The Randi Richardson era is over at Arlington High School.
The Nathan Davis era is about to begin.
Davis, 33, has been hired as Arlington’s new head girls basketball coach, pending approval by the Arlington School Board on Oct. 9. Davis coached the Eagles’ junior-varsity team for seven years and served as a varsity assistant during the 2002-2003 season.
“I’m excited,” Arlington athletic director Allen Jefferson said. “He’s worked with our last couple coaches (Corey Gibb, Stan Nelson and Mike Buckholz) so he’s seen the system and he’s been able to learn by working with those people.”
Gibb coached Arlington for four seasons (2002-2006) but the Arlington School District did not renew his contract for the 2006-2007 season.
Davis, who also coaches Arlington’s girls soccer team, takes over a basketball squad that was 6-10 in the Western Conference North Division (sixth place) and 8-12 overall last season. The Eagles lost star guard Randi Richardson, who scored 1,485 points in 79 career games (18.8 per game). She finished as the program’s No. 2 all-time scorer behind Kayla Burt and received a scholarship to the University of San Francisco.
“It won’t be quite the same without a Division-I point guard,” Davis said in reference to Richardson.
Still, Davis said he hopes to implement an intense, disciplined style that will make the Class 3A Eagles competitive. Arlington is expected to return three starters: Kyra Prause, Shayna Prause and Jessica Welk.
“We don’t have someone to rely on to score 25, 26 points every night … but hopefully we’ll spread the ball around,” Davis said.
Hunter’s season not over: The undefeated Oak Harbor football team will be without star lineman Will Hunter for four to six weeks, but the results of a magnetic resonance imaging exam (MRI) on his injured right leg Tuesday were more encouraging than expected, said Hunter’s mother, Marianne Hunter. Will Hunter, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound force on the offensive and defensive lines, was hurt Friday in Oak Harbor’s win over Snohomish. Wildcats coach Dave Ward initially thought Hunter might be lost for the season, but it turns out the injury was a medial collateral ligament strain, not a tear.
“It’s a relief for everybody,” said Ward, whose team is ranked No. 4 in the WashingtonPreps.com Class 4A poll. “If we can hang in there until the playoffs, then he’ll be ready for those – maybe even for the last league game or two.”
Hunter, who already is off crutches, is expected to begin rehabilitation later this week.
Local runners ranked: Several teams from Snohomish and Island counties are ranked in the latest Washington State Cross Country Coaches Association poll. Here’s where they stand:.
Girls: 4A-No. 3 Snohomish; 2A-No. 3 South Whidbey, No. 8 Lakewood, No. 9 Granite Falls.
Boys
4A-No. 6 Jackson, No. 8 Kamiak; 2A-No. 5 Lakewood.
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