Sehome girls’ soccer wins academic state title

Sehome girls’ soccer team was named the WIAA Class 2A girls’ soccer academic state champions. Sehome athletic director Colin Cushman said it comes down to thinking with a school-first mindset.

“Well that is a really fantastic award to win,” Cushman said in a phone interview. “We work together between athletics and academics to allow kids to have a successful career in high school.”

All fall academic state champions were released on Tuesday, Oct. 27. This isn’t the first Sehome team to win an academic state title, as the Mariners’ teams pop up quite frequently on the list.

“We have had a lot of success, both on the field and with kids that have done really well academically,” Cushman said. “Past kids set the tone and it’s become an expectation. ... The bar is high but kids find ways to get over the bar.”

Cushman joined coach Andria Fountain and principal Michelle Kuss-Cybulla as award recipients for a team that included a listed 17 participants on the award.

Those participants were Nicole Carlson, Christina Funk, Ava McIlvaine, Rebecca Lilliquist, Lyla Pagnotta, Fiona Dawson, Bryce Sherif, Katie Boon-Dooley, Maddy Hooker, Camryn Ranson, Andrea Zucchi, Ilana Pechthalt, Zoe Dietrich, Devin Grahn, Abby Webster, Lauren Mudd and Maddie Knutsen.

The Mariners title is a bright spot off the field for what was an uncharacteristic season on the field. For the first time since 2000, Sehome’s soccer team missed the postseason. The Mariners finished the season at 8-4-3 and 7-2-3 in the Northwest Conference.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 11:06 AM with the headline "Sehome girls’ soccer wins academic state title."