Four local high school graduates earned all-league honors to highlight the efforts of former Oak Harbor and Coupeville athletes now competing in fall collegiate sports.

Volleyball

Oak Harbor’s Kayleigh Harper and Janae Payne helped Western Washington University capture the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the NCAA Division II West Region championships this fall.

The Vikings finished the conference season with a 20-0 record and now have a school-record 28-match winning streak after opening the season with three straight losses.

Last weekend, Western, ranked second in the nation’s coaches’ poll, won the regional title over No. 1-ranked Cal State San Bernardino. The Vikings face Texas’ Tarleton State University (32-4) Thursday, Nov. 29, at Duquesne University (Pittsburgh) in the national championship quarterfinals.

In the win over Cal State San Bernardino, Harper tallied a career-high 26 kills and added four blocks on the way to being named to the All-West Region team.

The 6-3 junior was an unanimous choice for her third first-team, all-GNAC selection this fall, leading the league in hitting percentage (.397) and blocks (1.43 per set). She is fifth in WWU history and seventh in GNAC history with 426 career blocks.

This season, Harper is leading the Vikings in hitting percentage (.409) and blocks (151) and is second in kills (367) and points (462).

Payne, a sophomore, appeared in 13 matches and recorded 10 digs and 12 aces. In a 3-0 win over Northwest Nazarene Sept. 13, Payne collected two aces and three digs.

Two Oak Harbor graduates, Samantha Hines and Hailee Blau, are freshman members of the Whatcom Community College (7-21) volleyball team.

Hines appeared in 18 matches and led the Orca in aces (13), was third in kills (44), third in blocks (7) and fourth in points (61).

Blau played in only three matches but notched 25 kills for a team-leading average of 2.78 kills per set. She also had the team’s best points-per-set average (3.2).

Oak Harbor’s Claire Anderson sat out this season with a shoulder injury but will continue playing for the University of Bridgeport (Conn.) volleyball team next fall.

Football

Oak Harbor graduates Tyler Adamson and Taylor Kolste play football for Northwest Conference champion Whitworth University (Spokane).

The Pirates (10-0) opened the NCAA Division III tournament with a 48-6 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripts (California) Nov. 17. Whitworth now faces St. John’s (Minnesota) Nov. 24.

In the win over CMS, Adamson recorded his sixth blocked kick of the season, a school record.

In addition to excelling on special teams, Adamson, 6-5, 292-pounds, starts at left tackle on offense. The senior captain was named to the all-Northwest Conference first team for the third consecutive year after helping the Pirates lead the league in the fewest sacks per game (1.67). Whitworth also leads the conference in rushing (175.4 yards per game) and total offense (461.3).

Kolste, a junior wide receiver, was injured and appeared in only two games, catching six passes for 62 yards with a long of 29.

Coupeville’s Nick Streubel was named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference first team as an offensive lineman for the second consecutive year. The junior helped Central Washington University (8-3) tie for the GNAC crown, as the Wildcats finished second in the nation in total offense. The offensive line paved the way for two 1,000-yard rushers, as Central ran for 272 yards per game.

In the Wildcats’ 74-28 win over Southwest Baptist (Missouri) Nov. 3, Central set school records in rushing yards (514) and rushing touchdowns (nine).

Oak Harbor’s Princeton Lollar is a linebacker at Scottsdale College (Arizona), where the Fighting Artichokes have a 7-3 recording heading into the Valley of the Sun Bowl against Blinn College (Texas) Dec. 1.

Lollar earned first-team, all-Western State Football League and all-region honors while recording 62 tackles (eight for losses) and an interception.

Oak Harbor graduate David Ray is a junior defensive back on the Midland University (Fremont, Neb.) football team. The Warriors finished the season with a 7-4 record.

Mac Nuanez, an Oak Harbor graduate, is a freshman on the Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa) football team (8-3).

Oak Harbor’s Dayne Herron, starting left tackle for the University of New Hampshire, played two games then missed the remainder of the season with a back injury.

Rifle

Oak Harbor graduate Mara Rouse, competing for the University of Texas at El Paso rifle team, owns a 1,144 aggregate average, second best among the Miners. Her season high of 1,156 came Nov. 10 against Ohio State, when she also earned her season high in small bore (577). She recorded her top air rifle score of 584 twice, Nov. 15 against Air Force and Oct. 20 against Nevada.

Soccer

Mary Johnston, a sophomore forward at Division I University of Maryland, played in nine matches, averaging 10 minutes, for the 4-10-5 Terrapins this fall. The Oak Harbor grad put up shots in matches with Appalachian State, Illinois and Ohio State.

Jennifer Turnek, another sophomore DI soccer player from Oak Harbor, competes for Boise State University. Turnek played 59 minutes in five matches for the Broncos (13-4-3), who tied for the Mountain West Conference regular season title with San Jose State. Boise lost to San Jose in penalty kicks in the conference tournament championship match Nov. 1.

Oak Harbor’s Caley Powers is a junior forward for California Baptist University (Riverside, Calif.), where the Lancers finished the season with a 9-9-1 record.

Powers appeared in 17 matches and registered seven shots and one goal. The goal came off a header and was the first score in a 4-0 win over Hope International University Sept. 18.

Golf

Oak Harbor graduate Annie Leete played in four golf tournaments for Western Washington University this fall.

Her top finish was 16th out of 72 at the Western Washington Invitational Oct. 8 and 9, where she shot two rounds of 78.

Her best two rounds, 76 and 77, came at the Dixie State Invitational (Hurricane, Utah) Oct. 1 and 2 where she placed 18th out of 59.

Leet’s average of 79.38 if fourth-best among the Vikings.

Coaching

Oak Harbor High School graduate Travis Connell, coach of the Western Washington University women’s soccer team, led the Vikings to the NCAA Division II West Region championship match where WWU (18-3-2) lost in penalty kicks to the University of California San Diego Friday, Nov. 16, in Canyon Texas. It was the Vikings’ sixth regional title match in the past seven years.

Western, sixth in the national polls, won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season title, its sixth in the past seven years, but lost the league tournament title game to Concordia in overtime.

Oak Harbor’s Addy Royal, in her first year as an assistant cross country coach at the University of California San Diego, helped guide the Triton men to ninth place and the women to 14th place in the NCAA West Region Championships Nov. 17 in Billings.

Kayleigh Harper goes on the attack for Western Washington. Harper is a three-time, first-team, all-league selection for the Vikings. (Photo courtesy of Western Washington Athletics)

Dayne Herron started at left tackle for the University of New Hampshire before a back injury ended his season. (Photo courtesy of UNH Athletics)

Samantha Hines played volleyball for Whatcom College this fall. (Photo by John Fisken)

Taylor Kolste (red) caught six passes for Whitworth University this fall before an injury ended his season. (Photo courtesy of Whitworth Athletics)

Annie Leete lines up a putt while playing for Western Washington University. (Photo courtesy of Western Washington Athletics)

Janae Payne serves for Western Washington. (Photo courtesy of Western Washington Athletics)

Caley Powers dribbles up field for California Baptist this fall. (Photo courtesy of CBU Athletics)

Hailee Blau goes for a kill for Whatcom College. (Photo by John Fisken)