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Jan. 9, 2025
Yelm grad entering final year of football at CWU after award-winning season
Since cracking the starting lineup as an offensive lineman for Central Washington University (CWU) in 2022, Yelm High School graduate and current CWU student Slade Edwards has made vast strides on the gridiron and earned numerous accolades along the way.
Following the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, Edwards, a redshirt junior for the Wildcats, earned the title of Lone Star Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year along with a first-team nod on the D2CCA All-Region list. Edwards was also a Don Hansen All-American honorable mention, and for the second consecutive season he was voted by fans as CWU’s Offensive Player of the Year.
After the 2023-24 season, Edwards earned second-team All Lone Star Conference honors and was yet again a Don Hansen All-American honorable mention. He also made the D2CCA All-West Region team, according to CWU’s roster biography of Edwards.
“A lot of work has gone into it. It’s been a buildup of four years of work. This will be my fifth year. I’ve been grinding with this team for the longest time,” Edwards said.
Feb. 13, 2025
Yelm football seniors Hauss, Patin sign with Central Washington University
Two Yelm High School seniors put ink to paper on Wednesday, Feb. 5, to continue their educations and football careers into the collegiate level, as Chris Hauss, defensive lineman, and Jameson Patin, punter, signed their national letters of intent for Central Washington University (CWU).
Yelm football’s head coach, Jason Ronquillo, said he loves that Hauss and Patin each signed to CWU — his alma mater. He said this is a great period of transition from high school to adulthood, and he’s hopeful to see his two athletes finish their senior year on a high note before departing to Ellensburg.
“Don’t tail off, and take care of what’s important,” Ronquillo said. “Jameson and Chris are two different types of athletes, two different styles. But they’re definitely something Central needs. They’ll fit right in. I think it’s a perfect fit. I think they’re going to play early, and I’m excited to watch them play.”
Feb. 27, 2025
Willis wins first Rainier girls state wrestling championship in school history
The most relaxed wrestler always wins.
That’s according to one former Rainier High School wrestler, as it’s a tradition in the program for past athletes to write letters to future athletes passing on their state experience and wisdom.
In sophomore Chloe Willis’ case, the most relaxed wrestler stood atop the podium at Mat Classic XXXVI Saturday, Feb. 22 as Rainier’s first ever female state champion. She took home the top prize in the 1B/2B/1A 190-pound bracket.
Willis, in her first trip to the Tacoma Dome, was calm and collected in the four hours between her semifinal match and the title bout. She spent the time with her teammates and working on a gameplan while not overthinking or adding pressure to herself. She didn’t even know she was already the highest placing girl in school history, regardless of the outcome of the first-place match.
“It means a lot to me. I didn’t know that at all. That just gave me goosebumps,” Willis said when asked about becoming the first female state champion at Rainier.
Feb. 27, 2025
Yelm girls suffer injuries but inspire with perseverance at Mat Classic
Ben Hawk’s successful debut season as Yelm High School’s girls wrestling coach ended in heartbreaking fashion inside the Tacoma Dome during the WIAA’s Mat Classic, as several of the team’s top wrestlers were injured during the tournament.
Two Tornados’ injuries on the mat — seniors Samantha Blank (135) and Kylie Minker (190) — led to medical forfeiture of the tournament. The two seniors each had high expectations entering the Mat Classic, and despite their injuries, they gave it their all.
Hawk remained proud of his team’s willingness to compete despite adversity.
“It was a wild ride. It was a little rough, but our girls really fought hard. They saw a lot of tests that we’ve seen before, and some of us got through the tests and passed. This is one of the biggest state tournaments there is. It was a 32-girl bracket,” Hawk said. “We saw whoever won each bracket is really the best wrestler in the state, and I was just happy the way these girls showed up and put their foot on the line, slapped hands and got after it. We had girls taking aggressive shots, taking opponents to the limit and really working all the way through six minutes every time they stepped on the mat.”
March 6, 2025
Second-half collapse ends Rainier’s season in Round of 12 loss to Mabton
A season that was dubbed the “redemption year” for the Rainier Mountaineers ended just the same as the campaign they were aiming to redeem themselves from.
The top-seeded Mountaineers blew a 12-point second-half lead and fell to ninth seed Mabton 64-59 in the Round of 12 Wednesday, March 5, marking their second consecutive loss in the Round of 12. In both contests, the Mountaineers were the higher seed.
Rainier, which won the 2B District 4 title just 11 days ago, struggled to find an identity without senior point guard Brooklynn Swenson, who suffered a season-ending injury in the waning moments of the district finale, in its two state games.
“It’s been an emotional two weeks for us, to go from winning the district championship to having the letdown with Brooklynn getting hurt and the letdown of losing the regional game and trying to find out what we look like without Brooklynn,” Rainier head coach Brandon Eygabroad said.
Rainier had a clear height advantage over Mabton, as the Mountaineers’ tallest player was five inches taller than that of the Vikings. They capitalized on that factor early as Janess Blackburn and Lexi Beckman got to work in the paint, while Angelica Askey and Jazzlyn Shumate found their mark from downtown.
April 10, 2025
Yelm’s Lawson shines in hammer throw at third Oregon Relays
Yelm High School junior Madelyn Lawson knew she was in love with the hammer throw event from her very first crack at it as a freshman in 2023.
She thrives when improvement is a goal, as she immediately analyzes her film to see what adjustments she can make. The jump from 66 feet, 8 inches in her debut meet as a freshman to 93’8” in her second meet is proof of this, and she reached 99’3” in her third meet: the 2023 Oregon Relays.
Almost two years later, Lawson earned her second straight fourth-place finish at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field, this time with a season-record throw of 144’11” Friday, April 4. With that measurement, she now has the second-best throw of any female Washington state hammer thrower in the young 2025 season.
And she did it in the place where she competed in her “first big meet ever”: Hayward Field.
“This was my opening to hammer. That’s what really got me started. This is where I had my first big personal record,” Lawson said of her 2024 throw of 146’2,” over 11 feet further than any she had recorded before. “It’s special to me for personal reasons. It’s good to come back every year and see what I can do and see how much I’m improving.”
May 22, 2025
Yelm baseball team makes history with playoff victory over Auburn Riverside
Wyatt Robison, senior pitcher and outfielder for the Yelm Tornados, was a fifth grade student the last time Yelm High School’s baseball team made the playoffs in 2018.
In his first ever playoff game — a contest that also had the potential to be his last — Robison rose to the occasion and helped propel the Tornados to a 5-4 victory over Auburn Riverside on Tuesday, May 13, in a District 3/4 4A baseball tournament matchup.
Trailing 4-2 in the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded, Robison smoked a ball to deep right-center field and drove in three runners — Quinten Lumis, Lincoln Ramirez and Parker Myers — to give the Tornados a 5-4 advantage.
“There was a lot of mental toughness today,” Yelm’s head coach Dakota Hill said after the district playoff game. “I told the boys that Wyatt didn’t have his favorite outing of the year, but came back and put up a three-run double. It was everybody. It was fantastic baseball today.”
May 22, 2025
Yelm head football coach resigns days before spring practice
Jason Ronquillo, longtime head football coach for Yelm High School, resigned Friday, May 23.
No public statement has been provided by either Ronquillo or Athletic Director Rob Hill regarding the resignation.
June 5, 2025
Rainier athletes take state titles
The queen of the Class 2B girls discus had four contenders to wear the crown. And all were from the Central 2B League.
Onalaska’s Kiley Talley, Rainier’s Janess Blackburn and the Adna duo of Lillian Boyd and Karsyn Freeman had the four farthest throws of the season. They’ve been competing at various league meets before the three most important ones in May.
The competition, like the sun beating down on Zaepfel Stadium on Friday afternoon, was heating up.
“It is cool to see all of us up there, that is amazing,” Freeman said.
It was Blackburn, like 10 previous times this season, who ended up on the throne.
The Mountaineers senior went from third place last spring to the undisputed state champion with a best toss of 138 feet, 3 inches for her first career title in any sport on day two of the 1B/2B/1A state championships.
“It honestly feels surreal,” Blackburn said. “I knew I had the ability to do it, but it is like, are you mentally tough enough to make it possible?”
July 3, 2025
‘Both feet in’: Yelm football coach holds meet and greet with public
The Rex Norris era at Yelm High School has officially begun.
After spending a week with players and current assistant coaches, including a jamboree at Pacific Lutheran that served as the finale to spring practice, Norris made his public debut in front of around 70 students, coaches, parents and fans at the Yelm High School Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, June 24.
The veteran coach spoke for just under an hour, guiding the audience through a big-screen presentation that highlighted his program philosophies, both for football and academics.
To begin his speech, Norris commended the coaches who stayed on for spring practice, saying they “did some extraordinary things” given the unique off-season circumstances. Norris said he found the assistant coaches to be welcoming and said the team was energetic and competitive.
Norris, 59, spoke about his decision to take the head job at Yelm, saying it had to be something “much greater than just going and coaching.”
“I needed to find a place that felt like a good fit,” Norris said, adding this is his seventh school he’s been a part of. Norris said this job offered a special opportunity to be around a community, staff and players that all want to compete and do it the right way.
Aug. 28, 2025
Mountaineers entering season with momentum after ‘best offseason in recent memory’
Program cornerstones Jacob Meldrum, Hunter Howell and Kieler Jackson will not be walking out of the tunnel onto the Rainier High School field this fall.
But even without the legendary Mountaineer trio, the coaching staff believes the 2025 season will be a reloading year, not a rebuild.
Players are bought in, with the upperclassmen attending summer workouts on a 100% rate, according to head coach Andy Bartell. That leadership has rubbed off on the younger players.
“It’s been one of our best offseasons in recent memory for being in the weight room and working through the whole summer,” Bartell said.
Sept. 25, 2025
Yelm’s DeJiacomo, defense propel Tornados to first victory of season
After an 0-2 start to the 2025 football season, Yelm picked up its first victory of the season in dominant fashion, 35-6, over Life Christian Academy on Friday, Sept. 19, behind the strong rushing from a senior running back and a stout defensive performance.
Senior running back and linebacker Sam DeJiacomo had the hot hand in the backfield against the Eagles, as he rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries. Additionally, senior quarterback Owen Sletten finished the non-league matchup with 153 passing yards and a touchdown, and two interceptions in 10 attempts.
Sophomore running back King Pridgen found the endzone early in the first quarter on an 8-yard rushing touchdown to propel the Tornados to a 7-0 lead. After a 10-yard rushing touchdown from LCA, and an unsuccessful PAT try, Yelm led 7-6. The Tornados found the endzone once again in the first quarter when Sletten connected with senior wide receiver Jacob Ford for a 70 yard touchdown.
Oct. 2, 2025
Yelm Wrestling Booster Club fighting for 50 years of tradition
After talks of potential cuts to winter and spring sports, and as uncertainty of Yelm High School athletics overall looms in the balance, the YHS Boys Wrestling Booster Club is fighting to get ahead of the curve by hosting fundraisers in case they need to fund their own season and tournaments during the 2025-26 campaign.
The booster club’s first fundraiser took place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28, at Caliber Collision in McKenna, where members of the organization and parents hosted a bake sale — all while head wrestling coach Tim Beaudin, several of his assistant coaches and numerous wrestlers cleaned and washed cars.
“We’re out here doing a car wash to fundraise for our tournaments if we need to,” Beaudin said. “This is a family event. We spend so much time together all year long. We have a great state team coming back, and everyone wants to see Yelm be successful. It’s awesome to see these families out here.”
With a fourth levy attempt set for the Tuesday, Nov. 4, Thurston County general election, the future of sports within YCS remains unclear. During a YCS board meeting on Thursday, Aug. 28, Superintendent Chris Woods said that winter and spring sports, along with other extracurricular activities, could be cut if the upcoming levy measure fails for a fourth consecutive vote.
Nov. 6, 2025
Shumate’s big day fuels Mountaineers to fourth straight district title
There are three guarantees every fall.
Trick or treating. Pumpkin spice lattes. The Rainier High School girls cross country team winning a district title.
Rainier’s dynasty through District 4 continued Saturday afternoon with its fourth straight District 4 1B/2B championship at Rainier Elementary School. The Mountaineers finished with 26 points to rank first out of seven full teams in attendance, with four runners placing in the top seven.
For the third straight year, a Mountaineer crossed the finish line to win the individual crown. Saturday’s race, however, marked the third different Mountaineer in three years to accomplish the feat, as senior Jazzlyn Shumate notched a new lifetime best time of 19 minutes and 54.85 seconds to place first despite battling multiple lower-body injuries and poor weather. But she knew as she was approaching the final 400 meters that a PR was possible.
Dec. 18, 2025
Gaylord Strand, nine former state champion wrestlers, host inaugural ‘Strand State Champ Camp’
Around 100 wrestlers gathered inside of the Yelm High School gymnasium on Sunday, Dec. 7, as the legendary hall of fame wrestling coach Gaylord Strand and nine of his state champion Tornados hosted the inaugural “Strand State Champ Camp.”
According to Strand and current YHS head wrestling coach Tim Beaudin, the event was a massive success. Beaudin told the Nisqually Valley News on Friday, Dec. 12, that due to the success of the clinic, it will be held again in 2026.
“It was exciting to see nine state champions in there acting as clinicians and helping out,” Beaudin said. “I think we prepared and had it run really well. Strand talked about the toughness mindset and preparation of a wrestler. We had 110 participants and half of them were high school kids.”
The nine state champion clinicians at the “Strand State Champ Camp” were Dylan Hyder, Marcus Turnquist, Marcus Crone, Derrick Platt, Jonah Smith, Darren Harris, Dillion Harris, Beaudin and Madisyn Erickson.
