The athletic careers of some former Oak Harbor and Coupeville students didn’t end when they finished high school. Following is a look at local graduates who competed at the collegiate level during the winter season.
Wrestling
Oak Harbor’s Bailey Martinez earned All-American honors by placing seventh in the 143-pound class at the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association Championships in St. Louis Feb. 13 and 14.
Martinez just completed her second wrestling season at Pacific University (Forest Grove, Ore.) after one season of playing softball for Skagit Valley College.
Martinez led Pacific with a 15-8 record, which included five falls and seven technical falls.
During the regular season, Martinez was first in the Boxer Open Jan. 18, third in the Mike Clock Open Nov. 9 and fifth in the Clansmen International Nov. 1.
At the national meet, she dropped her opening round match then won three straight by falls. In the match for fifth and seventh places, she tied 5-5 but lost on a criteria decision.
She is Pacific’s first All-American since 2012.
Oak Harbor’s Jahleel Vester, a freshman 141-pound wrestler at Central College in Pilla, Iowa, posted a 15-21 record this season and placed seventh in the NCAA Division III Central Regional Tournament.
He reached the consolation quarterfinals in the Knox Invitational Nov. 8, was fifth in the Central College Under Armour Invitational Jan. 10 and seventh in the silver division of the Auggie-Adidas Open Nov. 22 and Cornell Matman Invitational Jan. 17.
Swimming
Price Hu, a senior swimmer at the Stevens Institute of Technology (Hoboken, N.J.) was fifth in the 200 butterfly, 13th in the 100 fly and 14th in the 400 individual medley at the East Coast Athletic Conference Championships Dec. 7.
Hu helped the Ducks win the Empire 8 championship by placing seventh in the 400 IM and eighth in the 200 fly Feb. 18-21 at Webster, N.Y.
In regular-season tournaments, the Oak Harbor graduate placed first in the 400 IM and 200 fly at the Franklin and Marshall Invitational Nov. 23, and he won the 200 fly at the New York University Invitational Nov. 8.
Ciara Hu, Price’s sister, is a sophomore swimmer for the University of Chicago. She placed seventh in the 400 IM in the University Athletic Association championship meet Feb. 14 in Atlanta. She was also 15th in the 200-meter fly and 19th in the 200 IM.
Hu grabbed second place in several invitational meets: 400 IM, Phoenix Fall Classic, Chicago, Nov. 22; 100 fly, UC Invitational, Chicago, Jan. 10; and 200 fly, Midwest Invitational, Feb. 21, Chicago.
She had a strong dual meet season as well, taking first in the 200 IM against Denison Nov. 25 and winning the 100 fly against Lewis Jan. 23.
Senior Tori Nickerson, a swimmer at Linfield College (McMinnville, Ore.), was studying abroad during fall term and missed the first seven meets. In her first meet upon returning, she won the 100 breaststroke and competed on the winning 200 medley relay team Jan. 23 against Lewis and Clark.
The next day, the Oak Harbor grad placed second in the medley relay, third in the 100 fly and fourth in the 50 free against Willamette.
At the Northwest Conference championship meet Feb. 13-15 in Corvallis, she was eighth in the 400 medley relay, 12th in the 200 breaststroke, 13th in the 100 breaststroke and 20th in the 200 IM.
Nickerson posted Lin-field’s top times in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.32) and 200 breaststroke (2:33.34) this season.
Rachel Weinstein, who swam for Oak Harbor while attending Coupeville High School, is a senior on the University of Redlands (Redlands, Calif.) women’s swim team. Among her top finishes was a third in the 50 freestyle and a fourth in the 200 medley relay against Whitman Jan. 13. She was fourth in the 200 breaststroke against Occidental Jan. 10, in the 200 freestyle against Whittier and Cal Lutheran Jan. 17 and in the 200 free relay against Claremont-Mudd-Scripts Jan. 31.
At the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships Feb. 19-22, Weinstein placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke and 14th in the 200 breaststroke. She also swam on the 12th-place 400 free and 13th-place 800 free relay teams.
Weinstein is in the school record book for helping post the third-best 400 medley relay time in school history (3.57.23).
Cole Weinstein, Rachel’s brother, is only a sophomore at Whitman College (Walla Walla), but he has already established himself as one of the best Missionaries’ swimmers of all time.
He has the school’s second-fastest times ever in the 400 IM (4:03.03), 1,000 free (9:52.4) and 1,650 free (16:24.5). He also owns the fifth-best time in the 200 breaststroke (2:10.42) and the ninth-best in the 500 free (4:56.21).
Weinstein finished second in the 500 free and third in the 400 IM and 1,650 free at the Northwest Conference championship meet in Corvallis Feb. 13-15 to earn all-league honors in all three events.
He helped Whitman win its first ever NWC swim title, breaking the 12-year title streak of Whitworth.
Indoor Track
Christina Wicker, running for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, helped the Engineers win the distance medley relay at the New England Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships Feb. 28 in Boston. The team’s time of 11:36.78 is the nation’s fastest in Division III this season. The sophomore from Oak Harbor also finished 25th in the 3,000 meters in the 25-team meet.
Earlier in the season, she was first in the 1,000 meters and 4×800 relay at the Bowdoin College Invitational Jan. 17 and was second in the 1,000 meters at the Tufts Cupid Challenge Feb. 7.
Coupeville’s Tyler King, a junior at the University of Washington, ran in several indoor meets this winter season for the Huskies, placing 15th in his section in the 3,000 meters Jan. 31 at the UW Invitational and 21st in the 5,000 meters at the Husky Classic Feb. 15.
Basketball
Oak Harbor’s Mike Washington Jr., a junior on the Princeton University (Princeton, N.J.) basketball team, appeared in 10 games this season for the 13-14 Tigers.
Washington, as of Thursday, recorded four points, three rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Madeline Roberts, a freshman from Coupeville, went to Shoreline Community College to play softball but decided to give basketball a try as well. She appeared in 20 of the Dolphins’ 22 games and finished with 28 points, 30 rebounds, 13 steals, three assists and a block.
She twice scored six points in a game (Dec. 3 against Green River and Dec. 12 against Everett), and she grabbed a season-high five rebounds against Everett Feb. 25.
If you know of other Oak Harbor or Coupeville grads competing in college winter sports, let me know at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com
(BELOW: Jahleel Vester, right, competed for Iowa’s Central College this season. Photo courtesy of the Central College Athletic Department.)
