Football

Our football varsity team had a more than rocky 1-7 season last year, with only one win against Meadowdale. Morale on the team ran low because of an unsupportive atmosphere throughout the school.

“Last year people would just come to games to make fun of us,” junior wide receiver and field safety Logan Tews said. “This year, people came to games to support us.”

For the 2022-2023 football season, the football team was desperate to prove themselves.

“We were really in the weight room, getting bigger, stronger and faster. We came out more hungry this year and wanted to win. We also became more of a family this year and did a lot of team activities,” Tews said. 

“People started coming out more to the games and we came out with a winning mindset,” junior running back and linebacker Zaveon Jones said. 

The hard work of the football team got them to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, leading to a loss against Marysville-Pilchuck High School for the first and last postseason game. However, the team finished their season with a winning 5-4 record, ending with a victory against Meadowdale High School on Nov. 4. The team’s PF (points for) record of 185 and PA (points against) record of 187 was a great improvement compared to last year’s PF of 69 and PA of 243. They ranked fourth in 3A WesCo with a tied record of 3-3 at Districts, marking the first winning season of MTHS football since 2018.

“I’m proud of us because we came out with a winning record. Our losses were against talented teams. We have little things to correct, but they can be fixed,” Tews said. “If everyone didn’t do their job, we wouldn’t be able to get as far as we did.” 

Football coach Archie Malloy has been a big motivator for the team’s success this season. “Coach [Malloy] has been making us better players and people,” Jones said.

A favorite moment of the season was the game against Meadowdale.

“Meadowdale was the last game the seniors would get to play,” Tews said. “We put our heart out for our seniors [in that game].”

Another standout moment was the homecoming game against Lynnwood High School for both Tews and Jones, which was won 20-19.

“We were down the game [13-6] by the end of the first half, but before the 3rd quarter we met in the locker room to talk about how important it was to win this for our seniors since it was their last homecoming game,” Jones said.

“It was a game filled with emotions. We came out flat and shaky, but came back and did our thing,” Tews said.

Tews feels optimistic about next football season. “We have a lot of chemistry now, we’re gonna get better, and we’re excited to play against teams we lost to this season.

Women’s Swim 

Despite the small size of the women’s swim team this year, which had 14 people compared to last year’s 19, the “small but mighty” team persevered. Over the course of the season they won two meets, placed second to Edmonds-Woodway in Edmonds School District meet, placed fourth overall in the 3A District 1 Championship Finals with 208 points and sent 10 girls to state.

“We’ve been [breaking personal records] a lot, trying new events, and [we] made it to districts and state,” junior Alison Dumo said. 

Although the small size of the team provided a disadvantage in scoring points, it also made the swim team a tight-knit community that cares for each other, with a smooth running dynamic.

“It’s given us quality over quantity,” sophomore Jeslyn Vuong said. “There [aren’t]as many people on our team, but it’s paid off.”

Even with the benefits of a small team, however, the challenges were hard to overcome. The ESD meet, taking place on Oct. 22, had only 10 swimmers including alternates.

“The ESD meet with all four schools in the district is a big deal for our swim team,” sophomore Madeline Van Hooser said. “It’s very competitive, but we couldn’t score as many points because of the size of our team, so we got second to Edmonds-Woodway. We still put up a lot of a fight.” 

Both Van Hooser and Vuong finished top three in at least one of their races at the 3A District Championship Finals, which took place on Nov. 5. Van Hooser finished second in the 200-yard IM (Independent Medley) with a time of 2.16:98, and 100-yard backstroke with a time of 59.63. Vuong placed second in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.85. The 200 and 400 free relays as well as the 200-yard medley relay also broke school records.

For both Van Hooser and Vuong, these records have represented big personal achievements. Van Hooser was not only able to beat the team record of 1:01.43 in the 100-yard backstroke, but also broke a minute, and Vuong finished in under 25 seconds in the 50 freestyle.

“[Next year], I want to break the school record and place in state,” Vuong said.

Even with these accomplishments, the team size hasn’t been the only struggle for the swim team this year. Self-esteem has also been a big challenge for everyone. 

“When you know someone’s faster than you, you may feel like giving up,” Dumo said. “But even if you don’t win, you still have to try your best.”

An exceptional swimmer this year was Jenny Karlsen, the only freshman on the swim team, who managed to overcome challenges of self-esteem and truly shine as an extraordinary swimmer.

“Sometimes she’s afraid to swim in certain things, but she’s still pulled through and done them,” Dumo said. “She’s super nice, always cheers and supports everyone. She always PRs, and if she doesn’t she gets super close and is willing to try again.”

Despite being the youngest on the team, Karlsen was one of the strongest swimmers. Sadly, she will not be joining the team next year, as she is just at MTHS until the end of the semester, when she will move back to Norway.

“She got super fast and we’re really proud of her,” Vuong said. 

Dumo has also been a great asset to the team this year, establishing a leadership role for her senior year.

“Alison really stepped up as a leader this year,” Van Hooser said. “She’s always behind everyone else and being supportive. She keeps everyone in line and helped make a meaningful senior recognition for Kaylyn.” 

Along with Asenat Ghebru, Kaylyn Takeya is one of only two seniors on the team this year and the only captain.

“Kaylyn is a super good manager and leads us well,” Van Hooser said.

Overall, the team hopes to break more records and recruit more freshmen and sophomores next season. Congratulations to Fiorella Diaz, Alison Dumo, Jenny Karlsen, Dana Khasanov, Katie Lombard, Mika Raring, Kaylyn Takeya, Madeline Van Hooser, Molly Veleber, and Jeslyn Vuong for making it to state!

UPDATE: Mountlake Terrace has ranked 41th at the WIAA State Championships this year. Congratulations to Jeslyn Vuong for finishing in 16th place in the 50 yard freestyle!

Men’s Tennis

For the men’s tennis team, it’s been a pretty rocky season. The JV team has a 2-5 record and varsity has a 3-9 record. A bright spot in the season however, was varsity making it to regionals, in the WesCo 3A South Boys Tennis Tournament, where Aden Le and Jeremy Perreault defeated Charlie Pak and Tim Bonilla Stevenson of Cascade High School and got 5th and 6th place in doubles. However, the two would be eliminated in the first round at the 3A District 1 Tournament on Oct. 26.

These records, however, don’t tell the full story. Sophomore Cyrus McMillion, who played Singles I on JV, has an optimistic view of the season. 

“The season went well. Varsity did good and got to regionals,” McMillion said. “We got some new [freshmen] this year. Some were really good and I’m looking forward to their progression over the summer.”

Some roadblocks during the season included people on the team having difficulties during practice. 

“We struggled with getting down the basics and got yelled at a lot for ignoring Coach Brzovic’s instructions. We’d just do it our own way and not improve,” McMillion said.

For McMillion personally, a big roadblock in his performance this season was drive.

“I think I could’ve done better this season,” he said. “During the start of it, I was low on motivation, but I got better as the season progressed and I’m proud of my other teammates.”

A standout on the JV tennis team was junior Anton Guerrero.

“He’s really funny, a great guy, and he plays really well. My favorite moment of the season was seeing Anton get into varsity,” McMillion said.

Although this year wasn’t the greatest for the tennis team, there’s a lot to look forward to next year. 

“I’m excited to play varsity next year,” McMillion said. “There’ll be a new season, new tryouts and more chances to meet new people.”

Volleyball

On the volleyball team, the varsity team set an overall record of 6-12, just losing out to Ferndale High School in a three-set win, where the Golden Eagles moved on to the 3A District 1 Tournament. The JV team has a record of 7-10, ending the season by a loss to Cascade High School. 

However, the C-Team for volleyball has been a true standout among fall sports in general, going undefeated 15-0 overall and 13-0 at conference games. They finished off their triumphant season with a win against Cascade High School.

“We have a very tight-knit community here. Everyone knows each other,” freshman outside hitter Georgia Rahla said. 

The C-team is mostly made up of freshmen, with three sophomores and two juniors, making it even all the more impressive that a team with relatively little experience in high school sports could pull off such a record.

Something that helped the team perform to its fullest extent was Sharalee Matthews-Malloy, the head coach of the volleyball team, and her advice to players.

“If we mess up, our coach would say ‘fix it, don’t beat yourself up,’ and I would say to myself, ‘this is my responsibility and I will fix it,’” Rahla said.

Although the C-team’s record might give you the impression that they’re infallible, don’t get it twisted. The volleyball team has had their fair share of struggles throughout the season. 

“A struggle we’ve had to face is when we’ve gotten behind in points at the game against Meadowdale. Our coach told us to get our energy up because we need it now (and they won 2-1!) Volleyball relies a lot on energy and momentum, so if you don’t have it you’re not going to win,” Rahla said. 

Another example of the team overcoming the odds can be seen at their game with Arlington. 

“My favorite moment of the season has to be when we beat Arlington because [they were] a very tough and scrappy team. A lot of them were like trees and the tallest of us was only 5’7”, but our commitment to volleyball helped us out,” Rahla said.

Some standout members of the team were sophomore outside hitter and libero (back-row defensive specialist) Sophia Argueta.

“Sophia would play back-middle and everytime it looked like the ball was going to drop she would always dive to get it, and I was like ‘how?’” Rahla said. 

Another standout was freshman outside hitter Josie Davis.

“This is Josie’s first year playing, but I was really impressed by her. She has the power, she can hit and serve hard, and she’s really consistent with her serves,” Rahla said.

The 2023-2024 season of volleyball looks great for not only the C-team, but varsity and JV as well, with hopes of bringing in more wins and records next year.

“I’m just excited to play again. Volleyball is a huge part of my life and I’m excited to see anyone again and get to know this wonderful sport [better]. I also want to get to know new kids next year,” Rahla said.

Women’s Soccer

This year has been a historic one for the women’s soccer team. With a record of 12 wins, four losses and four ties, this is the first time in 31 years that the varsity team has gone to the 3A state tournament, marked by their win over Oak Harbor High School, 1-0. They also ranked first at the 2A/3A WesCo standings out of 16 other teams. As of writing this, the season has just ended, concluding a remarkable season with a loss at Lakeside High School (0-3) on Nov. 11.

The winning goal against Oak Harbor might’ve been a fluke, but the achievements of the varsity soccer team absolutely weren’t.

“This has been an amazing season, and we’ve worked really hard to get to state. We were undefeated for seven to eight games [at the start of the year] and we’ve achieved all the goals we set before the season,” junior forward Natalie Cardin said. She scored the goal against Oak Harbor and led the team this year on goals and assists, nineteen and seven respectively, followed by sophomore midfielder Ava Hunt.

“We’ve had a really good season for attacking and defending. We haven’t let in more than one goal per game and attackers scored about 1-2 goals per game. We’re putting it all on the field [this year],” senior goalkeeper Sierra Sonko said.

For Sonko, her goal of seeing her team make it to playoffs not only was fulfilled but surpassed this year, representing a radical change from the team record her freshman year.

“During my freshman year, we had 10 straight losses and not a single win. I scored one goal as a goalkeeper and that was basically my flex for the season. From that, I just thought of high school sports as just something to do for fun, but since we’ve been getting better I’ve started to take it more seriously,” Sonko said.

However, such an impressive season didn’t come without adversity. Cardin had a deep tear in her quad to deal with the entire season and had to sit out for a few games.

“It really took a toll on me,” she said. “It felt horrible to not be on the field and be able to support my team.”

Sonko also reflected on her dislocated knee before playoffs last year (4-4-3) and how it affected the season.

“We had good games last year but [my injury] set back our defense and we played a lot of good offensive teams. It was the hardest moment for me where I wanted to play but couldn’t, and it also lowered our team’s mood and messed up our mindset,” Sonko said.

A standout on the team this year has been sophomore midfielder and defender Claire August, also known as “Claire-bear.”

“Claire is so cool, she’s really a positive role model for our soccer team. She fights like a rabid dog over the ball during games and fights for our team with everything she’s got,” Sonko said.

“She’s humble so she would never say that herself,” Cardin added. “But she doesn’t get enough credit on our team.

Another standout on the team this year was junior midfielder Daniela Cortezzo.

“Dani has improved the most out of anyone on the team. She was already a great player before, but now she’s our most versatile player. She’s powerful, fast, and helps with defense,” Cardin said.

As the season ends, losses will be felt among the team with the departure of the seniors. Sonko herself will be leaving the team to play D1 soccer at Sacramento College.

“I’ve been happy to share this season with my girls,” Sonko said. “Everyone on the team is amazing and [deserves] flowers, butterflies and kisses. I’m really sad to be separated from such lovely people.”

“We’re gonna miss our seniors, but we have such a good team and core right now. We have a big reputation to uphold next year,” Cardin said.

Running All the Way to State and Back

Cross-Country

Last but certainly not least, is the women’s and men’s cross-country season. Throughout the season, both teams placed second out of four teams at the Sehome High School invite on Sept. 9. On Sept. 20, the men’s team came in second and the women’s team came in fourth at the WesCo League meet at Mountlake Terrace. Both teams would make it to third place at the Kamiak High School Meet on Oct. 5 and at the ESD Championship on Oct. 13. At the the WesCo League Championships, both the women’s and men’s team would come in sixth out of 19 teams, with some ESD top finishers being senior Mark Tiersma (21st) and sophomores Arielle Analau and Erin Woodman (15th and 23rd, respectively) in the 5k race.

“This was a really good season to have as my final season,” senior Liliana Lopez-Santiago, varsity captain, said. “Cross-country felt like a family and we’re known as a tight knit community. I didn’t get to achieve some of my goals for senior year, but I was still happy to be there.”

“This was my last season so I went full out on it,” senior Sadie Sadler, varsity captain, said. “Even though I got injured, I always cheered on my teammates. I’ve raced with my senior friends for the past six years and having it come to an end was sad for me.”

One of the biggest accomplishments of the season was getting over ten PR’s this whole season and sending two boys to state, seniors Carter Middleton and Mark Tiersma. Respectively, they’ve gotten 92nd and 141st at the Washington 3A State Championships. However, this road (or track) to state hasn’t come without its hardships.

“[Mark Tiersma and I] would end up doing great at the beginning of the season and set huge PR’s,” Middleton said. “I would then proceed to tear my hamstring and was out for a few weeks, then after that I got sick for another week and went from having a great shot at the top 25 in state to questioning whether or not I would make it to state. I persevered through it and Mark and I would both run great at District 1 Champs to qualify for state.”

The team as a whole has also encountered a lot of hardships through the smoky weather, injuries, sickness with COVID-19 and other illnesses, lack of dedication, and imbalanced skill among the team.

“It was really hard to find a balance of what workouts to do when some runners are more advanced than other people, especially with our coach not having an assistant, so it was hard to keep track of times because she wanted to give the same amount of attention to everyone,” Lopez-Santiago said.

On a more positive note, during their trip Tiersma and Middleton made their long trip to state fun by enjoying their time with each other and making fun little vlogs. You can find some of these vlogs on the Instagram account @mths.runs, an unofficial humorous account dedicated to the 2022-2023 cross country season, run by junior Quanrry Mach.

“This was Quanrry’s first year in cross-country, and one special thing he brought to the team was a camera. He captured a bunch of moments of people hanging out, and it felt really nice for us to have memories we could look back on,” Lopez-Santiago said.

Some standout teammates were Lopez-Santiago and senior Nina Dodgen. 

“They’ve stuck with me for my whole cross-country career, and were always caring, compassionate, supportive and fun to be around. I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else,” Sadler said.

A big underdog athlete on the team was freshman Logan Toulouse, who ran an amazing time of 17:53.8 minutes for a 5K.

“He really shined through at the end of this season. I think he has a lot more potential and I can’t [wait to] see where he takes his talents,” Middleton said.

The upcoming track and field season in the spring brings a lot of excitement amongst the team.

“I’m excited for this track season to shatter the times I’ve put hundreds of miles into. I’m ready to show off my talents,” Middleton said. “I’m trying to go to state in 3-4 events next year including the 2 mile and 1600, 800, and 400 meter races.”

“I have a second chance with track. It’s another season to be part of a team, but with different people, and to soak in the last moments before graduation,” Lopez-Santiago said.

Next year looks to be a bright one for the cross country season. There’s a lot of confidence that the women’s and men’s team will go to state, especially for the women’s team.

“Our freshmen and sophomore girls PR’d and outran most of the girls on the team,” Sadler said. 

Both Sadler and Lopez-Santiago are looking forward to seeing what will happen with the cross-country team in the 2023-2024 season without them running alongside them.

“I have a lot of confidence we’ll go to state next year. We have a good group of girls and boys that will stay consistent with running through the year, and I’m excited for them to stay close without seniors and for new freshmen to come in,” Lopez-Santiago said.

“I would like to see [the men’s and women’s team] go to state next year, but still have fun and create memories. I want to come back and visit, say hi, and run with my team after going to college,” Sadler said.