS gym, the Wolves promptly went 11-6, kicking off a string of nine consecutive winning seasons under their spiker guru.

Whitmore led Coupeville to the state tourney in 2017, snapping a 12-year dry spell, and got back in both 2023 and 2024, with the last of those teams claiming 4th place for the first state trophy in program history.

In between, his teams posted double-digit win totals eight times, with the only outlier being the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, when the Wolves were only allowed to play nine matches total.

When he stepped down after the 2024 season, Whitmore carried a .702 winning percentage with him, having gone 106-45 while on the CHS sideline.

How does that compare to other Wolf coaches? Pretty dang good.

While records are incomplete, the other highest winning percentages I can attest to are owned by the last two CHS softball coaches, Aaron Lucero and Kevin McGranahan.

Lucero is top dog right now, off to a 39-7 start (.848) across his first two seasons, while McGranahan went 111-49 (.694) while matching Whitmore’s nine-year run.

Here’s how Whitmore’s time at Coupeville played out:

2016: 11-6
2017: 13-5 (State)
2018: 11-5
2019: 14-5
2020: 6-3 (Partial season – Covid)
2021: 11-6
2022: 10-6
2023: 12-7 (State)
2024: 18-2 (State – 4th)

That final campaign was truly one for the ages, with Coupeville winning league and district titles, remaining undefeated until the final day of the season, advancing to the state semifinals, and smashing the program’s single season win mark en route to bringing home hardware.

Under Whitmore’s guidance, the Wolves also did the previously unthinkable, toppling La Conner from its perch atop the Northwest 2B/1B League volleyball standings, handing the Braves their first conference losses in more than a decade-plus.

Still kickin’ butt and takin’ names on the court. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

But while the wins and the trophies are huge, what I will remember most about the former Wolf coach is how he got there.

From the first practice to the last banquet, Whitmore was a dream to deal with.

He was friendly, personable, able to take complicated volleyball info and break it down to where even a relative idiot such as myself could (mostly) understand the game in a different way than before.

After crowd-pleasing wins or gut-punch losses, Whitmore never shied away from taking the time to send me emails from the road as the bus bumped back home or camping out in the CHS bleachers to answer my questions.

I found him to be one of the straightest shooters to ever hold a coaching job in Cow Town, and one of the most entertaining.

During his time running the Wolf program, he immersed himself fully in it, building a very-successful youth program which brought his high school players and elementary school students together.

Whitmore made volleyball fun and exciting for the next generation, and it will pay off for years to come.

Filling the gym with smiles. (Phoenix Da Costa-Ford photo)

He also set up a coaching tree which continues to branch out, with former Wolf players such as Ashley Menges, Scout Smith, Alita Blouin, and Hope Lodell having followed in the footsteps of the man who guided them during their own playing years.

While we all would have loved for him to coach for decades, his “retirement” was well earned.

Teaching at one school (Oak Harbor) while coaching at another, while putting in the 24/7/365 level of commitment to the volleyball program he did, takes its toll.

So, seeing Whitmore looking all hale and hearty and maybe able to have a moment or two to himself these days (or be able to spend some quality time with husband Cris), makes it easier to accept.

But while he’s stepped back from the spotlight a bit, that doesn’t mean we can’t pull him back to center stage one more time — at least online.

Today we swing open the doors to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, inducting him for his coaching prowess, his work ethic, and his sunny personality. The pride of Ritzville is the complete package.

After this you’ll find him up at the top of the blog under the Legends tab — the coolest cat in the joint.

Roxallanne Medley

Twenty years down the road, memories of Videoville still loom large for me.

One of our more enduring customers, Roxallanne Medley, died last week at age 80, and we want to take a few moments to remember her.

 

From her daughter, Melissa:

Roxallanne passed peacefully with her family by her side and a small smile on her face.

A true force of nature, we can picture her arriving in heaven on a breath of salty sea air, dancing to Irish fiddle tunes.

She packed at least three lifetimes into her one precious life.

She lived decisively: there was never a box that could contain her independent spirit and adventurous nature.

She was defined by her creativity, boldness, love of life and unquenchable energy.

Roxallanne knew music deep in her soul from a young age.

She began playing the violin at age six and when her younger siblings began their musical studies, the family home was never without the raucous sounds of budding string players.

She was concertmaster of the Portland Junior Symphony before her marriage to David in 1964.

A move soon after brought her an audition and a subsequent long career as a violinist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Later, the years she spent as concertmaster with the Saratoga Orchestra on Whidbey brought her great musical and personal joy.

In 1981, Roxallanne left the orchestra to complete her undergraduate degree at Seattle Pacific University in Elementary Education and then graduated summa cum laude with her master’s in education from Lesley College in Cambridge.

She embarked on a second career and was an elementary teacher at Coupeville Elementary on Whidbey Island for many years.

Together, Roxallanne and her co-teacher combined their talents to nurture a generation of young students to love learning, nature and seek excellence later in life.

After retiring from teaching, Roxallanne built a successful music studio from her home on Whidbey Island and brought the gift of music to scores of young violinists. She inspired the next generation of fiddlers to pursue their own musical dreams.

Her creativity didn’t stop with music; she loved all of the arts and shared her passion with those around her.

She was never without her sketchbook and paints and left behind volumes of precious journals filled with whimsical drawings and writings about the world around her.

She crafted delightful ceramic tiles and art and learned to spin and weave with fleece from their own sheep.

She also wielded her pen with the natural Irish gift of storytelling.

She was a woman who needed to be near the saltwater.

Early on, Roxallanne and David became sailors and spent years cruising the Salish Sea with their only child, Melissa, on their 22’ boat.

Eventually they moved aboard a 42’ ketch with the intention of someday casting off the dock lines permanently.

Life had other plans for them, and a move to Whidbey Island soon coalesced all they loved about the Pacific Northwest.

Roxallanne adored walking the beaches with her Golden Retrievers, crabbing in Penn Cove, clam digging with her dad, and sharing her island home with her two grandchildren and the family and visitors who frequently stopped by.

A special love was her travels with David that brought her to other bodies of water in Ireland and Cape Breton.

The allure of the sea combined with the Celtic musical tradition she found in those travels shaped much of who she was.

She left her beloved island home four years ago to be closer to family as her health began to wane, but her heart never left the rocky beaches and windswept prairies of Whidbey Island. She missed them every day.

She was most at home in nature, whether tending to one of the many beautiful gardens she planted wherever she lived, paddling her canoe or kayak, or raising heritage sheep.

She was passionate and vocal about protecting the environment.

Roxallanne’s family often laughingly called her a druid, and rarely did she miss an opportunity to celebrate a solstice and revel in the change of the seasons.

Food was her love language. Even though she was skinny as a rail, there was never a lack of abundance at her table or when she visited, and it was always served with a great deal of salt and butter.

Roxallanne and David hosted many musical St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in their home, replete with corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread, and her signature Guinness cake.

The world has lost a sweet light, and yet it still reflects in those she left behind: her husband of 62 years, David Medley; her daughter Melissa Medley Rodewald and son-in-law Doug; grandchildren Katie Rodewald Root and Andrew (great grandchildren Josephine, Teddy, and Elizabeth), and Jonah Rodewald and fiancée Amanda.

She was a devoted and loving sister to Bridget Kelly, as well as to Cathie Kelly and Randy Kelly.

Her presence will also be missed by her nieces Maghean, Laurie, and Mollie, and nephews Josh (Emily) and Patrick.

She was preceded in death by her mom, LaVerne Ione Norton Kelly, and her dad, Frank Edward Kelly.

Roxallanne was complex, independent, proud and so incredibly strong.

And she was one of a kind: her life was a blueprint for how to listen to your own voice, how to face intense challenges with resilience, and still stand tall.

The phrase “you can’t” was never in her vocabulary and she met everything life threw at her with determination and fortitude.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Coupeville. Contact daughter Melissa for details.

Instead of flowers, her family asks that you remember Roxallanne with hearts full of gratitude for her life so beautifully lived.

Remember her by listening to gorgeous music and early morning bird song, walking with your happy dog, digging in the dirt in the afternoon sun, or feeling the wind and salt on your face.

Her legacy remains with us.