DUVALL — The Class 2A Northwest District track and field meet Friday at Cedarcrest High School was a decidedly mixed bag for Whatcom County high schools.

On one hand: Sehome, Bellingham, Lynden, Blaine and Mount Baker each had athletes who performed as well as expected, and in some cases much better than expected.

On the other hand, the meet ended on a note that was part surreal, part disappointing and mostly confusing.

It was an ending that eventually cost Sehome the boys’ district team title.

During the second leg of the boys’ 4x400 relay — the meet’s final event — after the 100- meter mark of the leg, the top six runners cut from their respective lanes to the inside.

About 10 yards later, Lynden’s Nathan Seely took a nasty fall and was unable to find his baton for several seconds while each of the other teams stormed by.

By the time Seely got back to full speed, the Lions were a good 30 meters behind, far too much to make up on the last two legs.

Sehome, behind blistering legs by Colin Flynn and anchor Mason McHenry, won easily. But officials huddled right away, and talk on the field was that Sehome was disqualified and the race would be run again without the Mariners.

That was the eventual decision, and after nearly 45 minutes, the race was re-run. This time, the Lions’ quartet of Brady Bomber, Seely, Jordan Weeks and Blair Bomber defeated fast-closing Cedarcrest by about five meters.

Sehome coach Jen Leita offered a diplomatic explanation.

“The judgment by the official was that the Lynden runner was impeded due to a Sehome runner’s cut-in,” Leita said. “The Sehome runner (Perry Morton) impeded the Lynden runner, which caused him to fall. In that situation, the rule book says that the team that impeded is disqualified, and there will be a re-run of the event.”

The judgment cost Sehome a boys’ district title as Lakewood finished with 102 points and Sehome finished one point behind with 101. Bellingham was third with 87.5 points, Blaine took fifth with 63, Lynden was sixth with 62 points, and Mount Baker took 11th with 16.

The Sehome girls finished second in the team race with 93.5 points; Burlington-Edison ran away with the title with 144.5 points. Bellingham was fourth with 87.5 points, Blaine was fifth with 58, Lynden was ninth with 28 and Mount Baker was 11th with 20 points.

McHenry won the 800-meter run in 1:52.66 to go with his victory in the 1,600 on Wednesday. Seely (1:52.96) was right behind, and Flynn took third in 1:56.65. Blaine’s Douglas Ramirez completed the top four with a statequalifying effort of 1:57.13.

The Mariners’ Nelson Westlin (53-5 1/4) and Nick Lohse (53-3 1/4) took first and second, respectively, in the shot put, and Blaine’s Bryan Chau was fourth with a 49-6.

“Our guys had a really great meet,” Sehome throws coach Tim Carlson said.

Bellingham’s day was a mixed bag as well. Junior Becca Friday led the Red Raiders’ runners, winning the 800 and 1,600 (in stadiumrecord time) and running a torrid anchor leg on the winning 4x400 relay team.

But the Bellingham boys’ 4x100 relay team, which had the top qualifying time in Wednesday’s prelims, dropped the baton between the Nos. 3 and 4 runners and fell out of contention.

The Red Raiders were forced to make a change in their lineup about 25 minutes prior to the race, coach Bill McClement said, when Jeremy Rick aggravated a hamstring while winning the 100-meter dash.

“I’m very happy for all those who qualified (for the state meet); we really relaxed and focused on our fundamentals,” McClement said. “At the same time, we all feel bad for the 4x100 guys.

“It always comes down to the little things,” McClement added. “At a district meet, there are high highs and low lows, and there’s no in between.”

“It’s been a really hard meet,” Friday said. “There’s been some unlucky stuff, and some disappointments, but we’re staying focused and as relaxed as we can.”

Friday took a close win over Sehome’s Annie Moore, as part of the two talented runners’ ongoing feud.

“She’s always a challenge,” Friday said of Moore, who took first in the 3,200 on Wednesday.

The Lynden boys’ 4x400 relay team of Brady Bomber, Jake DeWitt, Dusty Duncan and Blair Bomber easily took first in 43.36.

The girls’ 200-meter dash was won by Chelsea Genther of Burlington-Edison, who led the Tigers to the girls’ team title. All eight entrants in the race clocked state-qualifying times, including Blaine’s Breanna Olason, Bellingham’s Savannah Cutbill, and Mount Baker’s Molly Scoles.

Sehome’s Brittany Todhunter won the shot put with a throw of 42 feet, one inch, a district meet record. She also finished third in the discus on Wednesday.

Blaine’s Shayne Moore edged Burlington-Edison’s Jeff Adams in the 110-meter high hurdles, as both runners beat the district meet record. Moore clocked a 15.02, and Adams was inches behind at 15.07.