Volleyball Serves Up State Championship, Swim and Tennis Teams Dominate Metro

first state championship since 2016.

“We had worked extremely hard the entire season with one goal in mind: to win the state championship,” said senior Sophie Broesamle, who was named Metro League Most Valuable Player. “Once the final whistle blew and we heard the announcer declare ‘The Lakeside Lions are your 2022 Washington State 3A Champions,’ the feeling was surreal.”

Meanwhile, Girls Swim and Dive continued their own history-in-themaking, winning their 11th straight Metro League team title, with three relay teams capturing individual Metro championships. Ella J. ’25 shattered school records in the 200 individual medley (2:02.5), 100 butterfly (52.05), and 100 backstroke (54.11), won two individual Metro League events and one district event, and took first in two state events.

Girls Soccer also brought the Metro League championship home, posting three straight shutouts in the tournament. It was their sixth year in a row appearing in the Metro finals.

A STANDARD HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL game consists of two teams playing a best-of-five-sets game; the first to 25 points wins a set; the first to win three sets wins the game. Of the 24 games the Lions Volleyball team played in the fall 2022 campaign, it never lost a game. Twenty-four wins, zero losses, picking up a Metro League championship, a Sea-King District 2 championship, and a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) 3A State Championship along the way.

Even more impressive? The team dropped only three sets all season long — and those didn’t even come until the postseason. That’s 15 regular-season games without dropping a single set. It was Bellevue that finally poked a hole in Lakeside’s ar- mor, in a Sea-King District 2 playoff match, giving the Lions their first two dropped sets of the year. Then Mt. Spokane got one in the state semifinal match. The Lions went on to defeat Mead in three straight sets — 25-17, 25-13, 25-10 — to win their

As the winter season began, Girls Basketball jumped out to a quick 4-0 start with blowout wins over Nathan Hale (71-20), Eastside Catholic (62-33), and Bishop Blanchet (74-43) before being handed their first loss when they were defeated by Garfield, the defending Metro League and WIAA 3A state champions, and ranked No. 1 in the state at the time. The Lions got revenge later in the season when Garfield visited The Paul G. Allen Athletics Center and received a 58-36 romping by Lakeside, ending Garfield’s 31-game winning streak and propelling the Lions to a No. 2 state ranking heading into the Metro League postseason. Senior guard Claire O’Connor was later named the 2023 Washington Girls Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Year.

Boys Basketball rattled off three straight upset victories in three straight days of Metro postseason play: a Tuesday win over Ballard, a Wednesday win over Blanchet, and a tight Thursday victory over Nathan Hale.

Boys Swim and Dive collected another Metro League championship trophy before finishing second in the WIAA state meet, where the boys 200 medley relay team of Ayden T. ’24, Alvin Z. ’24, Ulee K. ’25, and Jerry C. ’23 set a school record of 1:33.61. Boys head coach Matt Miller was named WIAA 3A Coach of the Year.

The Class of 2023

When the unseasonably cool and wet weather finally turned to spring, the Tennis team won its third straight Metro League team championship, as well as championships in girls doubles (Addie S. ’25 and Ava L. ’25) and boys doubles (Justin Y. ’23 and Zach T. ’26); Vincent Y. ’24 took home the boys singles Metro Championship and the WIAA 3A boys singles state championship in late May. The tennis team finished second in the state tournament.

Boys Soccer finished third in the state after another appearance in the Metro League championship game. The Lions Baseball team made an exciting run through the Metro League, including an 11th inning upset victory over West Seattle, at the time ranked No. 1 in the state. And after an impressive showing at the Northwest Regionals regatta in Vancouver, Washington, Boys and Girls Crew sent four boats to the 2023 USRowing Youth National Championships in Sarasota, Florida, in early June.

Mike Lengel is assistant director of athletics and creative content director for Lakeside Athletics. Reach him at athleticsdept@ lakesideschool.org.

IN WHAT WAS in many ways a return to a familiar rite of passage — the 98th commencement in Lakeside’s history, “Pomp and Circumstance” on the Quad on a sun-kissed June afternoon — visible reminders of newness and evolution abounded. An immense white tent offered shelter in the event of a repeat of last year’s deluge. On stage sat the first new head of school in nearly a quarter-century. Graduates marched with tasseled graduation caps, many of them stylish: a string of blue LED lights blinked atop one; on another, a small, lifelike bird with magenta feathers nestled in its nest. The seniors wore boutonnieres presented to them earlier that morning from their advisors: a chrysanthemum, the St. Nicholas School flower in the Lakeside crest, said to symbolize joy, fidelity, and optimism.

Annie Frohlich ’23, one of two speakers elected by the class, talked about the emotional whiplash of graduation season. “How lucky we are to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard,” she said.

— Jim Collins