District tournaments are in full swing, with championship games already set in baseball and boys soccer.
Western Washington University women’s rowing put together another impressive performance in preparation for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.
Here’s an overview of what you may have missed from the last week of the spring season.
Prep
Baseball
Lynden (18-4) and Anacortes (16-8) will play for the 2A District 1 baseball championship at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. That game will be at Daniels Field in Anacortes.
The winner of the title game will secure one of two available state berths from the tournament. The loser will have to win one more.
Lynden last played for the district championship in 2022, falling 5-4 to Archbishop Murphy. The Lions’ last title was in 2016, beating Cedarcrest 4-1.
Cedarcrest was Lynden’s first foe in this year’s tournament, but the Lions downed the Red Wolves 2-1 on Thursday, May 2. The Lions went on to beat Burlington-Edison in the semifinals, 5-1, on Saturday, May 4.
Bellingham (10-12) also remains alive in the bracket. The Bayhawks lost to Anacortes in the first round, 9-1, but bounced back to beat Lakewood, 5-2, in the first round of consolation on May 4.
Any loss would now eliminate the Bayhawks, who need to win three more games to earn a state berth. Bellingham’s next game is a consolation quarterfinal against Burlington-Edison at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 at Daniels Field.
Meridian is in the 1A District 1 championship after two wins on May 4.
Boys soccer
Class 1A and 2A District 1 championship matchups are set.
Sehome (15-0-1) and Squalicum (12-5) will face off for the third time this season — this time for a state berth and the 2A crown. The winner will advance, while the loser must win another game in the consolation bracket. That game will be at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 at Civic Stadium.
Squalicum shut out its first district opponent, Anacortes, 2-0 on Thursday, May 2. The Storm then went on to beat Archbishop Murphy, 2-1, in the semifinals on May 4. Sophomore Cody McCaulley and senior Simon Egner scored goals for Squalicum in the latter victory.
Sehome has breezed through its first two district tournament games. The Mariners beat Cedarcrest 6-2 on May 2 before routing Burlington-Edison, 4-1, on May 4 — led by goals from junior Rudy Zurcher and seniors Reiley Buri-Brown, Kyle Diefel and Asher Sullivan.
The Mariners have won both matches against Squalicum this season by a combined score of 6-4. Sehome is the reigning 2A District 1 champion, while Squalicum last won the district championship in 2014.
Bellingham (12-4-1) also remains alive in the consolation quarterfinals. The Bayhawks lost to Burlington-Edison, 3-2, on May 2, but bounced back to beat Cedarcrest by the same score on May 4. They will now face Archbishop Murphy (11-4-2) at 6 p.m. on May 7 at Archbishop Murphy High School as they continue to fight for the second state berth.
Lynden (7-10-1) had its season end following a 1-0 loss to Anacortes in the first round of consolation on May 4. The Lions will graduate eight seniors.
In the 1A District 1 tournament, it’ll be Lynden Christian (10-4-2) and Meridian (12-4-1) in the title game.
Meridian enters the match as the reigning champions, but the Trojans lost both regular-season games against the Lyncs by a combined score of 5-2. LC beat Nooksack Valley 2-0 in the first round of districts on May 4, while Meridian beat Blaine the same day, 2-1.
Only one team can advance, with no consolation bracket. With a shuffle in state allocations, there is no bi-district crossover like there was from 2014–23. LC last won a district title in 2022, defeating Meridian 3-1.
In 3A District 1, Ferndale (6-10-1) qualified for the tournament but was eliminated in the first round, 6-0, by Shorecrest on Wednesday, May 1. The Golden Eagles will lose five seniors.
WWU
Women’s rowing
Western women’s rowing is back on top of NCAA Division II, moving up to No. 1 in the nation out of 13 teams in the most recent poll.
The Vikings backed up that ranking with a first-place finish in the Collegiate Varsity 8+ Open race at the Opening Day Regatta on May 4 on Montlake Cut in Seattle — beating Gonzaga University, the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University.
Western clocked a time of 7:03.722, outpacing second-place finisher Gonzaga (7:08.216) by just under five seconds.
Western’s Varsity 4+ crew took third out of four teams with its time of 8:02.729.
With the regular season in the books, the Vikings now turn their attention to the GNAC Championships, which are Saturday, May 18 on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.
Northwest Conference baseball standings — May 8
Northwest Conference fastpitch softball standings — May 8
| Baseball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Mount Vernon | 15-0 | 20-3 |
| Lynden | 12-3 | 18-4 |
| Oak Harbor | 10-5 | 15-7 |
| Anacortes | 10-5 | 14-7 |
| Sedro- Woolley | 10-5 | 14-8 |
| Meridian | 9-6 | 16-6 |
| Lynden Christian | 8-7 | 12-9 |
| Burlington- Edison | 8-7 | 12-11 |
| Blaine | 7-8 | 12-10 |
| Ferndale | 7-8 | 10-10 |
| Nooksack Valley | 7-8 | 10-11 |
| Bellingham | 7-8 | 10-13 |
| Lakewood | 5-10 | 6-14 |
| Sehome | 4-11 | 5-15 |
| Mount Baker | 1-14 | 2-17 |
| Squalicum | 0-15 | 0-19 |
| Softball | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L | W-L |
| Sedro- Woolley | 14-0 | 18-1 |
| Burlington- Edison | 12-2 | 13-6 |
| Lynden | 12-3 | 16-5 |
| Blaine | 11-3 | 13-5 |
| Mount Baker | 11-4 | 17-4 |
| Lakewood | 10-4 | 12-5 |
| Mount Vernon | 10-5 | 11-9 |
| Lynden Christian | 8-7 | 12-8 |
| Ferndale | 7-8 | 9-9 |
| Oak Harbor | 7-8 | 9-10 |
| Meridian | 5-10 | 8-12 |
| Nooksack Valley | 4-11 | 5-16 |
| Sehome | 3-12 | 7-13 |
| Anacortes | 2-12 | 4-12 |
| Bellingham | 1-13 | 1-19 |
| Squalicum | 0-15 | 0-18 |
Northwest Conference boys soccer standings — May 8
| Boys soccer | League | Overall |
| Team | W-L-T | W-L-T |
| Sehome | 9-0-1 | 15-1-1 |
| Mount Vernon | 8-1-3 | 12-3-3 |
| Squalicum | 8-2-0 | 13-5-0 |
| Lynden Christian | 7-0-1 | 10-4-2 |
| Bellingham | 7-2-1 | 13-4-1 |
| Meridian | 6-2-0 | 12-4-1 |
| Burlington-Edison | 5-2-3 | 8-7-3 |
| Blaine | 4-3-1 | 9-5-2 |
| Ferndale | 4-7-1 | 6-10-1 |
| Lynden | 4-6-1 | 7-10-1 |
| Anacortes | 3-6-1 | 7-9-4 |
| Oak Harbor | 2-8-2 | 3-10-3 |
| Nooksack Valley | 1-6-1 | 4-13-1 |
| Lakewood | 1-9-0 | 3-12-2 |
| Sedro-Woolley | 1-9-0 | 4-13-0 |
| Mount Baker | 0-7-1 | 0-9-1 |
Connor J. Benintendi is a former CDN sports reporter, send tips and information to newstips@cascadiadaily.com.
