SPORTS

Girls on the run are hot to trot
By Neil Macdonald
The Girls on the Run program hit the pavement this weekend, training the bodies and minds of local girls for running, and life.
The program lasts until mid-June and twice a week girls get together to train for a one or a three-mile running event. How-ever, the program’s curriculum merges fitness training with exercises to teach life skills. “There are so many aspect to the program – team building, how to make health decisions, how to feel good about themselves,” said program organizer Kathie Tupper. Exercise and bonding with healthy peers can help girls build self-esteem and confidence, she said.
A local target for program participants will be the Run to the Border, planned for May 4. The 1.5 mile and 5 kilometer events in the run will be fundraisers for the Girls on the Run program.
The first unit of the program started March 18 and Tupper said an additional unit will start March 26 if enough girls show interest. The groups meet at 3 p.m. Monday/Wednesday or/Tuesday Thursday at the boys and girls club and work out until 4:15 p.m.
Costs for the program are on a sliding scale based on family income and range from $15 to $140 for the 12-week program, but Tupper said that wasn’t cast in stone. “Money should never keep kids from doing this,” she said. ‘This program is for everybody, regardless of fitness or finances.”.
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Neil's Notes
Summers, Sticklin Honored
In basketball, Blaine’s Jessica Summers was selected the North Cascades Conference Most Valuable Player and teammate Anna Sticklin was named to the All-NCC first team for the 2001-02 season.
Summers garnered 405 points, 285 rebounds, 43 steals and 23 blocked shots. She averaged 15.6 ppg, 48.5 percent on field goal attempts and 57.4 percent on free throw shooting. Despite missing four games due to a shoulder injury, Sticklin got 228 points, 109 rebounds, 72 assists, 44 steals, 28 treys and averaged 10.4 ppg.

Game-high 16 for Williams
Whatcom County’s top 40 seniors displayed their skills at the 16th annual Boys’ and Girls’ Club Basketball Classic at Lynden high school on March 15.
Blaine’s Keith Williams, playing for the East, scored a game-high 21 points in a losing cause as the West topped the East 82-69 in the boys’ game. Borderite Cory Crews was also on the East side, while Blaine’s Ryan Pike was on the West squad.
The East edged the West 50-49 in the girls’ game. The Lady B’s Anna Sticklin led a comeback for the East after the West had jumped into a 20-4 lead. Fellow Borderite Becky Riddle was on the West side.

Blaine Edged in Soccer
In boys soccer, Sultan edged Blaine 2-1 in their NCC opener on March 13 at the Pipe. Matt Morrill scored both Turk goals. Pedro Magellan scored Blaine’s lone goal on a pass from Alden Walcon, who relayed a corner kick from Yasuto Morinako.
Meridian took a 1-0 win from the Borderites on March 16 at Laurel. Any resemblance between the game and a soccer match was whisked away by a fierce wind that huffed and puffed and blew any airborne ball away from its intended path. One Borderite player, trying to clear a ball, even had his kick go up and up and back over his head to land behind him.

Boys’ Golf
Blaine placed second in NCC boys golf on March 13 at Semiahmoo. Winner Lynden Christian shot 222; Blaine, 226 and Mt. Baker, 230. MB’s Chris Aamot was low medalist with 39. Blaine’s Adam Dolan shot 43; Kevin Farmer, 44; Kyle Goddard, 45; Travis Black, 46; and Doug Goldsby, 48.

Blaine Takes Third
Blaine middle school finished third and Borderite wrestlers Sam Abrams, Nick Jordan, Derik Strembler and Jack Vitalize were title winners in the Whatcom County Middle School wrestling championships at Blaine on March 13.

Four ’Cudas Win
Four Blaine Barracudas finished first in the Sons of Thunder freestyle wrestling tournament at Bellingham on March 9. Jack Vitaliz, Sam Abrams, Anthony Munden and Jacob Humphrey were winners in their weight divisions. .
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