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Page B-4 -Mason County Journal- Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME
"y junior
year of high
school I had
the pleasure of meet-
ing, swimming and
becoming friends
with two foreign
exchange students.
Fern was from Thai-
land and Jessie from
Taiwan.
At school, the two
of them were instant
buds. They were funny, en-
ergetic and full of life. When
they joined the swim team,
they brought that enthusiasm
to the team.
In the pool, they didn't
know the technicalities of
By AIEgAN[Ig
VALDEZ
swimming, but that
was OK. They didn't
care what they were
swimming or when
they were swim-
ming, all that mat-
tered was that they
were swimming.
They also helped
broaden all of our
minds to what life
is like on the other
side of the world. We
asked them a million ques-
tions about what the weather
was like, what food they ate
and what they did for fun.
They in turn wanted to know
all of that, but in the context
of Greeley, Colorado.
Another big reason they it's fun keeping up with the is that they speak the same
joined the team was to get a duo. A couple of years ago sports language as Ameri-
better grasp on English. We they reunited, and my friends cans. Fern and Jessie learned
had no problems yammer- and I rejoiced with them onhow to do a flip turn and
ing away with them if they Facebook. swim freestyle after a couple
promised in return to teach So it makes me excited weeks of practicing.
us words in Thai and Taiwan- to see that even schools inShelton's Hibbiki Shiiba
ese. Mason County get foreign knows how to talk about
That spring, my friends exchange students. It's notjump shots and shooting from
and I went prom dress shop- only a great experience fordowntown, regardless of him
ping with them. They loved the students in our county speaking Japanese off the
trying on different dresses but also for the students from court.
and going to different stores, other countries. Sports are a universal
When prom rolled around, Plus, if you stay buddies language that bonds students
they also rolled with us to the you have an excuse to travel from Mason County to any-
dance, to a different country one day one who comes to play.
I have to admit I've been in the future.
bad and haven't kept up with From a sports standpoint, • Alexandria Valdez can be
them consistently. But we're the greatest thing about reached at alexandria@ma-
all friends on social media so foreign exchange students soncounty.com or 426-4412.
She~ton wrestlers were
competitive, coach says
By ALEXANDRIA VALDEZ
alexandria@masoncoun com
From Dec. 18-19, the HammerHead
Invitational attracted 44 boys and 16
girls wrestling teams to the Kitsap
Sun Pavilion. Shelton brought two
teams to the Silverdale meet and had
an opportunity to compete with other
3A wrestlers, and even some 4A com-
petition.
"We had mixed results on the first
day," head coach Chris Lacy said. "We
had one tough round that we all didn't
overcome. Our kids were very competi-
tive and we had a few kids really step
up and wrestle better."
The boys finished 21st with 83
points and the girls finished 19th with
28 points.
Freshman Quinn Lacy was the high-
est finisher for Shelton. She finished
second overall after making it to the
championship round for the 190-pound
class. Lacy was pinned by Fife High
School's Niki Abaglo.
On the boys side, senior Alec Man-
ke placed sixth in the 152-pound class
and Gable Lacy placed fifth in the
182-pound class.
Senior Colton Paller was one of
the wrestlers who stumbled during
the tournament. He said his toughest
match was against Edwin Shaw from
Decatur High School.
Paller, who is quick for his size, said
it's hard going against wrestlers in the
195-pound weight class because they
are so sturdy. When he tried to take
shots, he was shut down.
Shaw pinned Paller at the one-min-
ute mark.
Shelton senior Fred Horne competes during the HammerHead
Highclimbers had three wrestlers place at the tournament.
Journal photo by Alexandria Valdez
Invitational in Silverdale over the weekend. The
"I think we had a lack of excitement,"
Paller said. "It was just a mental grind
because we were waking up at 4 a.m.
on a Saturday and Friday morning to
wrestle. It was really tough."
The Shelton senior won two matches
and lost two matches. But Paller said
he is going to turn his negative expe-
rience into motivation to work harder
over the holiday break.
Lacy said the tournament was a Lacy said. "They just need to have the
good early season measuring stick, ability to bounce back and wrestle all
"It reminds all the kids technical- day long. There are little things that
ly they have to be excellent in their add.up to a big experience."
matches and little mistakes in those Shelton's next match is Jan. 22 at
matches can cause you some trouble," the Bremerton Holiday Classic.
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