In 2022, Whatcom County athletes tallied 24 state titles during the spring season alone. Last season they earned 25. Could 26 be on the horizon in 2024? Spring sports mark the return to the outdoors — often with frequent weather-related hiccups in the early season. Snow flurries, torrential downpours and gray, windy days make “spring” sports challenging. But that’s part of the ride.
[ Whatcom County spring athletes have big shoes to fill in 2024 ]
In today’s story, learn about Bellingham High School juniors Ella Morrow & Kira Carlson and senior Judah Straight.
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KIRA CARLSON & ELLA MORROW
Junior, Girls tennis, Doubles
What makes you two an effective doubles pair?
Ella: I think our communication and our friendship. We’re really close and we always know what each other’s thinking.
Kira: Also, our work ethic. We’re always hungry for competition. We love competitive matches.
What were your shortcomings in last season’s state title match? How do you avoid them this season?
Ella: Our opponents were just as athletic as us, and usually we can beat people with our athleticism. So, this year I think working on just our tennis skills rather than athleticism, to then be able to beat them [this] year.
Kira: Definitely getting better at the net because we played very, very passive and defensive the whole time. We played basically two back instead of one at the net, one back. And that just doesn’t work, because the girls we played are [Division I] volleyball players that were over 6 feet [tall]. It just doesn’t work.
What do you enjoy most about each other as teammates?
Kira: We’re very positive [towards] each other. We push each other to be better, but we don’t get down on each other ever.
Ella: We’ve known each other since we were like 3, so we just have a super good friendship and I think when we just stay positive, it really helps.
JUDAH STRAIGHT
Senior, Boys soccer, Mid/striker
This team was very good last year but couldn’t go far in state. How will that be different this year?
We have a core that we had from sophomore, junior, now senior year … we have so much connection with each other. I just feel like that was kind of missing last year, when we were a little younger. We didn’t have all the experience we have right now. Last year, I mean, could have gone farther. That first round exit was brutal.
This year, we have that mindset where we all are together and we all really, really want to go out and make it as far as we possibly can. And we’re really just a family together.
You’re now a senior leader on this team. How are you embracing that role?
It doesn’t come super naturally to me, but I’ve tried to really kind of take it on where, me personally, I’m really competitive — it’s sometimes over the top. We kind of saw it last year a little bit with referees and stuff, but I’ve tried to calm myself, kind of tone it down.
When I have a thing that I want to tell [younger players] or something that I want to get across, I really try to make it personal and be like, ‘All right, this is what I want, and this is what we could do better, but really good job what you’re doing here.’ Just highlighting the bits that I like about what they’re doing first.
What are your post-high school plans?
I’m going to Saint Martin’s University. I’ll play soccer there … which is going to be super fun.
I’m excited to go out and see what it’s like to play college soccer and see where it goes from there.
Visit CDN’s prep sports previews page every Tuesday and Friday until April 19 to learn about more Whatcom County athletes.
