GSL continued dominance

Another season of high school sports has ended. From the very beginning, it promised to be a special year with a special class of athletes. The Greater Spokane League was so special, in fact, that it caught the fancy of Seattle Times columnist Craig Smith.

“One major curiosity,” he wrote prior to the spring state tournaments in his weekly Sideline Smitty musings, “is whether this continues to be a remarkable year for Spokane 4A schools. So far, Spokane teams have won 4A football (Lewis and Clark), 4A boys basketball (Ferris, for a second straight year), 4A girls basketball (Lewis and Clark, for a third straight year), 4A volleyball (Mead, for a fifth straight year) and 4A boys cross country (Mead).”

So special that when Sports Illustrated.com named the top 25 high school programs in the country this past year, Lewis and Clark was picked 12th. The ranking was based on the school’s first state football championship, girls basketball titles and last year’s tennis title.

So special that Ferris completed two straight undefeated boys basketball seasons. The Saxons are the first 4A team to do so. Many of those players came within a tick of playing for a football title in the fall.

So special that when Mead won its annual GSL All Sports Trophy this spring, the Panthers finished third or higher in 16 of the 18 athletic programs offered, with five won or shared league titles and seven second-place finishes.

So special that North Central won State 3A boys track, which went with that second straight cross country title that kicked off the fall; and Mead tied for the 4A girls tennis title.

So special that baseball this spring brought a swarm of professional scouts to the area and numerous players in all sports are headed to Division I colleges to continue their career.

The GSL for the past two years has been on a roll. This year, the league duplicated its two cross country titles and volleyball one-two state finish of 2006, and added the Tigers’ amazing football postseason feat to its championship larder. Ferris and LC repeated in boys and girls basketball, respectively, NC added its track title and Mead girls tennis earned a piece of the league’s second straight state title.

Including Shadle Park’s softball title in 2007, all told over the two seasons, 4A and 3A league teams brought home 15 championships (if my math is correct.) Shadle couldn’t duplicate its title last weekend in Tacoma – where I made my fourth trip this year to witness much of what transpired this season – but the Highlanders’ three successive trips to the softball 4A finals was unprecedented.

Individually, wrestlers and track athletes earned their share of state triumphs, and there was an individual gymnastics event winner.

Besides the GSL’s haul, this year smaller area schools raked in 12 more state team and a wealth of individual titles. Several, like Colfax volleyball (four straight) and Northwest Christian boys basketball (three), continued a streak. Several Colfax senior girls were members of seven straight 1A state championships before the Bulldogs’ string of basketball titles was ended this year after four in a row.

Others, like Deer Park wrestling and Chewelah girls track, brought home the gold ball for the first time.

What was the story of the year? Take your pick. What LC accomplished, winning five straight playoff games after finishing in a three-way tie for second in GSL football, had to be the most compelling.

But Ferris’ string of 58 straight basketball wins, the most for a team in the state’s largest school classification by players who primarily were multisport athletes, cannot be overlooked.

Nor can the LC girls basketball team winning a third straight title despite having graduated all but one of its many Division I standouts over the years.

Heck, it was so much fun – if often overwhelming for this writer to keep up – let’s do it again next year.

Graham Morin winner

East Valley state wrestling champion Clete Hanson was one of two statewide winners of the Graham Baker Morin Memorial Scholarship. The award goes to wrestlers who excel in the classroom, as leaders and on the mat.

Hanson carries a 3.7 GPA, is ASB president, USA Wrestling All-American and has won several area awards. He will wrestle at Simon Fraser University.

Graham Morin was a state champion wrestler from Bellingham who died as a college sophomore from an enlarged heart in 2000.