🏈 Prep Talk 06/26/26

The 2025-26 school year ended with many incredible storylines — we had the chance to see dynasties form, records get broken and names etched into history.

As CDN’s sports editor, I’m plugged in through the whole season. Here are my top-10 favorite moments of the year.

Note: This newsletter will take a break in July due to summer break and will return in August.

Of course, the top of the list includes Lynden High School, but the Lions deserve the top spot. Lynden, which is known for winning state titles in most sports, became the second 2A school in state history to win four girls’ state titles in the same year.

The Lady Lions won their first-ever volleyball title, the first-ever WIAA-sanctioned flag football title, the girls basketball golden ball, and the girls tennis trophy. Lynden’s Sloan Dickson also won the 2A cross country state meet last fall. Lynden’s success set a standard that the Lions are more than just a football and boys’ basketball school, but an all-around athletic powerhouse.

Out on the Lummi Nation reservation, visual journalist Finn Wendt and I experienced the best basketball season for the Blackhawks program. The boys team won its third state title in program history while the girls placed fourth for their best finish in history.

Spokane was an unforgettable experience with roaring crowds and loud drums echoing the arena as the Lummi community rallied behind its younger generation.

It’s time to go back to Lynden, but a few streets down to Lynden Christian High. Lynden Christian’s boys basketball team completed a perfect season by dominating Zillah in the state championship game and adding another banner to the gymnasium.

Sometimes the journey to the state championship is more impressive than winning the title, and that is the case for the Meridian Trojans this year. After nearly being eliminated in the district tournament, Meridian's volleyball team narrowly entered the 1A state tournament as a seven seed with low expectations.

The Trojans continued to stun teams across the state before falling short in the title game, finishing second overall in the 1A classification. In the spring, Meridian’s boys soccer team finished in the middle of the Northwest Conference standings. The 12-seed Trojans wanted respect and earned it by reaching their first state championship game in school history and placing second.

Another time to remember is the first-ever WIAA-sanctioned girls’ flag football season. We had the opportunity to showcase some of the best young athletes at the highest stage in the state, including a Squalicum vs. Lynden state championship game. We also saw Ferndale, Sehome and Bellingham compete this year, and we will see Anacortes make its debut next year.

The Seahawks’ most memorable team had to be the girls soccer team in the fall. Anacortes had not reached the state soccer tournament in 40 years or won a state playoff game in school history. The Seahawks, who were led by Mailee Hilburn and Jordan Zaharris, decided one win was not enough for this squad. The Seahawks went the distance and placed third in the state tournament with a win over Hockinson.

Skagit County also boasted one of the top golfers in the state. Wyatt Brownell kept his expectations low heading into his final season at Burlington-Edison despite being the back-to-back 2A golf champion.

Brownell cruised through competition in the regular season before having one of the best performances on his final day as a Tiger to capture his third straight title.

In my first winter season, we had three wrestlers competing for a state title, and all fell short of raising their hand in the final match. This year, we had seven compete for a state title and saw three win a gold medal. Squalicum’s Claire Hume avenged her second-place finish last year, Anacortes’ Kade West cruised to a heavyweight title and Meridian’s Rhett Duersch muscled to a 215-pound title.

Flashing back to the fall season, Sehome’s girls cross country team proved to be one of the premier sports programs in our coverage area. The Mariner runners won their fifth consecutive state title, led by sophomore Kjirsten Ludeman. Meridian girls, led by Logan Ignacio, also won their first 1A state title in school history.

The final moment from this school year was back in the pool. On the girls' side, Blaine’s Hailey Ferrell and Sehome’s Kaden Schmidt defended the 500-yard freestyle and one-meter diving titles, respectively.

The Whatcom County boy divers also had five of the top-10 diving finishers and competed in the Ski to Sea race in the high school division. The prep divers finished 235th out of 364 teams.