Whatcom County’s prep track and field athletes routinely rake in state championships each spring. In 2023, locals took home 19 titles in classes 1A and 2A.
This season, however, state berths for local schools have been shaken up: Class 1A teams are allocated three bids instead of two, and 2A teams will have two instead of three.
The county’s four 2A schools (Sehome, Lynden, Bellingham and Squalicum) have had a larger presence at the 2A/3A/4A state meet in recent years than its five 1A programs have had at the 1B/2B/1A meet (Lynden Christian, Mount Baker, Nooksack Valley, Meridian and Blaine). That could flip this season.
“The big challenge for everyone in [2A District 1] is just going to be getting kids through to state,” Sehome head coach Kevin Ryan said. “We’re pretty much training everyone to run for the auto qualifiers.”
Lynden head coach Layne Hutchins and Ryan each noted state qualifying marks — or “auto qualifiers,” as Ryan put it — will be their emphasis this season.
In 2A District 1, the first- and second-place individual placers and relays from each event will qualify for state. If an athlete or relay was outside the top two, but met a state qualifying mark at the district meet, they can still reach state. (Qualifying marks are different for each event and determined by the average time/mark of the sixth-place state finisher in that event over the last five seasons.)
“Thankfully, we do have the state qualifying mark, and I foresee that in many events, we’re going to be taking more than two,” Hutchins said. “That’s a little bit more where we’re going to focus.”
The Sehome boys have won the last two 2A state team championships, and its girls team took second last season (last winning a title in 2017). Lynden’s boys team captured second, behind Sehome, while its girls group finished sixth — the best girls placement in program history.
Despite the change, all four local 2A schools will be in the mix for the boys and girls titles as well as multiple individual championships.
The 1A schools will also have a boost to their chances, as long as turnout numbers are high. (State participation in a wide variety of events is necessary to earn enough points to compete for a team title.)
“If everybody progresses like I think they can, stays injury-free, stays focused, I think we can make a really good run at state — particularly with the girls,” said Lynden Christian coach Greg Terpstra, who led both the Lyncs’ teams to fifth place 1A state finishes last season.
Class 1A overview
LC is returning two defending state champions in junior Mick Owen (boys triple jump) and senior Tabby DeJong (girls shot put) while being littered with rising talent on the girls side.
“This team, I think, right now, is being defined by guts,” Terpstra said. “They may not be the most naturally talented group, but man, they’ve got guts. [I’m] really encouraged by seeing that.”
Terpstra expects the Lyncs’ field events to be their source of fuel.
“Our throwing is looking really good, especially from the girls side,” Terpstra said. “And our jumps — triple and long jump — are looking pretty good for the boys and girls.”
Meridian is one of the only local programs that is mostly returning top boys placers. Senior sprinter Jase Klinkhammer won the 400-meter dash title last season and took second in the 100- and 200-meter dash events to lead the group.
Sophomore Logan Ignacio highlights the Trojans’ girls returners after taking 12th in the 3,200-meter run.
Nooksack Valley is strong in boys field events, with seniors Joey Brown (javelin and long jump) and Cian Coppinger (discus and shot put) both returning. Coppinger finished second in the discus last season, and Brown took sixth in the javelin to lead his state performance.
Junior Kate Shintaffer made state in the girls javelin and long jump, and she is currently fifth in the state in the javelin in the very early season.
Blaine junior Josiah Weeda took sixth in the 110-meter hurdles last season, and Mount Baker senior Alex Maloley led the Mountaineers with his fifth-place javelin finish. Mount Baker sophomore Ellie Hanstead (girls 400-meter dash) and senior Natalie Horsmon (pole vault and 300-meter hurdles) also participated at state.
With rising freshmen at all five schools and many top performers yet to rival their marks from last season, a lot of untapped potential remains.
Class 2A overview
Sehome has two returning state champions on the boys side in junior Andre Watson and sophomore Porter Leak, who made up half the Mariners’ 4X100 champion relay team last season. However, that side of the program was decimated by graduation, with four former champions who contributed to seven titles leaving the team.
Senior Bella Connell was the runner-up in the girls 100-meter hurdles, fellow senior Alina Kravtsov finished third in the 400-meter dash and multiple other individuals and relays finished top five.
“We’re bringing almost everyone back from last year’s [girls] squad,” Ryan said. “So we have a lot of depth. We got some young girls out as well with some really good speed in the sprint areas. We’re really excited to see what our relays may become, [and] we’re really deep in the distances.”
Lynden has two champions from last year returning — one from each side of its program. Senior Jared McCrory won the boys pole vault last season, and junior Faith VanBrocklin took home the 300-meter hurdles title.
The Lions’ girls team continues to be on the rise, Hutchins said, with a plethora of young talent that placed at last year’s state meet returning. Lynden’s girls team has never earned a top-four trophy.
“We’ve got a shot to really be in the mix at the state meet, which is fun, exciting and something that we have not done yet here in Lynden,” Hutchins said.
Bellingham’s girls team took fourth last season and its boys finished eighth. The Bayhawks are primed for another strong girls run with three-time state champion senior Chayse Flick-Williams back alongside fellow senior Genevieve Blum.
Flick-Williams won the long jump and 100-meter dash events in 2022 before placing second and first, respectively, in the same events last year. Blum took third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump last season. Freshman Sophia Koch is new to the team and currently second in the state in the 1,600-meter run, though it is early.
Squalicum is led by its boys distance runners, namely seniors Chase Bartlett and Tyler Nielsen. Bartlett was third in both the 800- and 1,600-meter runs last year, while Nielsen finished top 10 in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.
Similar to Class 1A, plenty of underclassmen will emerge in the coming weeks.
Ten of the county’s 11 schools will be split between two meets this week. The Twilight in the Ham Invite, hosted by Sehome, will be at Civic Field at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 22 and includes Bellingham and Squalicum.
The Bedlington Invite will include LC, Ferndale, Meridian, Nooksack Valley, Blaine, Lynden and Mount Baker at the same date and time at Lynden Christian High School.
Connor J. Benintendi is a former CDN sports reporter, send tips and information to newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
