What did you do the summer after your freshman year of high school? Odds are it was much less imposing than what Axel Stanovsky attempted.
Stanovsky, now a senior at Everett High School, vowed to run 1,000 miles between the end of his frosh year and the ensuing school year. He nearly did it, too. His final mileage tally was 940, the equivalent of nearly three dozen 26.2-mile marathons.
“After I ran that much,” said Stanovsky, “I kind of knew I was in it for the long haul. It just kind of became most of my life.”
After he wraps up his senior prep season later this month, the Everett standout’s life will include a new running-related chapter that takes him from one coast to the other.
Stanovsky celebrated his acceptance of a partial athletic scholarship to the College of William &Mary May 1 during a brief ceremony at Everett High. He was joined by about a dozen people, including his father, Clint Stanovsky, Everett running coach Bruce Overstreet, Everett athletic director Jo Levin and several friends and teachers.
The distance runner received a 10-percent scholarship to compete for the track and cross country teams at W &M, based in Williamsburg, Va. Stanovsky said if he reaches a reasonable performance goal, his scholarship will increase to 30 or 40 percent after his freshman year.
Stanovsky, a gifted 3,200- and 1,600-meter runner, also considered Dartmouth but picked W &M because of its athletes, coaches and training philosophy.
Before embarking on his remarkable 1,000-mile quest in 2004, Stanovsky ran the 3,200 in nine minutes, 32 seconds – then the ninth-fastest time by a freshman in state history. Despite some injury and illness setbacks, he has qualified for the state track championships three times (once as an alternate) and is a two-time state cross country participant.
Stanovsky is a key member of an Everett team that hopes to challenge Lake Stevens for the Wesco North championship this week. The two-day North meet is Wednesday and Friday at Lake Stevens High. The South meet is set for the same days at Goddard Stadium.
Meadowdale hoop standout headed to W. Washington
Marelle Moehrle, a senior guard/forward from Meadowdale, signed April 30 a letter of intent to play basketball for Western Washington University. The senior co-captain averaged 17.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals to help Meadowdale placed sixth at the 3A state tournament. “She’ll do well. Western is a good shooting team,” Mavericks coach Dan Taylor said of Moehrle, who made 62 3-point baskets this past season and scored more than 1,000 points in her career.
Other student-athletes make decisions
The following locals also announced where they plan to compete after high school: Dane Gilbertson of Lake Stevens (football, Whitworth in Spokane); Everett’s Cole Anderson (soccer, Illinois at Chicago); brothers Jeff and Evan Dull of King’s (cross county and track, Seattle Pacific); Spenser Mestel of Shorewood (diving, Dartmouth).
Close calls
Over the last few seasons several games between the Monroe and Lake Stevens softball teams have gone to extra innings, including Lake Stevens’ 1-0 triumph in 12 innings April 24 at Park Place Field in Monroe. Last season Monroe pulled off a 2-1 victory in nine innings thanks to Sarah Elledge’s game-winning inside-the-park home run, also at Park Place. In 2005 Lake Stevens prevailed 1-0 in 11 innings as pitcher Athea Surface, then a sophomore, struck out nine, walked one and held Monroe to three hits. Surface, now a senior, pitched in all three nail-biters.
Mike Cane, Herald Writer
Tony Dondero of The Enterprise contributed to this report
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