Prep girls swimmers qualified for state following district meets. Four girls soccer teams prepare for state tournaments. Seniors play the last high school football game of their careers. Western Washington University teams win Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships.
Don’t miss these highlights from Whatcom County’s prep and college sports teams over the past week.
Prep
Girls soccer
Lynden Christian, which entered the 1A District 1 tournament on a 10-game win streak, won the district championship 3-0 over Meridian on Nov. 1. The Lyncs went on to beat King’s 3-0 in the 1A District 1-2 crossover and are now the No. 3 seed in the 1A state tournament. They will face No. 14 Vashon Island at 6 p.m. on Nov. 9 at Blaine High School in the opening round.
Meridian defeated Blaine 2-1 in the consolation final to advance to the crossover. The Trojans lost 2-1 to Bear Creek on Nov. 5, which ended their season. Meridian finished 6-10-3 overall and 2-4-2 in the Northwest Conference.
Sehome forward Ryan Boehm, left, and Bellingham defender Kira Carlson chase the ball down the field on Nov. 1. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
No. 6 Bellingham upset No. 2 Sehome 2-1 in the second round of the 2A state tournament on Nov. 1, dropping the Mariners into the consolation bracket. The Bayhawks went on to lose to Lynden via penalty kicks in the district championship but received the No. 11 seed in the 2A state tournament. Bellingham will travel to No. 6 Columbia River to open up state play at 5 p.m. on Nov. 9.
Lynden is the No. 7 seed and will host No. 10 White River at 4 p.m. on Nov. 9 at Civic Stadium.
Sehome bounced back on Nov. 3 to beat No. 4 Burlington-Edison, before going on to defeat top-seeded Archbishop Murphy 2-1 on Nov. 5. The Mariners received the No. 4 seed in the 2A state tournament and will host No. 13 North Kitsap at 6 p.m. on Nov. 9 at Civic Stadium.
Girls swim and dive
The 2A and 3A District 1 meets began on Nov. 4, with finals the following day, and Whatcom County swimmers qualified for state meets in 10 different events.
At the 2A meet, Sehome finished second behind Anacortes with a team score of 184. Bellingham (177), Squalicum (149) and Lynden (92) took third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
Blaine and Meridian swam alongside Ferndale’s 3A team all season as a co-op but competed separately in the 2A district meet. The Borderites finished eighth as a team with just four swimmers and the Trojans took 11th with one.
Bellingham’s 200-yard medley relay team of Anna Palmer, Lily Skoczen, Sierra Higgins and Grace Schamber qualified for state after finishing second at districts. The Bayhawks’ 200-yard freestyle relay team of Higgins, Skoczen, Mia Eide and June Wilson also will compete at state following a third-place finish at districts. Higgins also qualified for state in the 100-yard butterfly after finishing second.
Eide finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard breaststroke, qualifying for state in both events. Annika Holland will join Eide in the 200-yard freestyle for Bellingham following her seventh-place finish. Skoczen will compete in the state 50-yard freestyle event after taking fourth.
Aviva Weinstein and Madeline Fredette each qualified in the 1-meter dive, as Palmer will head to state in the 100-yard freestyle following a third-place district finish.
Sehome’s Priyanka Costanzo takes over the lead to win the 200-yard individual medley against Squalicum at Arne Hanna Aquatic Center on Sept. 27. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Sehome’s 200-yard medley relay team of Luna Lee, Priyanka Costanzo, Addi Getz and Jaeli Tilley are headed to state after taking third. Tilley finished fourth in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke, qualifying for state in both. Lee won the district championship in the 100-yard butterfly and took second in the 100-yard backstroke to advance to state in both.
Getz finished seventh in the 200-yard individual medley and will head to state in that event, along with the 500-yard freestyle following an eighth-place finish. Laura Webb took fourth in the 1-meter dive to qualify. Kateryna Isakova finished fifth at districts in the 100-yard freestyle to advance to state.
Isakova, Costanzo, Laurel Hirsch and Mara Brogan qualified in the 200-yard freestyle. Getz, Tilley, Lee and Isakova will also compete in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Squalicum had two relay teams qualify as Amelia Balogh, Mars Molina, Michaela Lemcke and Mackenzie Millican finished second in the 200-yard freestyle. All four will also compete in the 400-yard freestyle relay after taking third at districts.
Squalicum’s Mackenzie Millican swims in the 100-yard freestyle as Ferndale, Squalicum, Blaine and Meridian competed in a swim meet at Forge Fitness pool on Sept. 22. (Andy Bronson/Cascadia Daily News)
Balogh finished second in the 50-yard freestyle, while Millican finished third. Millican will compete in the 100-yard freestyle event at state as Balogh, Kenna Andersen and Chantel Obbink qualified in the 1-meter dive.
Blaine is sending Hailey Ferrell to state after she won the district championship in both the 50- and 500-yard freestyle events.
The swim and dive state championships will be held at the King County Aquatic Center from Nov. 11-12 at 8:30 a.m.
Football
Multiple teams played their last games of the regular season this past week, mostly as a last hurrah for the seniors.
Meridian defeated South Whidbey 22-8 on Nov. 3, closing out its season on a two-game win streak. The Trojans, who finished their season 6-4 overall and 1-3 in NWC games, are graduating just five seniors following the season.
Blaine lost to Cedar Park Christian 33-15 on Nov. 4, closing out its season to finish 1-9 overall and 0-4 in NWC games. The Borderites were also a young team as they have four graduating seniors.
Sehome beat Cascade (Everett) 48-28 on Nov. 4, capping off a strong season where the Mariners were severely hindered by an early-season forfeit. They finish 7-3 overall and 4-3 in NWC games.
Bellingham lost to Sultan 28-6 on Nov. 4. The Bayhawks remain independent from the NWC and finish their season 3-7 overall.
WWU
Women’s soccer
The Western women’s soccer team was crowned Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions following a 1-0 win over Northwest Nazarene on Nov. 5.
Freshman midfielder and GNAC Freshman of the Year Morgan Manalili scored the match’s lone goal in the 78th minute via an assist from senior midfielder Tera Ziemer.
It was the Vikings’ 10th-straight appearance in the GNAC championship since its inception in 2012, winning six of them. Their last victory was in 2019 via a 2-1 win over Seattle Pacific.
Western received the No. 2 seed in the upcoming West Regional tournament out of six teams. The Vikings will have a bye in the first round and will play the winner of No. 3 Point Loma and No. 6 Sonoma State on Nov. 12.
Cross country
Western cross country captured both team titles at the GNAC championships on Nov. 5 at the Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, Oregon. It’s just the second time in program history the Vikings have swept the team championships.
Sophomore Jeret Gillingham (24:06.5) led the men’s team with a third-place finish, as junior Andrew Oslin (24:07.1) finished fourth. Sophomores George Karamitsos, Kevin McDermott and Ryan Clough also finished in the top 10.
The women’s team was paced by sophomore Mia Crocker (21:30.0) in seventh place and Sophia Wright (21:39.6) in eighth.
Next up for the Vikings is a trip to the NCAA DII West Regionals at Amend Park in Billings, Montana.
Football standings — Nov. 7
3A Wesco North
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Ferndale | 6-0 | 8-2 |
| Stanwood | 5-1 | 9-1 |
| Arlington | 5-2 | 7-3 |
| Marysville-Pilchuck | 4-3 | 5-5 |
| Oak Harbor | 2-5 | 2-8 |
| Marysville-Getchell | 2-6 | 2-8 |
| Mount Vernon | 0-6 | 2-8 |
2A Northwest Conference
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Lynden | 7-0 | 9-0 |
| Anacortes | 6-1 | 8-1 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 5-2 | 7-2 |
| Sehome | 4-3 | 7-3 |
| Squalicum | 3-4 | 4-5 |
| Burlington-Edison | 2-5 | 4-6 |
| Lakewood | 1-6 | 3-7 |
| Archbishop Murphy | 0-7 | 0-8 |
1A Northwest Conference
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Nooksack Valley | 3-1 | 7-1 |
| Mount Baker | 3-1 | 5-4 |
| Lynden Christian | 3-1 | 8-1 |
| Meridian | 1-3 | 6-4 |
| Blaine | 0-4 | 1-9 |
Independent
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Bellingham | N/A | 3-7 |
