It’s tournament time for Oak Harbor and Coupeville fall athletes.
Football
Oak Harbor’s venture in the playoffs depends on how tonight’s (Oct. 26) game with Meadowdale turns out.
If the Wildcats (6-2) win, they will play at the Metro champion, the winner of Eastside Catholic (8-0) and Nathan Hale (7-1), who also play tonight.
Eastside Catholic is currently ranked second in the state 3A AP poll and knocked Oak Harbor out of the playoffs last fall. Oak Harbor was 10th in this week’s poll, dropping from fifth after last week’s loss to Marysville-Pilchuck.
If Oak Harbor loses to Meadowdale, it travels to the South Puget Sound League champion, the winner of tonight’s matchup between Lakes (5-3) and Peninsula (6-2).
The Oak Harbor game will be either Friday or Saturday, Nov. 2 or 3.
Coupeville (2-6) will have to wait until Saturday night to know who and where it will play Tuesday, Oct. 30. Nooksack Valley (6-3 overall), Meridian (5-4) and Blaine (6-3) all tied for second among the 1A schools in the Northwest Conference and will have to compete in a tie-breaker Saturday in Bellingham to determine which two advance to Tuesday’s playoffs as the league’s second- and third-place teams.
The Wolves play the third-place team from the Northwest Conference in a mini-game (two quarters) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner then faces the second-place team for two quarters at 7:30 to determine the No. 3 seed in the next round of the playoffs. Both mini games will be played at the home of the second-place NWC team.
Cascade Conference champion King’s (8-0) and the Northwest Conference’s top 1A school, Mount Baker (8-1), earned the top two seeds and have a bye into the next round.
Volleyball
The District 1 1A tournament begins at Lynden Christian Saturday, Oct 27. Coupeville (4-11) opens against No. 1 seed Nooksack Valley (8-6) at 11:30 a.m. Win or lose, the Wolves play again at 2:30 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament against South Whidbey (8-6) or Friday Harbor (8-6). If still alive in the tournament, Coupeville will play a third match at 4:30 (championship) or 5:30 (consolation).
Oak Harbor (7-7) plays Meadowdale (10-4) in round one of the 3A district tournament in Marysville-Pilchuck at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct 30. The tournament is double-elimination, and the Wildcats will play a second match at 7 p.m. against either Stanwood (10-4) or Ferndale (6-8).
The tournament continues Thursday at Glacier Peak High School, and three teams move on to the state tournament.
Cross Country
The 10 Western Conference teams and Ferndale of the Northwest Conference fight for three state team berths at Lakewood High School in the district meet at 11:40 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. The top 15 individuals also qualify for state.
Oct. 18 the Oak Harbor girls placed second and the boys third in the league meet. Both the boys and girls qualified for state each of the last two years, the first time in school history that both teams attended consecutive years.
Swim
The District 1 3A swim meet takes place at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, and 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. The top three individuals in each event win trips to state, as well as those who meet state qualifying times. Oak Harbor’s Emily Huffer and several relay teams met state marks earlier this season.
Oak Harbor finished the regular season with a 11-3 record and will contend for the team title. The pre-meet favorite is defending champion Shorewood, which finished the year 10-1, losing only to undefeated Cascade (17-0), a 4A school. Oak Harbor lost twice to Cascade and once to 4A Kamiak (16-2); Shorewood defeated Kamiak.
The Coupeville soccer team lost 6-0 to Lynden Christian Wednesday and was eliminated from the playoffs. The Oak Harbor soccer team did not qualify for district.
Oak Harbor tennis singles players David Kusnick and Will Southard competed at district earlier this week and tied for seventh.
