Two unbeaten football teams remain with one week left in the regular season. Prep volleyball teams claw for first place in the Northwest Conference. Girls swim teams wrap up their dual meet schedule. Western Washington University sports teams had an up-and-down week.
Don’t miss these highlights from Whatcom County’s prep and college sports teams over the past week.
Prep
Volleyball
In a matchup of the Northwest Conference’s top two teams, Lynden defeated Burlington-Edison in five sets (25-22, 20-25, 25-15, 10-25, 23-21) on Oct. 19. The Lions were led by Ashley Shumate’s 21 kills in the junior outside hitter’s first game back from an injury.
Senior outside hitter Haylee Koetje also contributed 13 kills, 14 digs and six aces. Junior setter Grace Rice compiled 45 assists and 15 digs.
Lynden has won six of its last seven games but still sits just below Burlington-Edison at second place in the NWC with a 10-1 league record. The Lions are 11-2 overall with four games remaining in their regular season schedule.
Meridian extended its win streak to three games following a 3-2 victory (17-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-22, 15-12) over Nooksack Valley on Oct. 20. Junior outside hitter Emry Claeys continued her outstanding season, posting 29 kills, 11 digs, one block and an ace. Senior outside hitter Avery Neal tallied 18 digs, 10 kills and three aces. Senior setter Hayden Claeys stuffed the stat sheet with her 46 assists, nine digs, four kills and two aces.
The Trojans are catching fire at the perfect time — they are currently tied for fourth in the NWC with a 10-3 league record and are 11-4 overall. With its final two games against some of the conference’s weaker opponents, Meridian has a chance to close out the regular season winning five straight.
Lynden Christian is on a five-game winning streak of its own, taking 12 straight sets stretching across the last four matches. The Lyncs possess a 10-3 league record and are 13-3 overall.
The top five teams in the conference are separated by just two games, which should make for an interesting finish to the regular season.
Girls swim and dive
Sehome closed out its dual meet schedule with a 104-73 victory over Oak Harbor on Oct. 21. The Mariners wrapped up the regular season with a 9-2 record. One of those losses was to Anacortes, the now-conference champions.
Luna Lee, Addi Getz, Kateryna Isakova and Jaeli Tilley took first for Sehome in the 200-yard medley relay with their time of 2:05.75. Mara Brogan also finished first for the Mariners in the 200-yard freestyle, posting a time of 2:28.40.
Isakova outswam the competition by 10 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle, clocking a 1:01.48 for first place. Sehome’s Shiloh Runnels was on a diving board of her own in the 1-meter dive competition, scoring a 97.75. The second-place score was Oak Harbor’s Leylah Dominguez with a 29.90.
Getz defeated four other swimmers in the 500-yard freestyle with her first-place time of 6:24.27 — 30 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Taylor Tellefson, Tilley, Brogan and Isakova also won the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:59.56.
Squalicum defeated Sedro-Woolley 96-69 on Oct. 19 in its second-to-last dual of the regular season.
Celeste Fisher posted a solid first-place 200-yard individual medley time of 2:58.36. Mars Molina, Fiona Hamai, Alexa Hulbert and Fisher took first in the 200-yard medley relay with their time of 2:31.45.
The Storm’s Amelia Balogh (27.02 seconds) narrowly beat teammate Mackenzie Millican (27.35 seconds) in the 50-yard freestyle. Millican then swam a 1:02.30 in the 100-yard freestyle, edging Molina by three seconds.
In that same race, Squalicum’s Sophia Moreno took fourth with a time of 1:17.07. Squalicum coach Randy Elsner said Moreno is an up-and-coming talent for the Storm.
“[The] biggest surprise the last few meets have been the times Sophia Moreno has done, dropping significantly to move up the varsity rankings on the team in the freestyle events,” Elsner said.
Football
Both Lynden Christian and Lynden remain unbeaten after a pair of big wins on Oct. 21.
Lynden defeated Lakewood 48-3 to move to 8-0 overall and 6-0 in league games. Lynden Christian routed Blaine 61-13, advancing to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in league play. Each team is widely considered the No. 1 team in the state in their respective classification.
The Lyncs will look to close out their regular season undefeated when they travel to Mount Baker on Oct. 28. Lynden will make the trip to Anacortes for a matchup with a fellow unbeaten team on Oct. 28. That clash will crown the 2A Northwest Conference champion.
Ferndale upset unbeaten Stanwood 28-7 on Oct. 21 to earn the 3A Wesco North championship. The Golden Eagles have won five straight games following their Sept. 17 loss to Glacier Peak at Lumen Field.
They will have to slay another giant when they travel to undefeated Monroe on Oct. 28 for the 3A Wesco title game.
WWU
Women’s soccer
The No. 7 Western women’s soccer team earned four points over the week, with a 1-1 draw against Central Washington on Thursday and a 1-0 home win against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.
The Vikings outshot CWU 22-8, had nine corner kick opportunities and put seven shots on goal, but only managed a 1-1 draw against a CWU team near the bottom of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
After five road games, Western returned home to face No. 25 Point Loma on Saturday. Sixth-year senior defender Karina Provo broke the tie with her first career goal.
The win kept Western in first place in the GNAC standings. WWU looks to close out the final two regular season games at home on Thursday, Oct. 27, against Western Oregon, and Saturday, Oct. 29, against St. Martin’s.
Men’s soccer
Brothers Andrew and Ryan Rotter each scored in a 2-0 win at home against Simon Fraser University on Thursday. Sophomore forward Andrew scored in the 21st minute, and younger brother Ryan, freshman midfielder, added a second goal in the 59th minute.
Senior goalkeeper Patrick Restum tallied a pair of saves in his seventh shutout win of the season, earning his second GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honor.
The win put the Vikings at 10-2-3 overall, with a 6-2-0 record in conference play. With 18 points in the GNAC standings, Western sits in second place, just one point behind Northwest Nazarene. Western will play on the road for the next three matches and host one final home game against Montana State Billings on Saturday, Nov. 5.
Volleyball
The University of Alaska Anchorage, a team that swept the No. 10 Vikings back in September, came into Carver Gym on Saturday and handed WWU a rare 3-1 home loss just two days after head coach Diane Flick-Williams’ 500th career win.
In four sets, the Vikings lost 12-25, 16-25, 25-21, 23-25. The loss kept Western at second place in the GNAC standings, with both its conference losses coming against UAA. Western now sits at 15-5 overall with a 10-2 GNAC record. The Vikings lost to top-10 opponents in each of the five losses.
The Vikings will go on the road to face Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, Oct. 27, and Central Washington on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Cross Country
In the last cross-country race of the regular season, the men’s team took fourth place, and the women’s team snagged eighth. The NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals were held at Chambers Creek Regional Park, a preview of the course that will host the National Championships on Dec. 2.
The No. 20 men’s team placed just behind Colorado School of Mines, Chico State and Western Colorado, all top-10 ranked teams. Sophomore Kevin McDermott led Western with a time of 24:18.5, placing 17th overall.
The women’s team finished eighth among 29 teams, with junior Marian Ledesma earning a PR with 22:19.3 and sophomore Mia Crocker setting the pace for Western with a time of 22:08.5, finishing 38th out of 223 runners.
Football standings — Oct. 25
3A Wesco North
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Ferndale | 6-0 | 6-2 |
| Stanwood | 5-1 | 7-1 |
| Arlington | 4-2 | 6-2 |
| Marysville-Pilchuck | 3-3 | 4-4 |
| Oak Harbor | 2-4 | 2-6 |
| Marysville-Getchell | 1-5 | 1-7 |
| Mount Vernon | 0-6 | 0-8 |
2A Northwest Conference
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Anacortes | 6-0 | 8-0 |
| Lynden | 6-0 | 8-0 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 4-2 | 6-2 |
| Sehome | 3-3 | 5-3 |
| Squalicum | 3-3 | 4-4 |
| Burlington-Edison | 1-5 | 2-6 |
| Lakewood | 1-5 | 2-6 |
| Archbishop Murphy | 0-6 | 0-7 |
1A Northwest Conference
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Lynden Christian | 3-0 | 8-0 |
| Nooksack Valley | 2-1 | 6-1 |
| Mount Baker | 2-1 | 4-4 |
| Meridian | 1-3 | 4-4 |
| Blaine | 0-3 | 1-7 |
Independent
| Football | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Bellingham | N/A | 3-5 |
