Coach of the year

Background: Played high school ball one year at Monroe as a defensive specialist/setter. Attended Eastern Washington University. Has coached a total of seven years, the first five at Eatonville H.S. as an assistant coach. The team went to the state playoffs four of those five years. Currently teaches Business Education at Lake Stevens H.S.

2000 season: Finished the regular season 9-5, after going 0-14 in 1999. The Bearcats qualified for Districts as the No. 4 seed out of the Western Conference 3A. In the first round, they defeated Lynden 2-0. In the semifinal round they played against Lake Stevens, winning 2-0. In the championship match they lost to Burlington-Edison 0-2, but qualified for state as the No. 2 seed. At the state playoffs, they were 0-3, losing to Newport 1-2, Skyline 0-2, and White River 0-2. The Bearcats finished the year with a record of 16-12 and were one of the top 16 teams in the state.

Comment: “The kids did all the work”, said Hanson, who was hired two days into the 1999 tryouts. “They’re the ones that turned it around. We had a good core of seniors this year. The kids worked really hard”. Hanson said she had no chance to have any kind of a summer program prior to the 1999 season. The 1998 team was senior-dominated. There were no seniors on last year’s team. But everyone from that team returned this past season. During this past summer, the team attended a camp at Central Washington University where the players were able to get to know each other away from school. During the season, the girls had lots of team get togethers to further the bonding process, Hanson said.