Category Archives: High school
Ajamu gives verbal committment to Oregon State
Shelton High School senior David Ajamu gave a verbal commitment to play football for the Oregon State Beavers this weekend, according to ESPN.com. Ajamu, a tight end for the Highclimbers, was an all-4A Narrows League honoree last season catching 27 passes for 341 yards.
Ajamu opens up the 2012 season on August 31st against the Tumwater T-Birds at Highclimber Stadium in Shelton. Tumwater features defensive end Jamie Bryant, the only other local football player that has currently committed to a Division I program, according to The Olympian. Bryant committed to the University of Washington in April.
You can follow Ajamu and the Shelton Highclimbers all season long with myself and John McGlamery calling the action on KMAS Newsradio 1030 AM, 104.1 FM and kmas.com.
Photo credit: Scout.com
Stewart inks $36.5 million extension
Over the weekend, 2004 Timberline High School graduate Jonathan Stewart signed a five year, $36.5 million contract extension with the Carolina Panthers. The contract comes with $22.5 million worth of guaranteed money and could be worth up to $42.5 million.
Stewart, the Panthers’ first round draft pick in 2008, has rushed for over 3,500 yards for the Panthers teaming up with DeAngelo Williams in the Carolina backyard. According to the Charlotte News & Observer, since Stewart’s rookie year, the Panthers have rushed for a league best 9,189 yards.
For more on Stewart’s signing, see the News & Observer’s story.
KMAS announces new broadcast combo for Shelton football games
John Willis has been covering Shelton football on KMAS for the past 28 years but he is retiring and is handing over the broadcasting reins to…me?! Yep. Me. Here is the press release from KMAS…
Highclimbers Return To Narrows League for 2012-13 Season
Catch all the exciting action when Shelton Highclimber football returns to the Narrows League for the 2012-13 season. This move will rekindle old rivalries and all the games can be heard on News Radio 1030 KMAS & FM 104.1 and streaming around the globe on kmas.com.
After 28 years as the voice of Highclimber football, John Willis will be hanging up his headphones to groom the next two voices of Highclimber football for the future. This help will ensure that fans can expect the same, high-quality broadcast that they have been used to for over a quarter-of-a-century.
Brandon Sparks, founder of Oly Sports (https://olysports.com/), will be the new play-by-play announcer on KMAS radio. Joining him in the broadcast booth will be John McGlamery, who will be providing color commentary and statistical analysis. Both men bring broadcast experience and a deep knowledge of local high school sports.
The Shelton Highclimbers will also be back on the radio after two seasons of web only broadcasts. An exciting season is in store for Shelton High School fans as the Highclimbers have dropped down into the 3A Narrows League which will bring more competitive and more local games. Their opponents this year include; the 2011 AAA State Champion Tumwater Thunderbirds, the annual rivalry game against North Mason, Wilson, Yelm, Foss, Lincoln, North Thurston, Mt. Tahoma and Timberline.
I originally went to college at Green River Community College to major in broadcasting and called baseball and basketball games on campus radio station KGRG. But After an internship with the Grays Harbor Gulls, I decided I liked the business side of sports better and saw the writing on the wall for radio careers so it took me 17 years before I got my first radio job. Not too shabby.
One thing to note: this means that at least one Tumwater, Yelm, North Thurston and Timberline game will be heard in Olympia. KMAS can easily be heard all over the area.
Tuesday (8/7): $20 sports physicals at St. Peter’s Family Medicine
St. Peter’s Family Medicine is offering their annual $20 sports physicals clinic on Tuesday, August 7th at 5:30 PM, reports ThurstonTalk.com. Money raised from the physicals goes to North Thurston Public Schools sports training programs.
St. Peter’s Family Medicine is located at 525 Lilly Road NE and all students that show up for physicals will be seen regardless of how many or if they can pay the $2o fee.
Olympia area alumni list – Update
Baseball
Minor League Baseball
Jared Sandberg (Capital HS) – Manager, Hudson Valley Renegades
Adam Conley (Olympia HS) – Jupiter Hammerheads
Seth Harvey (River Ridge HS) – Brevard County Manatees
Kramer Champlin (Olympia HS) – Lansing Lugnuts
Alex Phillips (Tenino HS) – Connecticut Tigers
Jacob Pettit (Hawks Prairie Cardinals – PSCL) – Bowie Baysox
Cody Hebner (Olympia Athletics – PSCL) – Fort Wayne Tincaps
Chris Scholl (Hawks Prairie Cardinals – PSCL) – Arkansas Travelers
Jake Shadle (Hawks Prairie Cardinals – PSCL) – Giants extended spring training
Independent Baseball
Joash Brodin (North Thurston HS) – Long Island Ducks
Collegiate wood bat summer baseball
Jason Monda (Capital HS) – Brewster Whitecaps
Kellen Camus (Capital HS) – Waterloo Bucks
Jourdan Weiks (Capital HS) – Herndon Braves
Tanner Nielsen (North Thurston HS) – Klamath Falls Gems
Cabe Reiten (Olympia HS) – Wenatchee Applesox
Basketball
German Pro-B
Blake Poole (Saint Martin’s) – BG Topstar Leitershofen Stadtbergen
Football
National Football League
Jonathan Stewart (Timberline HS) – Carolina Panthers
Matt Johnson (Tumwater HS) – Dallas Cowboys
Rugby
French National Rugby League Top 14
Scott LaValla (North Thurston HS) – Stade Francais
Buckland finishes fifth at Olympics
Capital High School grad Brodie Buckland and his teammate James Marburg finished fifth in the Olympics men’s pairs rowing final at the Eton Dorney Rowing Centre outside of London this morning. The Australian pair fell well behind the pack halfway through the race but rallied near the end to finish with a time of 6:29.28, just ahead of the Canadian team of David Calder and Scott Frandsen.
New Zealand’s Eric Murray and Hamish Bond led almost from start to finish and won the gold medal by nearly five seconds over silver medalists Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette of France. The hometown favorites George Nash and William Satch of Great Britain took the bronze medal.
Oly Sports would like to congratulate Brodie Buckland on his run through the Olympics. It was fun having a local to cheer for and we hope to see you again in Brazil in four years. Now go enjoy that athlete’s village.
Buckland qualifies for finals with third place finish in semis
Olympia’s Brodie Buckland and partner James Marburg will row for a medal on Friday
Capital High School grad Brodie Buckland and his partner James Marburg took third place in their semifinal race this morning at Eton Dorney outside of London at the 2012 Olympics. The third place finish was good enough to qualify them for the finals and the Australian pair will race for a medal on Friday.
The team had a time of 7:02:12, well behind Great Britain and France in the second semifinal race. Buckland and Marburg were the slowest boat to make the finals. In the first semifinal race, New Zealand, Italy and Canada qualified for the finals with the USA boat fourth with a better time than Buckland and Marburg. But the top three from each race get the chance to row for a medal regardless of overall time.
The finals will be run at 2:20 3:50 AM on Friday morning.
Buckland takes second in first heat at Olympics
James Marburg and Olympia’s Brodie Buckland prepare to row in the Men’s Pairs first heat at the 2012 Olympics
Capital High School grad Brodie Buckland and his partner James Marburg took second place for Australia in their Men’s Pairs rowing heat this morning at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Buckland and Marburg trailed the pack for much of the heat as Canada took a commanding lead but the Canadians faded and the Aussies turned it on in the end and finished just three tenths of a second behind the Canadians and ahead of the Netherlands and United States teams.
The second place finish qualifies Buckland for the semifinals on Wednesday, August 1st starting at 3:00 AM Olympia time.
You can watch Buckland’s heat and all the rowing action on the NBC website here. Buckland’s heat starts at the 2:44:00 mark in the video.
From Olympia to Olympian
Need somebody to root for in the upcoming London Olympics? Well Tom Rohrer of ThurstonTalk.com last week and Meg Wochnick of The Olympian yesterday each tell the tale of Capital High School alum Brodie Buckland and his journey from Olympia to Australia to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Buckland will compete for Australia in the men’s pairs rowing competition starting Saturday with Beijing silver medalist James Marburg. The men’s pairs results page can be found here.
Photo credit: Christopher Lee/Getty Images
Puget Sound Collegiate League leaders: Pitching
Earlier we took a look at the hitting leaders through all but the last week of the regular season of the Puget Sound Collegiate League. Now we take a look at the pitching leaders.
Without question, the top pitcher in the league this season has been Black Hills High School alum Ryan Smith. The current Chemeketa College pitcher leads the league in innings pitched (45), wins (5), strkeouts (41) and is first among starters in earned run average (1.33) and WHIP (0.76) for the Olympia Athletics.
Kegan Duz-Aguilar has been solid in relief for the Tumwater Brewers leading the league in both ERA (0.66) and WHIP (.053). The Centralia College pitcher has two saves on the season. Capital High School product Eli Fulton leads the league with four saves.
Oly Sports 