PREP NOTEBOOK: Sluys to return to alma mater to coach baseball
Published 5:49 pm Monday, September 27, 2010
Jamie Sluys is happy to be a Seagull again.
Sluys, a 1992 Everett High School graduate, is the Seagulls’ new head baseball coach. His hiring was announced Friday by Everett School District athletic director Robert Polk.
Sluys, a former three-sport standout at Everett, is thrilled to return.
“I’m very excited. I think any time you get an opportunity (to coach) at your alma mater, those opportunities are few and far between,” said Sluys, who replaced Chad Boudon.
Boudon coached Everett for two seasons. The team was 4-19 in 2009 and 5-18 in 2010.
Last season Sluys was an assistant baseball coach at Mountlake Terrace High. Now he will coach against the Hawks because Everett and Mountlake Terrace are both members of the revamped Wesco 3A league.
“That’s going to be something,” said Sluys, who coached Terrace’s junior-varsity team this past spring. “It’s going to be mixed feelings because the kids that I had at the JV level last year — a lot of them are going to contribute (for the Hawks in 2011).”
Sluys, who lives in Lake Stevens and is an Edmonds School District employee, was a six-time varsity letterwinner at Everett. In baseball, he primarily played catcher and first base, earning all-league recognition his senior year at the latter position.
Later, Sluys played baseball at Edmonds Community College and Bellevue University in Nebraska.
The Everett High job is Sluys’ first as a head baseball coach. Asked what he hopes to accomplish with the Seagulls, Sluys said: “It’s going to take awhile. But from Day 1, every inning, every pitch we’re going to be playing championship baseball.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” he added. “I don’t know how good we’re going to be. I just know it’s a great opportunity.”
Encouraging signs for Monroe swimming
Last year Monroe High didn’t have its own girls swimming team but had a cooperative program with Woodinville High. This fall, guided by new coach Helen Teixeira, Monroe has 22 swimmers and officially started its own team.
“We are excited about the program,” Monroe athletic director Brett Wille said, “because we have a large number of students interested in swimming. Even without our own pool, we were able to get the program started and it has taken off very well.”
The Bearcats practice one hour per day at the Monroe YMCA pool and do dry-land workouts on campus. They are searching for a different location to get more pool time. Wille hopes the fledgling program will grow.
“Helen is an amazing coach, the kids enjoy swimming for her and she will build the program tremendously as we look to the future,” Wille said.
Tomahawk Twilight Invitational is Saturday
Hundreds of cross country runners will compete Saturday in the annual Tomahawk Twilight Invitational at Cedarcrest Golf Course in Marysville. The 5-kilometer course will feature glow-in-the-dark T-shirts, balloon arches at each mile checkpoint and glow sticks. The varsity races are scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. (boys) and 7 p.m. (girls). For more information go to http://tinyurl.com/2eakg2y.
Great weekend for Everett’s Comeaux
Everett High cross country runner Angelo Comeaux has been outstanding this season. Based on his stellar race Saturday at the Nike Pre-Nationals in Portland, Ore., Comeaux is ranked No. 2 in the state among Class 3A runners. The senior placed sixth in the Jim Danner Championships boys race, completing the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course in a personal-record time of 15 minutes, 40.45 seconds. Earlier last week, Comeaux won a 2.9-mile Wesco race at Snohomish golf course in 14:45. He also won the South Whidbey Invitational on Sept. 18.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam and follow Cane on Twitter at MikeCaneHerald.
