SPORTS
By Neil Macdonald

Borderite tracksters honored
Five Blaine track and field athletes – Nik McGee, Dan Marchio, Becky Riddle, Grace Coulter and Jessica Summers – were awarded six team awards on May 29 at Blaine Middle School.
McGee was named the boys Most Valuable; Marchio, both the boys Most Inspirational and the boys Most Improved. Riddle was awarded the girls Most Valuable; Coulter, the girls Most Inspirational; and Summers, the girls Most Improved.
McGee, who was in the top three in the discus four times in 2002 meets, was most dominant in the shot put. His season of superiority included wins at the NCC championships and at State.
MVP Riddle was Blaine girls VIP in the shot and discus, winning, at least, four times in each. She set a school and NCC record at the NCC championships and was second at State in the shot.
Marchio, a senior, was Blaine’s mid-distance man, running the 800m, the 1600m and a leg in the 4x400 relay. A consistent point producer for the Borderites, Marchio was particularly potent in the 800m.
Junior Grace Coulter had to be an odds-on favorite to be in the running for a medal, if not a first place finish, at State in the 1600m. This was before tendonitis, that terror of the track, came calling. Tender tendons take up more of a runner’s time – painful time – whether in a training run or a race. If straining against sorrowful sinews isn’t inspirational, what is?
Summers, the girls Most Improved winner was a sophomore “soon-to-be” in the shot/discus in the shadow of Riddle, a senior Borderite. She was fourth in the shot put at the Tisdale Invite and eighth in the discus at the NCC Championships.
McGee, Riddle and Geoffrey Faulkner, a sophomore and consistent point-producer in the high and long jump, each totaled 100 or more points over the 2002 season to make coach Mike Grambo’s 100-plus performer list. .

Lawrenson is Blaine tennis MVP
Blaine senior Kate Lawrenson, the team Captain, was named the Most Valuable; sophomore Jessica Freeman, the Most Inspirational; and sophomore Krista Jones, the Most Improved Player at the girls tennis team’s awards night on May 14 at Blaine High School.
Speaking of MVP Lawrenson’s tennis prowess, Blaine head tennis coach Pat Green enthused, “She was a joy to coach. She really showed her determination when she fought and got fourth place at District to finish one spot shy of State.”
Speaking of Freeman, Green said, “She ended the season as one of the top 2A players in the county. She set high expectations for next year. She’s a tenacious and aggressive player who tries to end points quickly.”
And of sophomore doubles player and Most Improved award winner Jones, playing her first year of competitive tennis, Green noted, “She is an extremely scrappy player. She once dove through a fence going after the ball,” in reference to Jones’ foray into and under a heavy wire fence while attempting to return the ball in a match at Lynden.

Borderites are tip-off champs
Coach Dan Rucker’s Blaine boys basketball quintet edged Lakeside of Spokane 52-51 to win the 14th annual Tip-Off Basketball Tournament held June 1-2 at the Big Orange.
The Borderites, supposedly in a re-building year, are 7-1 in spring hoop action. Their win over Lakeside, presently projected to be No. 1 or 2 in the state in ’03, was an “up” for the young Borderites and the south side of an upset for Lakeside.
The Double B’s defeated Mt. Baker 42-28, Semiahmoo (B.C.) 48-35 and Tenino 65-32 on June 1 and topped Abbotsford (B.C.) 54-36 first thing on June 2 to advance to the final against Lakeside. Ryan Alexander, John Freeman, Jake Gilmore and Grant Sanders had impressive outings for Blaine during the tourney.

Neil's Notes
Green to Coach at All-State
Blaine girls head basketball coach Pat Green has been selected to coach the West team in the annual 2A All-State girls basketball game against the East on June 22 at Whitworth College in Spokane.
Lady B stalwarts Jessica Summers and Anna Sticklin will play for Green. For those fans going dry side, game time is 3:15 p.m.

Trennepohl All-State Nominee
North Cascade’s 2A stars defeated the Northwest League’s 3A standouts 7-2 in the inaugural Senior Fastpitch Classic at Western Washington’s Viking Field on May 30.
Blaine’s Jynessa Trennepohl was one of 12 players nominated to play in the State All-Star doubleheader at Wenatchee Valley Community College on June 15.

Anderson Nominated for All-State Series
The Nationals won the opener 10-6 and the Americans, the nightcap 4-2 in the 2A/1A/B Regional Baseball Feeder doubleheader on June 1 at Bellingham’s Joe Martin Field.
Blaine shortstop and closer Craig Anderson, the North Cascade Conference’s Most Valuable Player, was one of 10 Whatcom County players nominated to play in the All-State baseball series June 8-9 in East Wenatchee.
Anderson played short in both games, driving home the winning run with a two-run single in the second game, and finishing the first game in a relief role for the Americans.
Blaine catcher Ryan Pike scored a run for the Americans in the first game and got a RBI for the Nationals in the second game.

Golf Goings-On
The 9th annual American Red Cross “Get on Course” tourney tees off on June 14 at Dakota Creek GC in Custer. Registration fee is $50. To register or for info, call 366-3131 or the American Red Cross at 733-3290..

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