After filing my final story of the year at noon on Dec. 31, I rolled my chair back, let out a strong breath and clenched my left fist. (I even envisioned myself doing a victory dance, but I would never display that in public.)

What a year we had covering sports here at the Reporter Newspapers’ Eastside bureau. Thanks to Benjamin Olson and Shaun Scott for traveling with me along a mammoth and enjoyable journey.

From early season basketball coverage in January to the final day of the fall season on Dec. 7 at the 4A state football final, we tackled what was in front of us each day — and I believe we nailed it. We unleashed season previews, KingCo game coverage that led up to thrilling playoff action and heaps of interesting features on our local athletes.

Thanks to everyone at our schools for letting us into their worlds by showcasing their talent and participating in interviews. The engaging Q and A’s are especially fun to be in involved with, and we received some insightful and funny answers from the players. Serious and goofy — not a bad way to go, right? From inspirational quotes to collecting blankets, we heard it all.

We put in a ton of time (late nights and weekends included) and mileage (from local spots to places as far away as Vancouver) to get the stories for our readers. At times, it seemed like the road would never end — especially during the fall with a Reporter-most nine teams in various sports taking us deep into the playoffs — but we plugged away and got the job done.

We were there for javelin, swimming, gymnastics, soccer titles and more. We got a thrill out of reporting on it all and we’ve learned a lot from the athletes on their sport of choice.

It was cool to experience league, district and state championships along with the teams who worked ultra hard to achieve their dreams. Even on the losing end, players and coaches stood strong and were proud of their accomplishments as they spoke to us during emotional interviews.

As the activities of the last 12 months race through my mind, I’ll end by saying: Well done, everyone, and we look forward to following you along the path in 2020.

Happy new year.