Eds. note: The School of the Year was selected by Herald staff based on first-hand observations and voting by fans.
I imagine it’s been a fun year to be at Arlington High School.
The Eagles have gotten at least one team to state in every season, had several teams continue to surprise throughout the state playoffs and even had one team head to eastern Washington and come back with a state championship.
The sustained success, along with a passionate fan base that seemed to follow the Eagles wherever they went, helped make Arlington the top choice for The Herald’s School of the Year.
In the fall, the Arlington football team pulled off perhaps the greatest upset since the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team, when it defeated fourth-ranked Kentwood 21-14, clinching a berth in the state tournament.
Winter came and the Arlington basketball teams continued to surprise throughout the Hardwood Classic at the Tacoma Dome. The boys team placed at state for the first time in the team’s history, finishing fifth. The Joe Marsh-led girls team got all the way to the championship game, where the Eagles fell to Mead.
The second-place finish was the best for any Arlington basketball team since 1982, when the girls team won the state championship.
The weather changed a bit come spring – it got a little bit warmer, I’m pretty sure – but Arlington’s success did not. The Eagles’ softball team went on a tear to finish the season, winning their last 11 games including the 4A state championship to bring back Arlington’s first softball championship since 1986.
Lyndsay Leatherman was one of three Eagles to finish in the top 15 in the shot put at the state track and field meet, where Arlington finished tied for ninth. Leatherman placed third in basically every throwing event there is: the shot put, javelin and discus.
Dan Boyden finished second in the discus and fourth in the shot put and AJ Passalaqua finished fifth in the javelin at the state tournament.
At the wrestling Mat Classic Bryce Thomas got eighth in the 132-pound weight class.
Arlington even had Anthony Allen place 30th at the state golf meet.
Like I said, it was a good year to be an Eagle.
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