SPORTS
by Jack Kintner

Record falls as seven
Borderites qualify for state track meet

Freshman Alisha Fisher broke a 25-year-old Blaine high school record in the long jump last Friday in qualifying for the state track meet that began today at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
Fisher was joined by pole vaulters Kit Schumann, Kimberly Harmening and Erin Lippie, 110-meter hurdler Randy Newton and discus flicker Jessica Summers. The top three athletes in each event go to state.
Near misses were notched by the boys 4 x 400 relay team, who finished less than two seconds out of third, the girls 4 x 200 relay who missed by six-tenths of a second and the girls 4 x 400 relay that missed third by a shade under four seconds, 4:22.6 to third place Meridian’s 4:18.8.
Fisher earlier had troubles with another of her specialties, the 100 meter hurdles, finishing well out of the money. But after coming oh, so close to the 16 foot one inch Blaine school record in the long jump at the league finals in Lynden she finally broke through the barrier that’s stood for 25 years, beating it by half an inch. And while she’s not even old enough to drive, she’s already got the composure and poise to do well at the state level.
Randy Newton improved on his time in the 110 hurdles and broke 16 seconds on his way to winning his event again.
Jessica “Stretch” Summers likes to say that her discus talents come from having “long levers,” that is long limbs, with which she can catapult the little disc that looks like a spacecraft from a bad space movie well over 100 feet. Her 109 foot six and a half inch toss was good enough for third place.
As they have most of the season, Blaine’s pole vaulters won on both boys and girls sides. Kit Schumann went 14 feet, equal to his record-setting leap earlier in the year that he’s since exceeded, and both Kimberly Harmening and Erin Lippie qualified for the girls, Lippie’s 9’6” winning the event.

Adams named new coach

Girls’ varsity basketball assistant coach Rob Adams will take over for former head coach Patrick Green next season, the Blaine school board decided at their Monday, May 24 meeting.
“I thought I had a chance at it when Patrick announced that he was leaving,” said Adams, a 1991 Blaine high school graduate, obviously happy with the appointment.
A special education teacher in the high school, Adams is currently completing his seventh year in the school district and brings experience as an assistant to both Green and prior to that with boys’ varsity basketball coach Rob Ridnour “as one of Rob’s 30 or 35 assistants,” he joked.
Adams said that there won’t be a lot of difference in his approach, saying that “I like the discipline of Patrick’s offense, it’s good team basketball and they’ve played good defense under that system too.” Adams promised that he’ll pick up the pace a bit, get up and down the floor quickly, “to kind of buzz-saw the opponents, not just with speed but with quick smooth transitions and showing different looks. More like a chameleon than a cheetah,” he said.
Rob and his wife Julie have a brand new eight-month old son, Dawson, who attended his first state basketball tournament last March. It undoubtedly will not be his last.

Blaine fastpitch season ends in Sedro Woolley

Four of the seniors on Blaine’s fastpitch softball team won just three games the year they played as freshmen in Blaine. The fifth, senior Holly Steckler, joined the team later as a transfer from Issaquah high school.
They won nine games the next year, 12 last year for their first winning season and this year went 16-8 to finish third in the league and fourth at the district playoffs Monday in Sedro Woolley.
A very hoarse, physically sore, exhausted but happy head coach Rob Adams described the six-team district tournament, originally scheduled for last weekend but delayed two days by rain, as a long softball marathon. “We played for eight hours,” he said, “four games, one right after the other.”
The Lady B’s won the first game against Nooksack Valley 10 to 5. “We hit well,” said Adams, “which we needed to do to get into that six o’clock game for third.” Lacy Cheatwood, Alisa Burk, Sirita Lawson and Amanda Stull all had two or more hits, and Holly Steckler’s one hit was a home run. Blaine got 15 hits while holding Nooksack to nine, and allowing just five of them to cross the plate.
Against their second opponent, South Whidbey, Blaine hoped to stay close but got shut out 10-0. They’ve been shut out all season by South Whidbey’s phenomenal pitcher Kristi Robinson.
Blaine won the third game of the day against Lakewood 8-0, outhitting their opponent 10 to 2. Stickler, Burk and Lawson all got two or more hits.
Blaine’s last game of the tournament and, it turned out, of the season was another match with Nooksack, who made short work of Blaine’s game but tired girls, winning the game 10-4 and a trip to the state tournament.
“I’m real proud of these kids, the way they’ve come along,” Adams said, “It’s been a good year.” Next year should be, too, when Adams will have head coaching duties in both fastpitch and in girls’ varsity basketball as well.