Medical Lake 2018 Spring All-NEA

Medical Lake High School spring sports teams enjoyed a variety of success and that translated into a host of athletes being honored by selection on All-Northeast A-League teams.

ML Baseball All-NEA

Ben Evans was a two-year letter winner who claimed the NEA's first-team spot as a designated hitter, batting .368.

"His hard work paid off for a second year in a row as he led our team in almost every offensive category," head coach Austin Sharpe wrote in an email. "Ben has been a great asset to Medical Lake baseball." The Cardinals struggled during a 3-15 season.

Evans caught, pitched (20 strikeouts in just 10 innings pitched, 2.70 ERA), played outfield and even held down shortstop for the Cards. Evans, a second-team All-NEA choice in 2017, is heading off to join the U.S. Coast Guard.

ML All-NEA Soccer

Medical Lake's 9-7 team and league runners-up (9-3) put five players on the All-NEA team, featuring Nick Rosenbeck who emerged from his senior season scoring a career-high 82 goals, including a season-record 25 in 2018. His efforts earned him the league's offensive MVP award.

Carter Pivonka, a junior, had 16 goals, second on the team, and with that effort was a first-team forward selection.

Defensively, another first-teamer, Steven Robo, was the Cards' utility player. "(He) did everything for us," head coach Zane Higgins wrote in an email. "He moved to wherever we needed a boost in play. He was also a great leader for us."

James Pivonka, Carter's brother, was another defensive standout, hence first-team choice. "He moved from outside defender to the central spot and became our leader back there," Higgins said.

"Taye Jones had five shutouts and was the standout goalkeeper in the league," Higgins said, earning the award that seemed to elude him as a freshman.

With that talent between the pipes, "When you have such a strong goalkeeper, the team can have confidence in being able to compete with anyone," Higgins said of Jones.

ML All-NEA Softball

First-team selection Hannah Petek concluded her four-year career earning team captain honors and playing center field. She is a great student athlete while maintaining a 3.64 GPA and also was named to the NEA second All-Academic team. Petek won the batting title her freshman year with a .480 average.

"Hannah has been a real leader this year, she leads by example," head coach Tim Blakely wrote in an email.

In a change of roles, second-team choice Suzanne Shores played left field. Shores pitched all 20 Medical Lake games in 2017 and five more this season. "She is a very determined student athlete," Blakely said.

In addition, the junior was named to the first all-league academic team with a 3.919 GPA and won the team's Most Inspirational award.

ML All-NEA Tennis

Noah Ray has been a member of the Medical Lake varsity tennis team the past four years. Ray finished seventh at this year's 1A/1B/2B state tournament in Yakima.

"He has fought through adversity, played some great tennis, and reached his goal of playing collegiate tennis," co-head coach Jake Wesselman said. "We are very proud of his accomplishments the last few years," including trips to state and team League titles.

ML All-NEA Track

Jaxyn Farmen, a junior, qualified for state for the third year in a row and was named the NEA's most valuable jumper. At the recently completed 1A state meet, Farmen finished third in both the long and triple-jumps.

"She's a heck of a kid," head coach Gene Blankenship said of one of his team captains. While described as "very independent," by her coach, "she also works for the team."

Farmen hopes to expand her role as a senior, adding some running events to her list, that way she can qualify to win a trophy named for brother Elijah, a 2015 Medical Lake grad. The honor is bestowed upon a person who excels in both track and field.

Medical Lake put additional athletes on the second team in track in the 100 and 200 meter runs, the 4x100, plus both 1,600 and 3,200 runs.

Sophomore Pedro Sandre beat the odds to make the 100-meter run at state, and more so to finish fourth.

"It's amazing, this is his first time running track - at least with us anyway - and he was just a surprise," Blankenship said.

At the start of the season he was being beaten by Urijah Taylor in the 100-meters, but turned the tables by the time state rolled around. The team has what is called the "State Cardinal Award," given to the person with the best performance at the state tournament and it went to Sandre, who also anchored the 4x100.

Taylor, a sophomore and state qualifier in the 200, is described "as the backbone of our 4x100 team," Blankenship said.

The remainder to the 4x100 team included senior JJ Johnson and junior Grant Greenhall.

"JJ was new to us this year, he just showed up," Blankenship said. "He made our 4x100 better than it could have been." As for Greenhall, this is the junior's third year. "He's steadily improving," Blankenship said.

Tyler Pena earned the NEA nods for both the 1,600 and 3,200, the same races he ran at state.

"What can I say," Blankenship said, other than wish Pena had another year of eligibility. A four-year letter winner, "He's come a long way, running personal records in both his state races.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.