January:

• A tradition continues in Issaquah, with the eighth annual Special Olympics basketball game on Jan. 17, at Issaquah High School. The game featured the Issaquah Eagles, Issaquah alumni community team and the Issaquah alumni community team.

“This is hands down my favorite night of the year. For these kids to have the spotlight is definitely special,” Issaquah High School athletic director Luke Ande said.

• Issaquah’s girls basketball team conquered the Mount Si Wildcats on senior night 55-23 on Jan. 25. Issaquah senior Luci Stewart scored a game-high 20 points in the final regular season home game of her high school career.

“Senior night is something you think about since your freshman year so I’m really glad we got the win tonight. I really love playing basketball, so every game is exciting but this was really special,” Stewart said.

February:

• Issaquah freshman Robert Gref earned second place in the 1-meter diving competition at the 4A state championships on Feb. 16 in Federal Way. Gref placed second with 445.65 points.

• The Issaquah wrestling team brought 15 wrestlers to the Mat Classic Class 4A state tournament on Feb. 15-16 in Tacoma. Cal Saper (160) earned three victories in his weight class. Kamil Solowiej (152) and Mitchell Barnes (285) nabbed two victories at the Mat Classic in their respective weight divisions.

March:

• The Issaquah boys lacrosse team earned its first victory of the 2019 season courtesy of a 11-3 win against the Roosevelt Roughriders on March 22 at Gary Moore Stadium in Issaquah. The Eagles, who improved their overall record to 1-4 with the triumph, dominated throughout the duration of the contest.Issaquah player Matt Moss scored a game-high three goals in the win.

• Senior McKenna Malone brings confidence to the outfield of the Issaquah softball team. Malone, the only senior on the team, said she loves being a go-to player for her teammates on and off the field.

“It is really fun because I get to be an example for the younger girls on the team. I kind of get to show them the ways of not only softball but of school as well,” Malone said.

April:

• The Eagles baseball team shut out the Inglemoor Vikings on the diamond 2-0 on April 12. Senior pitcher Tyler Odegard tossed a one-hitter to lead the Eagles to victory. Issaquah got on the board in the fifth inning when junior catcher Colton Willbrandt connected on a RBI double to right field scoring Ryan Baker from second base, to give Issaquah a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Willbrandt scored on an Inglemoor error, extending the lead to 2-0.

May:

• The Issaquah Eagles boys soccer team kept its season alive with a convincing victory against one of its biggest rivals. Issaquah earned a 3-1 win against the Skyline Spartans in a loser-out, Wes-King 4A district playoff game on May 7 at Issaquah High School. Issaquah’s Josh Lee scored a team-high two goals. Charlie Butler added a goal as well against the Spartans.

• Issaquah senior Sam Griffith earned first place in the 800 meters at the 2019 4A KingCo track championships, which took place from May 8-10 at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland. Griffith tallied a blistering time of 1:57.35 in the race.

June:

• Tami Reese, who previously was the head volleyball coach at Ballard High School for 20 seasons, became the new varsity head coach of the Issaquah Eagles volleyball squad.

July:

• The Issaquah Little League 12U all-star baseball team earned second place at the Majors (12U Division) district baseball tournament on July 15 at Dodd Field in Issaquah. The Issaquah 12U all-stars roster consisted of Jack Babuin, Ryan Boehm, Hudson Carvalho, Luke Farmer, Will Hawk, Dylan Leaird, Tommy Rosario, River Shute, Garrett Sourwine, Hudson Sullivan, Mason Uchimura, Max Vermeulen and Ernie Whelan. The coaches were Dave Boehm and Mike Farmer. Jared Carvalho was the manager of the squad.

• Brady Liddle, an Issaquah junior pitcher, announced on Twitter on July 26, that he will play college baseball at Seattle University when the 2021 season commences.

“It’s an awesome feeling, playing baseball after high school has always been a goal of mine and being able to do that at a Division 1 level is a dream come true,” Liddle said.

August:

• The Issaquah football team hit the practice field in anticipation of the new season. There will be plenty of fresh faces on the Eagles sideline in the 2019, including first-year head coach Josh Brookshire.

Heading into year one, Brookshire said he’s more focused on implementing his system than obsessing over wins and losses.

“Our big goal this year is for the kids to buy into the culture,” Brookshire said.

September:

• Issaquah volleyball team captains, Maya Patton, Lauren Spencer, Sidney Cottrell and Olivia Morgan, have created a family family atmosphere amongst the team.

“We have a lot of fight and everyone holds each other accountable,” Spencer said. “We also have a really fun spirit. We’re known as being the loudest bench out there and we want to continue that.”

• The Issaquah football team’s recipe for success is simple, play great defense and control the clock on offense. The Eagles executed that plan effectively during their 12-3 road victory over Mercer Island on Sept. 13.

“If you can shorten the game and run the ball, they can’t score,” Eagles head coach Josh Brookshire said. “We can win 3-0 and I’m okay with that. I feel like that’s what most coaches want to do. If you can control the ball, why not?”

• Issaquah’s girls soccer team cruised to a 6-0 home victory over Mercer Island on Sept. 19. Eagles head coach Kyle Tatro said the team wanted to send a message to the league that they are going to be a difficult team to play at home.

“When you come to Issaquah, and come to our home field, it’s going to be a real tough game,” Tatro said. “It should be a place where opponents are intimidated by to come into.”

October:

• The Eagles volleyball team rallied for a dramatic 3-2 (25-17, 21-25, 15-25, 30-28, 15-9) victory over the Mount Si Wildcats on Oct. 16 at Mount Si High School. Heading into the winner-take-all fifth set, junior Sadie Bacon said the Eagles were determined to get the win after tying it up at two sets apiece

“We came this far,” Bacon said. “We can’t lose it now. This is our set.”

Issaquah jumped out to a 14-9 lead in the game-deciding fifth set. With the Eagles at match point, Bacon ended a back-and-forth rally with one of her nine blocks to complete their comeback victory.

The Eagles qualified for state in November.

• In dramatic fashion, the Issaquah Eagles rallied from an 11-point deficit to beat the Skyline Spartans, 12-11, in their regular season finale on Oct. 25. After the Skyline punter’s knee touched the ground giving the Eagles the ball at the Spartans’ 3-yard line with 29 seconds left, Issaquah scored a touchdown from 1-yard out to go ahead, 12-11, with four seconds left.

• Four Issaquah tennis players qualified for the 4A state tournament. Erik Tseng, Hampus Holmgren, Ryan Cho and Luke Sarausad qualified for the tournament in May, 2020. The doubles team of Cho and Sarausad won the 4A KingCo Tournament on Oct. 26.

November:

• The Issaquah girls swim and dive team finished third at the 4A state championship meet on Nov. 16 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. The Eagles finished with 206 points as a team. Issaquah senior Isabelle Huynh won the 50-yard freestyle (23.65), and finished third in the 100-yard butterfly (56.01). Freshman Gillian Tu finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.37). The 200-yard medley relay team of Huynh, Tu, Maddy Jia and Joni Nguyen, placed third (1:46.75).

• Issaquah junior Julia David-Smith finished first at the 4A state cross-country championships with a time of 17:26.20 on Nov. 9 in Pasco. David-Smith took second place in the previous year, but this year it wasn’t close, finishing almost one minute ahead of the second-place runner.

“This year, I came into it a lot more mentally ready for the race,” David-Smith said. “Throughout the week prior, I made sure I slept well, got enough rest and ate well. I just did everything I had to do to be ready and I went in with the right mindset.”

Issaquah Sophomore Darwin Hanson placed 49th in the girls race (19:22, a new personal record) and freshman Liam Heninger placed 46th in the boys race (16:12, a new personal record).

December:

• Alivia Stephens scored 28 points to help the Issaquah girls basketball team pull away from the Skyline Spartans for a comfortable 62-35 win over on Dec. 13. After a slow first quarter, the Eagles exploded for 25 points in the second quarter.

“I think we really realized we needed to get a jump on (Skyline),” Stephens said. ”We kind of underestimated them a little bit and then we started hitting our shots.”

• Issaquah’s boys basketball picked up its first win of the season, a 52-48 win over the Enumclaw Hornets on Dec. 14. Issaquah led 22-9 at halftime before Enumclaw fought its way back into the game. The Hornets cut the Eagles’ lead to 50-48 late in the fourth quarter, but senior forward Rowan Dillon made a key basket to secure the win.