Caribou Chatter

Bulldogs show mental toughness

The Cashmere High School baseball team made a mockery of the Caribou Trail League this season, rolling through its regular-season conference schedule unblemished. The Bulldogs routinely posted big victories against their overmatched league foes. They have played at a high level all season, but for the most part weren’t tested ...

Okanogan girls basketball coach resigns

Gary Smith, the Caribou Trail League’s all-time wins leader for girls basketball, has resigned from his post as head coach at Okanogan High School. According to athletic director Steve Chamberlin, Smith submitted a letter of resignation, which the Okanogan School Board accepted at its meeting on April 27. Smith coached ...

Chelan softball overcoming inexperience

When Jeff Barker agreed to resume his head coaching duties for the Chelan High School fastpitch softball team this season after spending the previous two years coaching Chelan Middle School’s eighth-grade team, he realized right away that he would be facing significant challenges. While Barker was away, enthusiasm for the ...

For Cascade baseball, youth not an excuse

Entering this season, the Cascade High School baseball team wasn’t expected to duplicate the success that it had last year. In 2010, the Kodiaks, led by the dynamic pitching duo of Evan Parton and Taylor Isadore, finished in second place in the Caribou Trail League and advanced to the 1A ...

Kodiaks ready for opponents' best efforts

The Cascade High School fastpitch softball team is most likely going to play motivated opponents every time it plays a Caribou Trail League contest this season. But that’s what happens when a team makes a mockery of a league as Cascade has over the past four years. The Kodiaks have ...

Business as usual for Cashmere baseball

Not much has changed around the Cashmere High School baseball program this spring. Oh, sure, the coaches and players who were on last year’s team retain many fond memories of the Bulldogs’ run to the first state championship in the program’s history, but at the same time, they’re not going ...

Goats embrace underdog role

So just why, exactly, was the Chelan boys basketball team not considered to be state championship contender this year? In hindsight, it’s kind of hard to figure out. Now, we’re not saying that the Goats are the favorite to win it all at this point. Even though they won their ...

Okanogan's Smith ties for CTL wins mark

Gary Smith can now say that no other Caribou Trail League girls basketball coaches have won more games than he has. According to wa1asports.net, Smith has tied former Ephrata coach Don King with his 230th career win, which he picked up on Tuesday night as his Okanogan squad knocked off ...

Velazquez, CTL grapplers ready for regionals

Cashmere High School senior Roman Velazquez entered this wrestling season with high expectations, and he should have; after all, he did win a state championship last year. Sure, Velazquez likes to win, which is good, because he’s done a lot of winning over his prep wrestling career. But the prospect ...

Chelan boys prove coach wrong

At the start of this basketball season, there was some uncertainty surrounding the Chelan High School boys team, which wouldn't have the services of star Joe Harris, who took his considerable talents to the University of Virginia. It turned out that the Goats won another Caribou Trail League championship thanks ...

Cascade boys in position to improve

The Cascade High School boys basketball team has lost three games in a row after starting the Caribou Trail League season with four straight victories. According to Kodiaks coach Paul Fraker, there's two reasons for this. First of all, Cascade's losses have come against three good teams - unbeaten Chelan, ...

Cashmere girls pushing the pace

Over the past couple of years, the Cashmere High School girls basketball team ran an offense that focused on working the ball inside to its two star post players, Emily Abbott and Rachel Lippert. Since those two players have graduated and moved on to the college ranks, head coach Chris ...

Can Cashmere boys contend?

This weekend, the Cashmere High School boys basketball team will take on Omak (tonight) and Tonasket (Saturday night). It certainly appears as if the Bulldogs are capable of beating both squads - the Pioneers have some interesting players, but they haven't been able to gel into a consistent winner yet, ...

Tonasket girls show improvement

Last season was a forgettable one for the Tonasket High School girls basketball team. Not only were the Tigers dealing with the loss of seven seniors from the previous year's squad, but they were getting used to the personality and tendencies of new coach Stephanie Schertenleib. The results weren't pretty; ...

Okanogan girls without key player

The Okanogan High School girls basketball team was the preseason favorite to win the Caribou Trail League. If the Bulldogs are to fulfill that promise and make a deep postseason run, they may have to do so without the services of one of their best players. Okanongan coach Gary Smith ...

Tonasket boys an early surprise

Last season, the Tonasket High School boys basketball team won two games. This year, the Tigers matched that total in their second game of the season, on Dec. 4. They haven't stopped winning since. There's no doubt that Tonasket, which sports a perfect 7-0 record heading into the holiday break, ...

Young Goats grapplers seek success

The Chelan High School wrestling team participated in last Saturday’s Connell Invitational, and did well; the Goats placed fifth out of 12 teams and boasted two individual champions. Thanks to some unfavorable weather conditions, the team had an opportunity to celebrate its success in a unique way. Since the roads ...

Tough to win on road for CTL boys

One generally accepted supposition about sports, no matter what the level or type of sport, is that it's tougher to win on the road than it is at home. But when it comes to boys basketball in the Caribou Trail League, there's proof that it's been especially tough for visiting ...

Neely out as Okanogan coach

Denny Neely had served as the head coach for Okanogan High School's football team for the past 16 seasons, a tenure which was longer than any other current Caribou League Trail steward. However, Neely won't be returning to the Bulldogs sidelines next year. The Okanogan School District received a letter ...

Pioneers gaining confidence

At the beginning of this Caribou Trail League football season, most pundits predicted that Cashmere and Chelan would wage a spirited battle for the league championship. That observation wasn’t without merit; after all, the Goats rode a late-season surge all the way to the state semifinals in 2009, the Bulldogs ...

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