Top 10 stories 2014: Two teams, one stellar season
Published 3:37 pm Tuesday, December 23, 2014
The athletes come and go. That’s the nature of high school sports. But every once in a while, a team will rise to the occasion, set a new standard of achievement and leave a mark for all the rest that follow. In 2014, Friday Harbor had two teams that did just that.
After an uneven start by both squads, the chemistry began to click for the boys and girls soccer teams as the regular season wore on. Both teams had hit their stride on the eve of post-season play. With eight consecutive wins to end the regular season, the girls team (11-1 league, 14-7 overall) captured its second-straight league title and would clinch its first-ever berth at the Division 2B state tournament, reaching the semi-finals and claiming a 4th place finish at State.
Steeled by its play in the ultra-competitive Northwest 2B/1B League, the boys team (11-5 league, 15-7 overall) stormed into playoffs, winning 4-of-6 post-season matches, reaching the semi-finals of the 2B state tournament and bringing home the 3rd place trophy.
But there’s more. In addition to the precedent-setting play on the field by both teams, each were also named state champions for their collective, and respective, performance in the classroom, besting the grade-point-averages of all other Division 2B soccer teams. The boys team, with 14 players on the roster, weighed in with a collective 3.38 GPA, while the 13-member girls team together averaged a 3.74 GPA for the fall quarter.
