Top 16 Seattle sports stories of 2016
From Beast Mode retiring, to the Sounders winning their first MLS Cup, it was an eventful year for Seattle sports. Scroll through to take a look back at the top 16 sports moments of 2016.
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#1: Beast Mode retires
Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch announces his retirement during the Super Bowl.
#2: Husky women go dancing
Behind Kelsey Plum and Chantel Osahor, the UW women’s basketball team reaches the Final Four.
#3: Another season of disappointment
The UW men’s basketball team again fails to reach the NCAA tournament despite having two first-round NBA draft picks and the Pac-12‘s leading scorer.
#4: Title drive
The UW women’s golf team wins the national title.
#5: Soaring at Sahalee
Brooke Henderson wins the Women’s PGA Championship in a playoff at Sahalee Golf Course in Sammamish, Wash.
#6: The Kid in Cooperstown
Mariners great Ken Griffey Jr. is inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame.
#7: Robbie rolls
Robinson Cano leads a Mariners’ offensive resurgence, bouncing back with an MVP-caliber season after major struggles in 2015.
#8: A new era begins
The Storm drafts Breanna Stewart, who goes on to win WNBA Rookie of the Year, and returns to the playoffs.
#9: A program in turmoil
Bellevue High School football is sanctioned, and Butch Goncharoff is out as coach.
#10: Displays of unity
National-anthem protests: Seahawks players and coaches lock arms to demonstrate unity on 9/11, Garfield football players take knee during anthem on Sept. 16, and Megan Rapinoe takes a knee during Reign games.
#11: Cougs come back
WSU football wins eight games in a row after coach Mike Leach likens the Cougars to a “JC softball team” following an 0-2 start.
#12: A golden (and purple) season
UW football earns a College Football Playoff berth after wins over Oregon, Stanford, WSU and Colorado in the Pac-12 title game.
#13: Sodo arena hits a road block
Chris Hansen’s Sodo arena proposal is dealt a blow when the Seattle City Council rejects a street vacation. He later pledges to go with all-private funding. Also, KeyArena emerges as legitimate option as two investor groups announce plans to renovate the building.
#14: Seahawks lose a star
Seahawks safety Earl Thomas suffers a broken leg in a win over Carolina on Dec. 4.
#15: Complete dominance
Archbishop Murphy High School football wins the 2A state title after opponents forfeit regular-season games.
#16: Rave green glory
The Sounders win MLS Cup after losing star players Obafemi Martins & Clint Dempsey and firing coach Sigi Schmid.