BELLINGHAM – Since late last week, the best tennis players in the Northwest Conference have been playing at Sehome High School to find out who will be moving on to the state tournament.
In singles competition, Rilanna Newcomb of Lynden took first place as she defeated Bellingham’s Malia Hanks 6-4, 7-6. Both will be going back to state, as Hanks competed last year in singles competitions and Newcomb was in the doubles bracket last year with her sister Kalanie.
Squalicum’s Ada Walker was narrowly defeated by Mikiah Dunham of Anacortes 5-7, 7-6 and 6-3, for third place in the district tournament. Walker’s fourth place finish means she will be an alternate at the state tournament.
It was the same format in the doubles tournament as Halley and Avery Brooks of Lynden defeated Ella Morrow and Kira Carlson of Bellingham 6-1, 6-0 for the championship.
Both teams will move on to the state tournament, which was won by Morrow and Carlson last year. The same duo also finished in second place the year before.
The Sehome grouping of Amelie Everett and Eva Ekdahl took third place, with their only loss of the tournament being against the Brooks twins, and they will also be going to the state tournament after a thrilling 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 win over Kira MacKay and Rachell Bell of Burlington-Edison, who were undefeated in doubles during the regular season.
As a team, Lynden won the district championship.
The state tournament will begin on Friday, May 23rd at the Nordstrom Center in Seattle.
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