News & Notes: Eastside Catholic No. 13 in MaxPreps national preseason football rankings

Eastside Catholic is the preseason No. 13 team in the country, according to MaxPreps' preseason top 100 football rankings released Wednesday. The Crusaders,
News & Notes: Eastside Catholic No. 13 in MaxPreps national preseason football rankings
News & Notes: Eastside Catholic No. 13 in MaxPreps national preseason football rankings /

Eastside Catholic is the preseason No. 13 team in the country, according to MaxPreps' preseason top 100 football rankings released Wednesday.

The Crusaders, who return much of their core from last season's 3A state championship team, are the lone representative from the state of Washington recognized.

Eastside Catholic has won a state championship three of the last five seasons.

Wideout and Ohio State commit Gee Scott Jr., Washington running back commit Sam Adams II, four-star defensive back Ayden Hector and five-star defensive end J.T. Tuimolaou, one of the top juniors in the nation, headline the Crusaders star-laden roster.

The nationally-ranked Crusaders lead this week's News&Notes in Washington high school sports. Find a few news items from around the state, and national prep stories below:

  • The NCAA Basketball Academies took place this past week at four locations across the country. The event was designed as an invite-only recruiting showcase for high school basketball players, including some from Washington. Billy Witz of The New York Timesexamines why many top recruits did not attend.
  • Heritage High School (Vancouver) standout basketball player Katie Peneueta competed for American Samoa at the 2019 Pacific Games, reports Josh Hart of The Columbian.
  • Wayne Foster, a South Kitsap grad and former All-American defensive tackle at Washington State on the 1965 "Cardiac Kids," died at 76 of Kidney Disease on July 13, reports Chuck Stark of The Kitsap Sun.
  • Move over, football. According to National Federation of State High School Associations data, Track & Field has surpassed football nationwide as a the highest high school participation sport. This graphic by Coach Tube, shared on Twitter by the NCAA, illustrates the shifts in sport participation over the last few decades.

Published
Andy Buhler, SBLive Sports
ANDY BUHLER, SBLIVE SPORTS

Andy Buhler is a Regional Editor of Texas and the national breaking news desk. He brings more than five years of experience covering high school sports across the state of Washington and beyond, where he covered the likes of Paolo Banchero and Tari Eason served on state tournament seeding committees. He works on the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national boys basketball rankings. He has covered everything from the Final Four, MLS in Atlanta to local velodrome before diving into the world of preps. His bylines can be found in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), The Associated Press, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), The Oregonian and more. He holds a degree from Gonzaga and is based out of Portland, Oregon.