All hail the champs
You live in a county of champions.
That's indisputable after what's happened in the span of two weeks on the local athletic front.
First, the Coeur d'Alene High School girls won their third consecutive state championship. Good news for Viking fans and bad news for everybody else: Next year's team could be even better.
The CHS wrestling team followed up the girls' title with one of its own - the first in school history. That's a huge credit to Coach Jeff Moffat, who wrestled for the Vikings once upon a time.
Next up: The Post Falls boys basketball team made sure Coeur d'Alene didn't hog all the winter sports glory, nailing their first state championship since 1964 last Saturday. In typical Post Falls fashion, the community rallied around their stars by putting together a high-octane parade.
Also Saturday, North Idaho College got into the act, with the women's basketball team winning its conference tournament while the top-seeded men came up just short in their championship game. The women will find out today who they'll play first in the national tournament.
We understand that all of these athletes, coaches, trainers and other support staff are not alone in the amount of work they put in to succeed. The same can be said for top-flight musicians, actors and others who hone their skills to entertain and enrich their audiences.
But we've been chronicling the positive impact local teams have on their communities for too many years to underestimate what their hard work means not just to friends and family, but to strangers, too. The countless hours these dedicated athletes commit to their sports while also managing their academic and other responsibilities is laudable under any circumstances, but particularly noteworthy when they summit their highest mountains.
We applaud each and every member of this most recent parade of champions and hope their success at the highest levels of competition carries them further in the game of life.