Judy Mackenzie

Capt. Mark Cawthorn, commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Munro, retired Tuesday after 27 years of service with the Coast Guard. He was relieved of his duties as commanding officer by Capt. Jeff Thomas during a change of command ceremony at the Golden Anchor. Thomas arrived from Coast Guard Headquarters where he served as assistant director for the Office of Emerging Policy. Cawthorn commanded the 378-foot Kodiak-based cutter Munro for two years, and sailed 55,000 miles with his crew of 175. They inspected fishing boats, worked a high seas driftnet case, spent hundreds of hours on search and rescue missions, and saved the lives of three people in the last year. Cawthorn has taken the Munro to Japan, the South China Sea, and around all the islands in the Aleutian Chain. “I always knew this would be my last ship, I just did not know it would be the final assignment of my career,” Cawthorn said. Rear Adm. Charles Ray, deputy commander of the Pacific Area, traveled from California to preside at the ceremony. Ray spoke to Cawthorn’s leadership and dedication, as well as the achievements of the crew of the Munro. “They spent 300 days underway in the last two years, and every one of those days was a challenge,” Ray said. Cawthorn has spent 13 years of his career at sea, and served on cutters Ute, Pegasus and Thetis out of Key West, Fla. He served as executive officer of the cutter Escanaba, and the commanding officer of cutters Monomoy and Seneca, out of Massachusetts. “He sailed around the world,” Ray said of Cawthorn’s career. “He crossed the Arctic Circle, he crossed the Equator, and he crossed the International Dateline. He’s done all those things and seen all those things.” Cawthorn also spent tours of duty at Coast Guard headquarters, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Cawthorn and his family will leave Kodiak for Honolulu. His wife Deb is an active-duty Coast Guard lieutenant commander and his daughter Leah is a high school senior. Cawthorn’s son Jacob was not present because he is currently stationed aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Seneca. During his farewell remarks, Cawthorn thanked his family and his crew for the support they provided him during his time as commanding officer, and shared memories and stories of life onboard the Munro. “From the time my wife and I arrived in Alaska two years ago it has been one incredible adventure after another,” Cawthorn said. Cawthorn received a Meritorious Service Medal during the ceremony. Contact Mirror writer Nicole Klauss at nklauss@kodiakdailymirror.com.

It hasn’t been hard for Merissa Koller Williams to keep a group of teenage girls interested in volleyball for the past three months. They’re looking forward to a trip to Phoenix, Ariz. “The fact that they get to get off the island and in the sun for awhile has been big,” Koller Williams said. That might sound strange considering Kodiak’s unusually warm June. The girls won’t be outside much. Instead, they will be in the air-conditioned Phoenix Convention Center playing a ton of volleyball. The Kodiak Island Volleyball Club is taking eight girls to play in the six-day Volleyball Festival that begins Sunday. More than 200 teams will be playing on 107 courts in the convention center during the national tournament that features players from ages 12 and under to 18. “The extra few months of playing time, and the amount of competition that we will see down there will improve their game,” Koller Williams said. “It is a huge event and they will get to see a lot of things they wouldn’t have otherwise.” Most of the girls on the team are high school varsity players from last season and will compete in the 17s division. The team is guaranteed at least four games a day. Headlining the team are rising seniors Hannah Wandersee, Carissa Cannon, Summer McKechnie and Megan Pyles. Also making the trip are Erika Fallorin, Kyla Villaroya, Kalameli Matautia and Isabelle Riina. Koller Williams believes the team can finish in the top half of their division. “I have been watching film from other teams that I know we will see,” she said. “I watched the semifinal match from last year and I think we are going to compete neck-in-neck.” The club has been practicing since April 1 to prepare for the trip and played an exhibition Monday evening against a Kodiak High School alumni team that had a roster full of college experience. The club lost, but not by more than five points in any set. “This extra court time has allowed us to teach them other aspects of the game other than skills,” Koller Williams said. “Where as during the high school season we spend so much time catching them up on things that they haven’t been doing.” Koller Williams joined the KHS volleyball staff this past fall and coached the C squad. Before that she coached in Minnesota. Also coaching on the trip is former KHS star Jasmine Oliver. The team fundraised for the trip and last week was only $3,000 away from their $16,000 goal. This is the third time the Kodiak Island Volleyball Club has taken a team to the Volleyball Festival. The first team went in 2008 to Reno, Nev. and in 2009 the club took two teams to Phoenix. Contact Mirror writer Derek Clarkston at sports@kodiakdailymirror.com.