Spring prep sports teams began their push into the final stretch of their league schedules, with crowded standings across the board.
Western Washington University track and field set three new school records in a busy California weekend, while the Vikings’ softball team split another doubleheader.
Don’t miss these highlights from Whatcom County’s prep and college sports teams over the past week.
Prep
Baseball
Three local teams have crossed the 10-win mark, with Lynden, Ferndale and Meridian each playing three games last week.
The Lions leaped up to third place in the Northwest Conference standings after earning wins over Blaine, Mount Baker and Bellingham by a combined score of 29-5. Lynden holds the best league record (7-2) behind Anacortes and Mount Vernon.
Ferndale beat Nooksack Valley 8-5 on April 11 and downed Burlington-Edison 5-1 on April 12. The Golden Eagles lost their last game of the week to Oak Harbor, 10-8.
Meridian entered the week with one league loss but dropped games to Blaine and conference-leading Mount Vernon. The Trojans began their week with a 5-4 win over Lynden Christian on April 11.
Blaine squeezed by Sedro-Woolley, 2-1, on April 14, helping the Borderites stay in the mix at the top of the league with their 5-4 NWC record.
Junior pitcher Diego Gutierrez pitched a complete game, striking out four while allowing six hits and a single earned run for the Borderites. Senior Axel Puls and junior Hunter Vezzetti scored for Blaine, while Vezzetti also drove in one of the runs.
Squalicum, Bellingham and Lynden Christian remain in the middle of the pack, each at least one game under .500 in league games.
Softball
Blaine just keeps winning, and the Borderites preserved their undefeated record (7-0, 6-0 NWC) through two games last week.
It’s been all about the defense for Blaine, which is averaging 10.7 runs scored per game while allowing just 1.4. That’s partially outfield play, but it’s also driven by junior budding star pitcher Emersyn Bakker.
In a 7-2 win over LC on April 14, Bakker pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out 13 batters.
Mount Baker has won five in a row, jumping up to a tie for second place in the conference. The Mountaineers played just one game last week, beating LC 8-6 on April 12.
Lynden grasps the other side of that tie after winning five of its last six games. The Lions lost to Sedro-Woolley, 10-6, on April 11 but bounced back two days later to run-rule Nooksack Valley 17-6.
Senior Grace Potter led Lynden offensively, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBIs. Freshman Campbell DeJong batted 2-for-3 with four runs scored while junior Childrey DeJong added four runs scored and three RBIs on two hits.
Squalicum lost both of its games last week, but the Storm remain in the mix with a 4-2 NWC record. Meridian is also hanging around, splitting its two games last week.
Girls tennis
Bellingham’s Lowa Gresham returns a serve in an April 11 match against Blaine. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Bellingham has been dominant this season, leading the league with a 7-0 record and a 42-4 court win-loss ratio.
The Bayhawks swept both Blaine and Lakewood last week, furthering their grasp on first place. Burlington-Edison sits in second with a 6-0 overall record and a 31-11 court win-loss ratio.
Squalicum (5-1) and Lynden (5-1) are tied for third place heading into the latter half of the season.
The Storm swept Mount Vernon on April 11 and bested Sedro-Woolley 6-1 on April 13. The Lions also earned two wins last week, beating Burlington-Edison 6-1 on April 12 before sweeping Blaine on April 13.
Boys golf
There were two large matches on April 13, one at Avalon Golf Links and another at Sudden Valley Golf and Country Club.
Ferndale was joined by LC, NV and Sehome at Avalon for a Sedro-Woolley-hosted event.
The Golden Eagles’ Baylor Larrabee, who leads the conference with a 67.8 average, took first with a score of 63. Sehome’s Wes Bothel finished third (72) while LC’s Griffin Dykstra came in ninth (81).
Blaine, Lynden, Meridian, Mount Baker, Squalicum and Bellingham gathered at Sudden Valley, and the Lions’ Logan Medcalf shot a 70 to take first.
Meridian’s Daniel Blankenburg (70) was a close second, and Lynden’s Jack Stapleton (78) finished third. The Trojans also had Matt Blankenburg and Peyton Loya tie for fourth with an 81.
Perennial powerhouse Burlington-Edison leads the league with an overall team score of 1,482. Sehome (1,622), Meridian (1,669), LC (1,688) and Lynden (1,781) round out the rest of the top five.
WWU
Track and field
Western Washington University junior Drew Weber, middle, competes in the 800-meter run April 14 where he broke his own school record with a time of 1:49.34. (Photo courtesy of Jonah Bloom)
The Vikings were spread across five different meets in southern California April 13–15, with three school records being set all at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California on April 14.
Western sophomore Kevin McDermott ran a 14:09.26 in the men’s 5,000-meter run, breaking Jordan Welling’s time of 14:10.43 set in 2011. McDermott entered the race ranked No. 11 in the nation.
Junior Marian Ledesma set a new program record in the women’s 800-meter run, clocking a time of 2:08.98. Ledesma’s time broke Rachael Johnson’s previous mark of 2:11.45, also set in 2011.
Also in the 800-meter run, junior Drew Weber broke his own record in the men’s race with a time of 1:49.34. Weber bested his previous record of 1:49.48, which he set last season.
A full recap of Western’s busy weekend is available here.
Softball
Western had a four-game series with Saint Martin’s trimmed to a single April 15 doubleheader after rain postponed the second pair of games.
The Vikings split the two games, losing an 8-0 shutout in the first before beating the Saints 10-2 in the second.
In the win, sophomore pitcher Joie Baker pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out four.
Offensively, the Vikings were led by solid outings from senior Kinzey Williams and freshman Hailey Rath, who each finished 3-for-4 at the plate. Rath added three runs and an RBI while Williams tallied two runs and an RBI.
Sophomore Amaya Davis also finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate with a run and three RBIs.
Western is now 19-20 overall (8-10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) with six games remaining in the regular season. The Vikings fell to fifth place in the league standings ahead of a four-game home series against third-place Montana State Billings from April 22–23.
Prep baseball, fastpitch softball standings — April 18
Baseball, Northwest Conference
| Baseball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Mount Vernon | 9-0 | 11-2 |
| Anacortes | 8-1 | 11-3 |
| Lynden | 7-2 | 10-5 |
| Ferndale | 6-3 | 10-3 |
| Meridian | 6-3 | 10-4 |
| Blaine | 5-4 | 8-4 |
| Oak Harbor | 5-4 | 8-5 |
| Burlington-Edison | 5-4 | 7-5 |
| Squalicum | 4-5 | 6-6 |
| Lynden Christian | 4-6 | 5-8 |
| Bellingham | 3-6 | 6-7 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 3-6 | 5-8 |
| Lakewood | 2-7 | 4-9 |
| Nooksack Valley | 2-7 | 3-10 |
| Sehome | 2-7 | 2-10 |
| Mount Baker | 2-8 | 2-11 |
Fastpitch softball, Northwest Conference
| Fastpitch softball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Blaine | 6-0 | 7-0 |
| Mount Baker | 5-1 | 8-3 |
| Lynden | 5-1 | 7-3 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 5-2 | 8-3 |
| Burlington-Edison | 4-0 | 6-3 |
| Meridian | 4-2 | 7-2 |
| Oak Harbor | 4-2 | 6-5 |
| Squalicum | 4-2 | 4-5 |
| Lakewood | 3-3 | 3-6 |
| Mount Vernon | 3-3 | 3-7 |
| Nooksack Valley | 3-4 | 4-5 |
| Ferndale | 1-5 | 3-8 |
| Lynden Christian | 1-5 | 2-7 |
| Sehome | 1-6 | 2-8 |
| Anacortes | 0-6 | 2-7 |
| Bellingham | 0-6 | 0-10 |
*Standings were updated on April 18 at 10:31 a.m. to reflect the outcome of the April 17 games.
