Three Borderites qualified for the 1A Girls Tennis State Tournament on May 15, with Ana Tuski earning Blaine’s lone singles spot in the tournament, and doubles partners Bea Dickson and Carly Saunders clinching a state placement.
Competing against Meridian and Nooksack Valley in rainy conditions, the Borderites had one of its best overall performances of the season, showing how far this team has improved since starting the season with a 1-2 record in the regular season.
First-year head coach Marcel Zuzarte saw the improvement over the course of the season up close, and said he was proud of this trio, and the team as a whole, for continuing to compete and improve throughout a long spring sports season.
“I came in with a very open mind and just wanted to see growth,” Zuzarte said. “It’s fulfilling to see them come through and win at the next level. It’s really good for them and they feel so much improvement amongst themselves.”
The WIAA 1A Girls State Tennis Championships are scheduled for May 23-24 at the Yakima Tennis Club. Tuski is set to face Fort Vancouver’s Esther Pechko in the opening round at 11 a.m. on May 23, and with a win, would advance to face Overlake’s Lily Zhu in the quarterfinal round.
In the doubles bracket, the duo of Dickson and Saunders is scheduled to play Stevenson in the opening round at 11 a.m. on May 23, and would play University Prep in the quarterfinal round with a win.
“We never stop training, we never stop coaching,” Zuzarte said on the team’s preparation for state. “We have really good support from the rest of the team. I think they’re all gaining a love for the game.”
Blaine track and field had another outstanding day as a team at the 1A Sub-District meet at Lynden Christian on May 14 and 16, sending a whopping 20 athletes to the 1A Bi-District Championships.
Also battling rainy conditions similar to the girls tennis team, the Borderites finished the two-day meet with multiple top-three finishes, and a pair of first-place finishes from senior Josiah Weeda in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.
Weeda finished the 110-meter hurdles with a PR time of 14.82 (all times wind-aided), nearly a full-second faster than the second place runner. Weeda demolished the competition in the 300-meter hurdles with a PR time of 40.43, beating the Lynden Christian runner-up by nearly three full seconds.
In a twist of bad fortune, promising Blaine sprinter/hurdler Brietta Sandell false-started in the girls 100-meter hurdle final, and was forced to bow out. She still qualified for Bi-Districts in the 300-meter hurdle and 4x100-meter relay events.
After two busy days of competition, 12 boys and eight girls qualified for the 1A District 1/2 Championships in Granite Falls starting Thursday, May 22.
In the 110- and 300-meter hurdles, Weeda will be joined by Ben Raymond. The boys 4x100-meter relay team of Dylan Johnson, Colby Shipp, Beckum Bleazard and Jaiden Paez also qualified for Bi-Districts, with Johnson, Shipp and Bleazard all competing in multiple other races.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Elbert Hao, Vincent Maxey, Saihou Kanagie and Logan Bennett will race for a spot in the state championship, as will pole vaulters Haydn Kopf and Tucker Greene.
The girls 4x100-meter relay team of Sandell, Juliana Zuzarte, Teia Dube and Kaitlyn Ritter Von Trautmann qualified for Bi-Districts, with all four sprinters competing in at least one other individual event. Carrie Balback is the lone Borderite to qualify in the 800-meter event, and field players Olivia Carlson-Vega (shot put), Lydia Ayala (discus) and Makenna Lausier (pole vault) all qualified as well.
The 1A District 1/2 Championships will kick off Thursday, May 22 at 3:30 p.m. and conclude on Saturday, May 24 at Granite Falls High School.
Blaine boys soccer’s season came to a tough end on the road against Bush in the 1A Bi-District Playoff, just one win shy of clinching a spot in the state tournament.
The Borderites wouldn’t have made it to Bi-Districts without a resounding win over Lynden Christian on May 14 in the final round of the District 1 tournament, with Blaine winning 2-1 in a tense matchup.
The Borderites hadn’t beaten Lynden Christian during the regular season, but defeated the Lyncs twice in the span of a week with an opening-round, 2-0 win on May 7, then again on May 14 to punch their ticket to Bi-Districts.
In the May 14 win, junior midfielder Dima Yuryev opened up the scoring in the first half, then scored again midway through the second half to put the Lyncs to bed. Despite a late penalty kick goal from Lynden Christian, the Borderite defense stayed solid and preserved the win to get the Borderites into Bi-Districts.
After travelling south to face Bush on May 17, Yuryev again scored for the Borderites, but Blaine’s opponent was able to score three goals and take the final spot in the 1A State Tournament.
The Borderites finished the season with a 5-15 record, and seemed to be improving greatly as the regular season wound down and the postseason ramped up.
Junior goalkeeper Abel Carlson-Vega had a great district playoff run, as did the defensive back line in front of him.
Yuryev finished the season with the second-highest goal total in the Northwest Conference, finishing with 12 goals, tied with Lynden’s Eddie Briseno and well behind Lynden Christian’s Harvest Howell who tallied 23.
Next year’s team will need to make up for the loss of stalwart senior defenders like Maxim Yuryev, Sihaan Aujla and Logan Villarreal, and will see the departure of tons of attacking prowess including Blake Koreski (who did not play this season due to injury) Daniel Estrada, Isaiah Zuch, and Peregrine Lochridge and Christian Sanchez.
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