The Eastside sports writers football poll is voted on by Reporter Newspaper sports writers and published each week.

Class 4A
1. Skyline (1-0)
2. Eastlake (1-0)
T-3. Bellarmine Prep (1-0)
T-3. Chiawana (1-0)
5. Ferris (1-0)
6. Kentlake (1-0)
7. Olympia (1-0)
8. Bothell (1-0)
9. Federal Way (1-0)
10. Mead (1-0)
Others receiving votes: Bethel, Skyview, Issaquah, Kentwood, Curtis

Class 3A
1. Bellevue (1-0)
2. Lakes (1-0)
3. O’Dea (1-0)
4. Kamiakin (1-0)
5. Camas (1-0)
6. Ferndale (1-0)
7. Juanita (1-0)
8. Kennedy (1-0)
9. Peninsula (1-0)
10. Mountain View (1-0)
Others receiving votes: Mount Spokane, Capital, Central Valley

Class 2A
1. Lynden (1-0)
2. Archbishop Murphy (1-0)
3. Tumwater (0-1)
4. Prosser- (0-1)
T-5. Burlington-Edison (0-1)
T-5. East Valley-Spokane (1-0)
T-7. W.F. West (1-0)
T-7. Mark Morris (1-0)
9. Cheney (1-0)
10. Lindbergh (1-0)
Others receiving votes: North Thurston, Sequim, Interlake, Othello

It feels like we were just here, bearing down on the latest fall season just moments ago, but really it’s been a year.

Tomorrow night I’ll be making my first pilgrimage of the season – heading to Kirkland for the Lake Washington vs. Garfield game as part of my duties with the Kirkland Reporter. The following night I’ll be at the Clink for the first Islander game, in what is probably one of my favorite places to watch a game. It’s certainly a far cry from the football fields surrounded by grass ‘tracks’ at the 2B high schools I once covered in Eastern Washington. Talk about a change in atmosphere.

The one thing that won’t accompany my Saturday evening football, is the MIHS marching band, since they won’t be playing until the Islanders first home game on Sept. 16. Being a former band nerd myself (shout out to all those sax players out there), it’s always been one of my favorite aspects of the game and MIHS never disappoints. They, along with Juanita’s pep band, always make the timeouts/halftime/random filler time worth humming along to (and usually leads to humming Journey all the way home until I have to search out the real song on my iPod the next day to get it out my head).

Ideally, it would have been a three football game weekend, but alas the Cougs game Saturday isn’t going to be on TV. Not that I really expected the WSU vs. Idaho State game to be picked up by anyone, but I did hope maybe nothing else exciting was going on in Eastern Washington/Idaho to warrant coverage of the game. How does the possibility of being 1-0 for the first time since 2005 not get people excited? Guess I’ll have to settle for straining my eyes on the computer screen, refreshing every 2 minutes or waiting for my brother to text me with updates. There’s nothing like yelling Go Cougs to an computer screen, throwing your arms up in the air and then realizing, wait you aren’t actually at the game.

Have thoughts of your own on the upcoming sports season, or just sports in general? Let me know at mmanagan@mi-reporter.com.

The Mercer Island High School boys water polo team ended its first week of practice last week with an old tradition – the lake swim. The team swam and ran back across the I-90 bridge segment of Lake Washington between Seattle and the east side of Mercer Island. This had not been done in several years.

It was a festive site as athletes entered the water early Sunday morning to the encouragement of family, friends and the Mercer Island High School cheerleading squad. In addition, the players were accompanied across the lake by a flotilla of paddle boards, boats and kayaks.

“The I-90 lake swim and run gives the guys a pretty big challenge to work towards and is great for team bonding and confidence after a grueling first week of practice known as “hell” week,” said new head coach John Jacobson. “The first week of practice consists of three-a-day-workouts that begin with swimming 4,500 yards in the morning session followed by an afternoon dry land session of running, sprinting and core drills. We cap it off with an evening workout of 3,000 yards in the pool and 35-45 minutes of leg and conditioning drills. All the swimming during the week is done while wearing shoes and board shorts adding extra resistance. By the end of the week, these guys know they can accomplish anything.”

Jacobson also said that all 30 guys on the roster completed “hell” week and that this is the first time in his association with the team as either player or coach that no one dropped out.

“This bodes well for the upcoming season and shows the level of commitment our guys are willing to make,” said the coach.

The event was a family affair, as Jacobson’s dad and two of his siblings participated in the prepping of the team. His brother Adam, a Mercer Island JV soccer coach, ran dry land practice during the week and Adam, father Louis and sister Naomi all swam with the team across the lake for encouragement and safety.

“It’s exciting to come in as a first year coach and have a group of guys who are willing to work hard and unify toward one team goal,” said Jacobson.

Both the varsity and JV schedules will be announced soon.

The 2011 football season kicks off this Friday with games around the state. In honor of the beginning of the season, here is the first poll of the season, as voted on by Eastside Reporter Newspaper sports writers.

4A
1. Skyline
2. Eastlake
3T. Ferris
3T. Bellarmine Prep
5. Chiawana
6T. Olympia
6T. Kentlake
8. Skyview
9. Issaquah
10. Federal Way
Others receiving votes: Kentwood, Richland, Union, Bethel, Curtis, Bothell, Mead, Jackson

3A
1. Bellevue
2. Lakes
3. O’Dea
4. Mount Spokane
5T. Kamiakin
5T. Camas
7T. Timberline
7T. Capital
9. Mount Si
10. Ferndale
Others receiving votes: Liberty, Juanita, Peninsula, Kennedy Catholic

2A
1. Tumwater
2. Lynden
3. Archbishop Murphy
4. Burlington-Edison
5. Othello
6. Prosser
7. W.F. West
8. East Valley
9T. Sequim
9T. Mark Morris
10T. North Thurston
10T. Anacortes
Others receiving votes: Lindbergh, Interlake, Washington

It’s almost that time of year again – time for fall sports. In honor of practice for all fall sports beginning this week and next, the Eastside Reporter Newspaper sports writers will be hosting a live sports chat to talk all things fall sports on Aug. 25 at 1 p.m.

Just watch www.mi-reporter.com’s Sports section for updates next week.

I’ll (covering Mercer Island and Kirkland) be joined by Kevin Endejan, who covers Issaquah and Sammamish schools, Josh Suman for Bellevue and Adam McFadden who covers Renton schools.

Bring your questions, thoughts and opinions!

In a one week and one day the fall football season for Mercer Island High School officially kicks off. In just three weeks the team will play it’s first game.

The team starts off with a repeat of the first game of 2010, against Seattle Prep. Last year, the Islanders won in the final moments of the game. This year, they will take on the Panthers in the final game of the Emerald City Kickoff Classic at 8 p.m. at Century Link Field. The event features five high school football games in one day.

In preparation for the season here’s the 2011 schedule.

Sept. 3 vs. Seattle Prep at Century Link Field

Sept. 9 at Newport

Sept. 16 vs. Juanita

Sept. 23 at Interlake

Sept. 30 vs. Bellevue

Oct. 6 vs. Mount Si

Oct. 14 at Liberty

Oct. 21 vs. Sammamish

Oct. 28 at Lake Washington

Fall sports previews will be coming over the next several weeks as sports for all high school teams get underway.

In a follow up to MIHS quarterback Jeff Lindquist begin picked to the ESPN Elite 11 group, I heard today he, along with three other Washington football standouts, was chosen to play in the Semper Fidelis All American Bowl in January 2012.

The event, the first ever, is being put on by the U.S. Marine Corps and Junior Rank Sports.

Lindquist was picked to represent the West coast team, along with Juanita offensive tackle Nathan Dean and players from Marinier High School and Tacoma Baptist. Both Lindquist and Dean will be seniors this fall and have committed to playing for the University of Washington.

The event will take place on Jan. 3, 2012 in Phoenix.

After spending the week at Pepperdine University in California, Mercer Island quarterback Jeff Lindquist was named one of the ESPN Elite 11 quarterback’s in the U.S.

The camp welcomed the top 24 quarterbacks from the country, who competed in week long drills and events to determine who would make up the final group.

The Islanders will begin their 2011 season against Seattle Prep, Sept. 3 at Century Link Field in Seattle.

Last week we learned that Matt Boyd, a Mercer Island native, Eastside Catholic grad and Oregon State University baseball player, was chosen as an alternate for the U.S. Collegiate Team. He’s now in New Hampshire with the team and he’s blogging about the experience.

Check it out to see how things are going throughout the summer.

Mercer Island native and Eastside Catholic Matt Boyd was recently invited to the 2011 USA Baseball National Collegiate team. Boyd just finished his sophomore year playing baseball at Oregon State University.

Kevin Endejan, my counterpart at the Issaquah and Sammamish Reporter had this blog post about Matt.