A group of Islander men ran in the 112th Boston Marathon held on April 21, the day after the women’s marathon Olympic Trials qualifying race took place in the city. Islanders Ryan Rein, Brian Kennett, Michael Schreck Jr., Greg Larson, and Roger Larson all finished the 26.2-mile course. They range in age from 38 to 63.
The Mercer Island team will send 14 athletes to the Sea-King district meet following a fifth-place finish for the boys and a sixth-place finish for the girls.
Mercer Island tennis coach Joyce Hedlund was nervous going into the district meet. The Islanders had just one doubles team for boys and girls on the Lower Woodland Park courts in Seattle. The girls team had only been playing together for less than a month and a half, with one freshman player. The boys team had just a week and a half to practice together prior to facing some of the best teams in the state.
High school coaches can only do so much to prepare their teams. Good scouting of opponents during the playoffs can mean the difference between winning a title and going home. The Mercer Island boys lacrosse team had a good scouting report on Issaquah during its state semifinal game, but the team could not execute the game plan. The result was a 10-4 loss and a premature trip to the offseason.
The Mercer Island boys soccer team should be weaker without team co-captain Keegan Tomita. He is a senior, starter and one of the best players in the state.
The Mercer Island girls lacrosse team earned its first playoff victory in four years on May 13 against Tacoma, 12-11. But a loss two days later to Bainbridge Island, 21-11, had a feeling of deja vu as the Spartans have ended the Islanders’ postseason dreams twice.
The Mercer Island High School boys and girls tennis programs sent two doubles teams to state last weekend and finished with the same result on both sides — second place.
For the second time in three years, the Mercer Island boys soccer team finished third in state. But the 4-0 victory over Lakeside during the consolation final on Saturday was overshadowed by the team’s overtime loss to Kennedy during the state semifinal game.
For the second consecutive season, the Mercer Island girls water polo team faced chief rival Newport during the state finals at the King County Aquatic Center. The Islanders finished second in state, but the road to that accomplishment was nothing like last year.
The Mount Baker Crew team had a good showing during the Northwest Regional Regatta in Vancouver, Wash., behind the power of eight Mercer Island residents. Two shells with Islanders among the crew will compete at the National Championship to be held in Ohio next month.
Mercer Island junior Bryce Borer kept going up this season. The pole vaulter’s success culminated with a jump over 15 feet on Friday, earning him a place on the state track and field championship’s highest podium.
Rain and wind couldn’t deter the Mercer Island boys golf team from its second-best finish at state in the program’s history as four Islander golfers combined to take third overall with 73 points.