And the Enterprise E-prizes go to …

The votes have been tabulated. The envelopes are sealed and the winners are about to be unveiled.

It’s that time of the year again — time for the second annual Enterprise Newspapers E-prize Awards, honoring the area’s top athletes, coaches and teams from the 2002-03 season.

The past nine months were filled with plenty of memorable moments, both on and off the field of competition.

The exhaustive nomination process was followed by countless hours of heated debate within the two-man Enterprise sports department.

And unlike the Oscars, which don’t announce the big awards until the end of the broadcast, we won’t make you wait for the important stuff.

So without further ado, the E-prizes go to …

Team of the Year: Archbishop Thomas Murphy football. You expect great things from any Terry Ennis coached team. But few people were expecting a state championship in only the team’s third year of existence and second year of varsity competition. The Wildcats return most of their key players, so another Class 1A title is certainly within the realm of possibility.

Game of the Year: Shorecrest vs. Hanford, for the Class 3A state softball championship. After falling in a 5-0 hole in the top of the first inning, Shorecrest rallied for four runs in the bottom of the second in a matchup that truly went down to the final pitch. The Scots came up just short in their quest to claim state titles in both the 4A and 3A classifications, but established themselves as one of the state’s elite fastpitch programs.

Most exciting male athlete to watch: Jackson quarterback Jason Morris. This was one of the toughest categories with many worthy candidates. But if there’s one player we’ll miss the most next season, it’s Morris. The Wolfpack senior, who will switch to wide receiver at Eastern Washington in the fall, was a quarterback who was equally adept at throwing a pinpoint 40-yard strike as he was in scrambling for a first down on a broken play. Morris was one player you never took your eyes off of, regardless of whether his team was winning or losing.

Most exciting female athletes to watch: Shorewood’s Nanda McCormick and Shorecrest’s Haley Martin. These 12-letter winners supplied a cavalcade of highlights since springing on the scene as freshmen. Hardly a week went by the past four years without some mention of the three-sport standouts, who were recently honored as their schools’ female athletes of the year. How could you pick one over the other? We couldn’t either.

Hardest worker: Meadowdale’s Josh Swett. A good part of the credit for Meadowdale boys soccer team’s history-making season was due to the efforts of Swett. Not only did the Mavericks advance to state for the first time in 22 years, but their third-place finish was the school’s highest ever. Meadowdale coach Darrell Hamilton commented after one playoff game that Swett simply refused to let his team lose.

Gutsiest performance: King’s Rachel Strand. At the Class 1A state track meet, the senior captain fought off severe abdominal pain and placed fifth in the 800. Earlier in the meet, the coaching staff couldn’t even get Strand on her feet. “During the race we tried to get her to stop running. But she wouldn’t,” head coach Daunte Gouge said, adding that Strand’s points were the difference in King’s snagging the team title.

Brightest newcomers: Jackson’s Allison Graham, Shorecrest’s Jesse Hoffman and Archbishop Murphy’s Lisa Coate. These fresh faces are the finest the Class of 2006 has to offer. Graham captured the Wesco 4A South Division cross country title. Hoffman, a potential 12-letter athlete, played varsity football and basketball for the Scots and ran at the state track meet in the mile relay. Coate started the girls basketball season as Lauren Coate’s kid sister, but ended it as one of ATM’s offensive mainstays.

Best debut coaching performance: Meadowdale boys basketball coach Chad McGuire. The team’s former junior varsity coach made a seamless transition and helped lead the Mavericks to their first state tournament appearance in 25 years. The Mavs advanced to the quarterfinals, where they met up with eventual champion Rainier Beach. How about an encore?

Fastest learner: Jackson’s Brandon Myers. The Wolfpack track star never ran the 110-meter hurdles until this year but decided to learn more about the event as part of his senior project. His reward was a third-place finish at the Class 4A state championships.

Best team T-shirts: Shorecrest girls tennis. The Scots served up an ace with this year’s slogan: “WARNING! I hit like a girl.”

Always good for a quote: Jackson’s Caleb Knox and Meadowdale’s Adam Shimer. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that these two cross country/track athletes are long distance specialists. Or maybe they get a lot of thinking done when they’re running. Regardless, Knox and Shimer always have something of interest to say after a race.

Potential dynasties in the making: King’s girls track and Edmonds Community College women’s soccer and baseball. The Knights claimed their third consecutive Class 1A state title without garnering a single first-place medal. The absolutely frightening part? They’re losing only two seniors. The Tritons won their second NWAACC women’s soccer title in three years, while EdCC’s baseball team captured a second straight championship last month.

Coaches we’re going to miss: Mountlake Terrace’s Nick Greenwell and Susie Miller. Greenwell has rejuvenated a struggling Hawks girls basketball program and Miller’s volleyball teams consistently challenged for the playoffs. The two coaches’ successors have some mighty big shoes to fill.

Programs on the rise: Shoreline Christian School baseball and softball, Archbishop Murphy boys basketball and Shoreline Community College softball. Both Shoreline Christian teams made their first appearances at state this spring. The Crusaders placed fourth at the Class B baseball championships and the SCS softball team split its four games at the state fastpitch tournament. After a couple of difficult seasons, the Wildcats qualified for the postseason for the first time in team history and will be returning their entire squad next season. Shoreline CC set school records for most league and overall wins and qualified for the NWAACC tournament for just the third time.

Never at a loss for words: King’s football coach Jim Shapiro. When conducting postgame interviews with the Chinook League’s reigning coach of the year — and self-proclaimed fast talker — a handheld recorder is a necessity. Unless you don’t mind asking, “Could you repeat that? Got it. Now just that last part again?”

Always willing to be quoted: Edmonds-Woodway boys soccer coach Tony Gilman. The Warriors’ first-ever undefeated run through the Wesco 4A South Division gave Gilman plenty to talk about during the regular season. But when E-W was upset in the first round of the state playoffs, Gilman didn’t get tight-lipped as some coaches do following a difficult loss.

Most likely to put their town on the map: Shorecrest’s Sean Lenning and Jackson graduate Brent Lillibridge. Lenning is turning heads as the youngest member on the professional handball tour, climbing as high as 12th in the men’s rankings. Lillibridge, a freshman center fielder, led the University of Washington with a .388 batting average and was named the team’s MVP. He was invited to try out for the U.S. National Team, which will compete in this summer’s Pan-Am Games.

Favorite stories from 2002-03: Teen-age pool queen Allie Shaffer and soccer tyke Brandon Brauns. Shaffer is making a name for herself as the youngest player on the fledgling Northwest Women’s Pool Association amateur tour. Brauns, the 4-year-old son of Jackson assistant girls soccer coach Kris Brauns, served as honorary captain during a boys soccer game between Jackson and Edmonds-Woodway this spring. Brandon was undergoing treatment for cancer and had recently completed chemotherapy. His trip to Edmonds Stadium was one of his first trips out of the house since leaving the hospital.

Being a part of the game lifted Brandon’s spirits and left a lasting impression of a courageous young boy on a crowd of coaches and players and a newspaper reporter or two.

David Pan and Charlie Laughtland cover sports for The Enterprise Newspapers. Questions and comments may be sent via e-mail to entsports@heraldnet.com, by fax to 425-774-8622 or by mail to: Sports editor, The Enterprise, 4303 198th St. SW., Lynnwood, WA 98036.