The winter and spring athletics seasons were a combination of starts, stops, pivots, and adjustments. Many Middle School and Upper School students joined our education-based athletics program, and we enjoyed the return of traditional spring sports for all Pumas. Our student athletes learned lessons of teamwork, sportsmanship, leadership, accountability, and Puma pride during sports practices, team-building exercises, and competitions. Wearing the UPrep uniform is a privilege, and the Pumas continued to lead and demonstrate our values throughout our community, region, and state.

Basketball Season Finished on a High Note

Our varsity basketball teams advanced in their conference playoff structure. The boys won playoff games against Sultan and Summit Sierra and lost to King’s and Bear Creek to end their season at 13-7. Our girls team finished up a tough division schedule and then played four playoff games—beating Eastside Prep and Forest Ridge and losing to Bush and Sultan. The Pumas finished 5-12 for the season.
 

James Johnson Named Coach of the Year, Coho Division

Congratulations to Coach Johnson, who has been leading our varsity basketball program for four years. He has guided our program through the long COVID-19 stretch and through a league/conference realignment. His commitment to teaching his players basketball and how to be responsible community members is at the forefront of his coaching. Coach Johnson is the real deal—a triple threat. He is an outstanding teacher, the 9th grade dean, and a valued coach. Thank you, Coach Johnson, for all you do for our students, your colleagues, and our community.

Spring Sports Review

Our spring sports teams battled a cold, wet spring. There was a robust turnout: 146 Middle School Pumas and 145 Upper Schools Pumas fielded 18 teams. Because of the pandemic, this was the first typical spring sport experience for our Middle School Pumas, and it was great to see many new faces playing Ultimate, baseball, and track and field. The success of our varsity teams begins with a fun, well-organized Middle School program. The goal this year for all our Middle School students was to learn what it means to be a Puma athlete. This work will continue next year, and we are excited to welcome our rising 8th graders and new community members to our Upper School sports community.

Our varsity Upper School teams found success at the conference, district, and state level. On May 28, the Pumas capped off a historic feat: all three team sports were state qualifiers, and tennis and track and field, our individual-sport teams, had state qualifiers, too.

Ultimate

The Varsity Ultimate Team made a long-awaited return to the Ultimate State Tournament. The Pumas (seeded No. 3 in the Emerald Sound Conference) played Roosevelt (the Seattle Public Schools No. 1 seed) on a Tuesday evening at Robert Eagle Staff, losing 5-12 to end their season.

Track and Field

The Pumas had many personal records and fantastic finishes at the Emerald Sound Conference Championship Meet. The following students advanced to the District Meet at Granite Falls: Makari Jackson, Jimari Marks, Asher Todd-Taraday, Nick Rosenthal, Max Seitz, Mohamed Hassan, Mattias Keaunui, Sohvi Borland, Claire Miyoshi, Allie Sniezek, Maddie Takamiya, Kate Glenn, Jackie Takamiya, Emma Serralles, and Adriana Hernandez. At the District Meet, two Pumas punched their ticket to state with a top four finish! At the State Championship Meet in Spokane, Max finished ninth in the 110-meter hurdles. Maddie finished seventh in the triple jump, earning a medal and a place on the podium. She also broke the school record in the triple jump, which was set in 1991.

Tennis

Freshman Galia Harmelin finished second in the conference and second at the District Tennis Tournament, and played a lot of tennis at the two-day State Tennis Tournament, finishing as the third-place medalist! She will be a force in 1A Girls Tennis in the years to come.

Baseball

The Varsity Baseball Team entered the postseason as the No 2. seed from the Emerald Sound Conference and won two early district games on May 7 vs. Blaine (6-0) and South Whidbey (7-1). These wins secured another trip to State. The District Championship game vs. Cedar Park ended in a loss for UPrep. At the Spokane/Ferris Regional Tournament as the No. 12 seed, the Pumas bested the No. 5 seed, Colville, 11-3, and No. 4 seed, Deer Park, 1-0, to earn the trip to the IA semifinals at Yakima County Stadium. In this matchup, the Pumas again played conference rival Cedar Park. The team rallied from 0-5 to 6-5, but lost 7-6 to the No. 1 team. The Pumas played in the early consolation final. Chelan scored
three runs in the top of the first. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Pumas scored four runs, with senior Sean Fried getting a walk-off hit to score two runs and earn the win. This team never gave up and ended their season with a third-place trophy, out of 51 1A teams in our state.

Soccer

The Varsity Soccer Team finished third in conference play and then began a remarkable postseason run. The Pumas beat Overlake 1-0 and Seattle Academy 2-1—earning a ticket to State and the Conference Championship game versus Bush, which ended in a loss for UPrep. At the State Soccer Tournament, the Pumas, seeded No. 12, played the No. 5 seed, Seton Catholic, in the first round in Wenatchee, winning 2-0. In the quarterfinals, the Pumas played the No. 4 seed and host, Cascade, and won in an overtime penalty kick shootout. At the State semifinals, the Pumas played the Highland Scotties, winning 4-2. At the State Championship, the Pumas played crosstown rival The Bush School on a very rainy Saturday afternoon, which was the first time a UPrep boys soccer team played in the State Championship since 2014. The Pumas were unable to counter the Bush goals and lost, finishing second (as we did in 2014). The Pumas were ranked 12th out of the 20 teams entering the tournament and went on to earn the second-place trophy, out of 73 1A teams in the state of Washington. I am proud of how the team played, carrying themselves with class and integrity as the time ticked away and winning the game became out of reach. I want to thank Coach Alec Duxbury for a remarkable season, taking these Pumas as far as they could go as he concluded an amazing career as the leader and coach of our teams. After 29 seasons, coaching both the boys and girls soccer teams, Alec will be stepping down as the head coach at University Prep.

Thank you to all the Pumas, coaches, and families for your constant support of our co-curricular athletic program that began August 23 and concluded May 28. In total, 72 percent of our students participated on one of our 53 teams.

All Conference Awards

GIRLS BASKETBALL
First Team All Conference: Paris Buren
Second Team All Conference: Jane Scroggs
Team Sportsmanship Award

BOYS BASKETBALL
Most Valuable Player: Henry Wright
Honorable Mention All Conference: Alex Bontje
Honorable Mention All Conference: Zack Lagunoff
Team Sportsmanship Award

SOCCER
First Team All Conference: Alex Bontje
Second Team All Conference: Kellen Davis
Second Team All Conference: Owen Howland
Second Team All Conference: Quin Drabek
Honorable Mention All Conference: Will Rothman
Honorable Mention All Conference: Josh Yi

BASEBALL
First Team All Conference: Yoshi Malady
First Team All Conference: Zack Hampson
Honorable Mention All Conference: Nathan Crawford
Honorable Mention All Conference: Sean Fried
Honorable Mention All Conference: Harry Rothman

ULTIMATE
Co-Most Valuable Player: Jane Scroggs
First Team All Conference: Eliza Barton
Coach of the Year: Linnea Soo ’14

TENNIS
First Team All Conference: Galia Harmelin

TRACK & FIELD
First Team All Conference, triple jump: Maddie Takamiya
First Team All Conference, 110-meter hurdles and 300-meter: Max Seitz
First Team All Conference, high jump: Mohamed Hassan