Prep Sports Report: Bayhawks’ Coach Chron on the verge of an extremely rare milestone

Steve Chronister can’t tell you exactly how many league and district titles his 77 boys and girls tennis teams have won, but soon he will celebrate a truly historic number.

So how exactly did Bellingham High’s coach know he was on the verge of 1,000 wins?

“It was a curiosity a few years ago. I‘ve always kept records on my teams,” the affable 68-year-old mentor said of looking up the win total. “And I like numbers.”

Indeed, lifelong sports lover “Chron” — as his Bellingham boys call him — was one of those Baby Boomer kids who knew by heart many of the numbers on his baseball, basketball and football cards.

After sweeping two matches last week to reach 998 for their coach, the Bayhawks will have a shot at No. 1,000 Tuesday at home against Mount Vernon, providing Bellingham can beat Squalicum on Monday beginning at 4 p.m. on the Bellingham courts.

His boys, however, could be forgiven for being more concerned about what could be win No. 1,001. Bellingham’s match on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Sehome, could well decide at least a share of the Northwest Conference title, although the teams also meet Oct. 14 to finish the dual match season.

Few coaches of basketball and baseball teams reach 1,000 wins. Since high school tennis teams have only about two-thirds as many regular-season dual matches on their schedules, Chronister ‘s milestone is one of the few, if any, times a high school tennis coach will have reached 1,000 wins.

Oh, and he has only 146 losses.

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Such an accomplishment is possible only if a coach works seemingly forever — and guides both boys and girls teams.

“I love coaching boys and girls equally,” said Chronister, who began his career at Sehome when he was only 23 years old in spring 1979 (the boys switched to fall in 1987). He is now the oldest head coach in the district.

His first girls team was at Sehome in 1990, and he has coached both teams at Bellingham since the school opened again in autumn 2000 after a two-year remodel.

Jacob Kuhn, his current No. 1 singles player, and the whole team express admiration for their coach.

“I had no idea Chron was close to 1,000 wins,” Kuhn said. “I just knew he had a whole lot.” (It was athletic director Chad Larsen who recently tipped off The Bellingham Herald about No. 1,000.)

Chronister’s girls won a state title in 2017, and the boys claimed state in 2019.

“My first impression of Chron was that I thought he was really smart,” said Kuhn, who is in his third varsity season and qualified for state 2A as a sophomore, where he won one match. “I thought he had a very special approach to coaching. He does not make tennis over-complicated.”

Chronister is praying that Kuhn will meet the athlete’s goals of winning titles at district and state.

“Jacob works as hard at practice as any player I’ve had,” said Chronister, who estimates he has coached about 3,000 boys and girls.

In some ways, Chronister feels he was destined to become a tennis coach (he has coached other sports when needed, too). His parents, Bob and Mary, were the first directors at the Bellingham Tennis Club.

“Dad was my first tennis coach. My older brother Stan and my younger sister Shelley were also good players,” said Chronister, who is in the Western Washington University Hall of Fame. At Western, from which he graduated in 1978, he played No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, won an Evergreen Conference title, and was second at NAIA districts three timers in doubles and once in singles. Unfortunately, only district winners went to nationals.

“I was really lucky that Stan was a year older than me when we played at Sehome. That gave me someone who was better to practice with. We won districts twice in doubles and we lost in the quarterfinals at state.””

What helped Chronister become a coach?

“I just had the sports bug. I think coaching is somewhat genetic,” said Chronister, who credits the grace of God and the support of wife Nancy for much of his success. “Dad’s cousin was Jake Maberry (the famed Lynden basketball coach) and I watched how well Jake interacted with his players.”

Chronister said he also owes much to Steve Clarke and Jeff Vaughn, who were principal and vice-principal when Steve shifted to Bellingham to teach physical education and to coach.

“It’s a privilege to teach and coach. Coaching has to be based on love for kids,” Chronister said. “I have been blessed beyond my ability. We’re just there to help athletes become the best versions of themselves.”

Chronister will always remember his first teams at Sehome and Bellingham.

His first team at Sehome, in 1979, was one of the most experienced he has ever had and won all their dual matches 5-0 (there were only three singles and two doubles matches then). He recalls an exchange student, Marcelo Ingaramo, was ranked as high as 67th in the world in the pro ranks.

He will never forget his first team at Bellingham in fall 2000, when the school had no seniors after reopening.

“That young team went 4-12, but those kids worked so hard that they went 13-3 the next season and then they won the title in 2002 while going 13-1,” he said with a big coaching grin.

Boys Tennis

Bellingham and Sehome both improved to 7-0 last week, so their two meetings Oct. 2 and Oct. 14 figure to determine the NWC title.

Bellingham 7, Sedro-Woolley 0. Winners: Jacob Kuhn, Leo Kuhn, Aaron Minter, Marcus Hinderman, Nate Lyon/Caleb Imbach, Taylor Watts/Colin Mannen, Braylin Smith-Hill/Rylan Neem. Bellingham 4, Burlington 3. Bellingham winners: J. Kuhn, Hinderman, Watts/Mannen, Kaden Whitmore/Owen Bloom.

Sehome 7, Anacortes 0. Winners: Harley Kaiser, Zachary Chai, Justin Barras, Jae-Yoon Lee, Christian Leon/Sean Lane, Quinn Crocheron/Joshua Friesen, Ethan Kuzin/Andrew Mao. Sehome 7, Squalicum 0. Winners: Kaiser, Chai, Barras, Lee, Lane/Kuzin, Crocheron/Friesen, E.J. Lin/Grady Boudreaux.

Squalicum 6, Lynden 1. Winners: Ethan Oscarson, Andy Trinh, Jace Van Kooten (L), Benjamin Ahn, Hildebrand/B. Le, Hudson Daughters/Christopher Lee, Alvin Le/Noah Schmidt.

Mount Vernon 4, Lynden 3. Lynden winners: Jace Van Kooten, Cannon Bode/Hale Van Dyk, Jackson Wright/Owen Visser. Burlington-Edison 7, Ferndale 0.

Girls soccer

It took the only unbeaten team in the Northwest Conference to end top-ranked Bellingham’s six-game shutout streak, as Lynden made a defensive gamble pay off and Evelyn Saladivar extended her scoring streak to all seven games.

Saldivar increased her county-leading total to 14 goals in statewide sixth-ranked Lynden’s 2-0 victory at Bellingham in rain and wind Thursday night.

Saldivar also assisted on Lynden’s first goal, a power shot in the 20th minute by fellow senior Faith VanBrocklin. Saldivar also made an assisted shot that few, if any, goalies could have stopped in the 37th minute for a 2-0 halftime lead.

“We risked playing a back three (instead of four) on defense because we wanted to attack,” Lions coach Clark Bourgault said of yeoman work by seniors Maliah Mitchell and Reta VanderMey and junior Lucy Plenkovich in support of sophomore goalie Isla Holman.

“I could not have been prouder of our girls,” said Bourgault. “We give a lot of credit to Bellingham coach Spencer Wolfe/ Bellingham (5-1 NWC, 6-1 overall) is a scary team to play.”

Saldivar is on pace to top the school record of 21 goals set last season by Mallary Villars.

“Maliah Mitchell and I have committed to playing for the University of the Cumberlands in Kentrucky,” Saldivar said.

Lynden (6-0, 7-0) was turned away several times with solid saves by freshman goalie Uma Bachmeier.

The Lions and Bayhawks have nine more games left in their 15-game conference schedule.

In another Round Six highlight, Sehome (5-1, 6-1) claimed a 6-0 win over Lakewood as Triya Mitchell and Vivian Moss scored two goals each and Keira Reeves and Emmy Samuelson had one each. Six different players had assists.

Lynden Christian (5-2, 6-2) claimed a 5-0 win over Nooksack Valley (1-5, 1-7) with goals by as many different players — Nayla Speer, Andxxi Anderson, Kayla Yuu, Ava VanHofwegen and Hattie Hendricks in support of good work by goalies Jessa Wynstra and Hannah Terpstra. Speer also had two assists. The next day, the Lyncs again won 5-0 in a nonleague match against Overlake as Hendricks scored twice and Anderson, Addie Arnold and Kaely Hinton once each.

The other five county team were shut out — Blaine (2-4, 3-4) by Sedro-Woolley 1-0, Meridian (0-5-1, 1-5-1) by Mount Vernon 1-0, Squalicum (3-3, 3-3) by Anacorters 2-0, Ferndale (2-3-1, 2-3-1) by Oak Harbor 5-0, and Mount Baker (0-5-1, 0-5-1) by Burlington 11-0.

In Round Five,Lynden beat Sedro-Woolley 6-0 as Saldivar had four goals and Meg Clarke and Mitchell also scored.

“The scoring started right away as Meg Clarke converted a Rilann Newcomb through ball and Saldivar assisted on a goal by Mitchell on a brilliantly worked set piece,” Bourgault said.

Lynden Christian defeated Mount Baker 8-0 with goals by seven players, including two by VanHofwegen.

In other Round Five highlights, Sehome beat Oak Harbor 3-1 behind goals by Keira Reeves, Ayla Woodworth and Mitchell; Bellingham defeated Ferndale 3-0 with two goals by Ivy Newell and one by Averie Riddell; and Blaine beat Nooksack Valley 2-1 as Nevaeh Zaddack converted an assist by Beatrice Dickson and Kate Koreski scored the winner after Maggie Byers tallied for Nooksack.

Burlington shut out Meridian 7-0 and Mount Vernon beat Squalicum 2-0.

Volleyball

After five rounds, Lynden (5-0, 5-1), Ferndale (5-0, 6-2) and Lynden Christian (5-0, 6-1) remained unbeaten in league.

In a Round Five highlight, fourth-ranked Lynden turned back Bellingham 25-15, 25-10, 25-16 behind 11 kills by Finley Parcher and nine kills and five aces by Rian Stephan to turn back by strong all-around effort by Mary Lockhart for Bellingham (0-5, 0-6). Lynden freshman Izzie Stephan made 28 assists and five kills.

“Kam Hermanutz played a great match with five kills and .571 hitting,” Lions coach Chris Elsner said.

Ferndale topped Oak Harbor 25-17, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17 behind sophomore Brooklyn Larrabee’s 28 assists, 15 digs, five kills and five aces. Olivia Copps, Katrina Ferry and Mariah Reyes combined for 31 digs while Terrace Hendrickson, Svetlana Baydak. Lay Willams and Amelie McKeon combined for 22 kills.

LC beat Nooksack Valley 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 as Ella Fritts had 33 assists and seven digs while Sydney Terpstra had 10 kills and Etta DeJong, Ellie Pierce, Danya Dykjstra , Allison Wright and Jocelyn Eshuis combined for 31 kills. Lyla Parriera led with 14 digs. For Nooksack, Peyton Bartl had six digs, Elizabeth DeLange had nine kills and three blocks, , Grace DeHoog made eight kills and Gracie Rutgers had seven digs.

“This was the most balanced attack we’ve had all year,” said LC coach Dennis Janzen. “I’m really pleased with how we executed our match plan. Nooksack is a quality team.”

Meridian (2-3, 2-3) topped Mount Vernon 25-13, 25-12, 25-17 as freshman Melanie Short had 18 kills, .325 hitting, and 12 digs. Eden Bernardy had 15 digs and nine kills and Rylan Bernardy turned in 18 digs and nine aces, while Grace Wells made 31 assists and Amelia Koning had eight digs.

Blaine (0-5, 1-6) hustled on defense but lost to Sedro-Woolley 26-28, 25-17, 25-22, 25-22. Kaitlin Harrington had 13 digs, seven kills and four aces, while Olivia Price had seven blocks and seven kills. Brie Smith, Teia Dube, Carly Saunders and Hannah Phelps-McDonald combined for 50 digs.

Squalicum’s (0-5, 0-6) Jolie Paz had 12 kills, 13 digs and two blocks but Anacortes prevailed three sets to one. Burlington beat Mount Baker (0-5, 0-5) 25-5, 25-12, 25-9 despite 2.5 blocks by Maddi Lewis.

In Round Four, Nooksack defeated Blaine three sets to one as Avery Juergens had 13 digs and seven aces and DeLange had 15 kills and three blocks in support of solid play by Bartl, DeHoog and Karson Olney. Harrington had 13 digs and seven kills for Blaine and Livia Werda made five blocks.

In other matches, Ferndale swept Bellingham 25-16, 25-14, 25-12; Lynden beat Sedro-Woolley 25-17, 25-9, 27-25; Lynden Christian defeated Mount Baker 25-17, 25-12, 25-19; Sehome beat Oak Harbor 25-17, 25-14, 26-26, 25-15; Mount Vernon topped Squalicum 25-21, 26-28, 25-14, 23-25, 15-11; and Burlington beat Meridian 25-17, 25-15, 25-15.

Sehome’s Bridgette Adams had 14 kills and 16 digs and Hayden Niewiadomski logged 11 kills and 10 digs. Anya Winter had 10 kills and .500 hitting and Emmy Lee had 38 assists, while Paige Flory had 12 digs and four aces.

In five sets of hustle, Squalicum’s Paz had 17 digs and Gwen Foy dug successfully 20 times and sophomore Alyssa Roselli and Penelope Durias had 13 digs apiece.

Statistical high spots include 16 kills by Parcher and 11 kills, 15 digs and four aces by Rian Stephan; nine digs and 22 assists by Larrabee; 23 assists, 3 kills, four aces, and six digs by Fritts; 11 kills., seven aces and four blocks by Lewis; 11 kills and seven digs by Short along with a combined 19 digs by Eden Bernardy and Rylan Bernardy.

Cross Country

Sehome and Bellingham swept boys and girls meets involving multiple schools and each had winners in both races.

Sehome’s Lil Desler won the 5K girls race at the Northern State rec area in 20:52.09 and Heath Terry took the boys race in 17:53.36.

Bellingham’s Sophia Koch claimed the 2.6-mile girls race at Lake Padden and Berkeley Pass was the boys winner in 13:24.41.

In 5K races involving small schools at Lynden Christian, LC’s Nickolas Luce won the boys event in 15:02 and Meridian’s Logan Ignacio prevailed among the girls in 21:47.

Local runners in the first four, submitted by the coaches on the Whatcom Preps website:

5K at Northern State recreation area: Boys — Sehome 19, Sedro-Woolley 57, Burlington-Edison 63. 1. Heath Terry (S) 17:53.36; 3. Sabastien Vahid (S) 18:08.27; 4. Nick Gargano (S) 18:08.57. Girls — Sehome 17, Sedro-Woolley 57, Burlington 62. 1. Lil Desler (S) 20:52.09; 2. Samantha Knipp (S) 20:54.10; 3. Abby Rusk (S) 20:59.83; 4. Sydney Harri (S) 21:01.63.

2.6 miles at Lake Padden: Boys — Bellingham 15, Lynden 57, Oak Harbor 65. Boys: 1. Berkeley Pass (B) 13:24.41; 2. Baynes Machinski (B) 13:46.61; 3. Tarver May (B) 14:23.80; 4. Porter Cherbourg (B) 14:24.36. Girls: Bellingham 22. Lyuden 48, Oak Harbor 65. 1. Sophia Koch (B) 14:47.62; 2. Sloan Dickson (Lynden) 15:48.43; 3. Nora Alexander (B) 17:04.20; 4. Sonia Klise (B) 17:10.28.

5K at Hovander Park: Boys: Mount Vernon 22, Ferndale 33, Nooksack inc. 3. Alexander Ortiz (NV) 18:28; 4. Spencer Hamilton (F) 18:31. Girls: Mount Vernon 23, Ferndale 53, Nooksack Valley inc. 2. Katie Manly 9F) 19:48.

5K at Lakewood H.S: Boys: Anacortes 27, Squalicum 41, Lakewood 57, Blaine 120. 3. Ty Hoffman (Sq) 17:04.01. Girls — Anacortes 15, Squalicum 50, Lakewood 85. No locals in first four.

5K at Lynden Christian H.S (places only submitted): Boys: 1. Meridian, 2. Lynden Christian, 3. Mount Baker, 4. Lummi Nation. 1. Nickolas Luce (LC) 15:02; 2. Reuben TeVelde (Mer) 16:46; 3. Asher Todd (Mer) 17:32; 4. Larson Rische (LC) 17:34. Girls: 1. Meridian, 2. LC, 3. Mount Baker, 4. Lummi Nation. 1. Logan Ignacio (Mer) 21:47; 2. Maddy Swanson (Mer) 21:53. 3. Aunaloisa Ross (Mer) 22:06; 4. Adelle Ashmore (Mer) 22:11.

Girls Swimming

Bellingham (4-0) swept every event and stretched its dual meet win streak to 13 with a 119-60 win over Mount Vernon.

“Grace Sorensen swam a state qualifying 5:22.72 in the 500 free,” coach Matthew Buckmaster said.. She also won the 100 fly in 59.36.

Ferndale (1-2) gained its first win by beating Squalicum 86-63 in a meet that included swimmers from Blaine, Meridian and Mount Baker in co-op programs.

Lynden swept all three relays to earn its first victory with a 111-41 win over Squalicum and Blaine’s Hailey Ferrell chipped in by taking the 50 free in 26.44 and the 100 back in 1:05.14. Squalicum’s Kate Truemper was also a double winner in the 200 free in 2:38.28 and the 100 fly in 1:24.13.

Bellingham 119, Mount Vernon 60. Bellingham winners: 200 medley relay: Bellingham (Addy Hayes, Peyton Acord, Grace Sorensen, June Wilson) 2:03.20; 200 free: Annika Holland 2:13.97; 200 IM — Jasmine Garcia 2:35.85; 50 free: Wilson 28.54; 100 fly — Sorensen 59.36; 500 free — Sorensen 5:22.72; 100 free: Mandela Windram 1:03.70; 200 free relay: Bellingham (Holland, Garcia, Wilson, Windram) 1:55.76; 100 back: Holland 1:15.40; 100 breast: Acord 1:19.32; 400 free relay: Bellingham (Sorensen, Holland, Acord, Hayes) 4:10.64; I-meter diving: Madeline Fredette 150.95 points.

Ferndale 86, Squalicum 63. Winners: 200 medley relay: Ferndale (Cara Esparza, Nevaeh Kidd, Emma Sande, Alyanna Brown) 2:38.02; 200 free: Kidd (F) 2:24.67; 200 IM — Fiona Hamai (Sq) 3:19.59; 50 free — Hailey Ferrell (Bl) 26.45; 100 fly — Ferrell 1:06.92; 100 free : Kate Truemper (S) 1:07.42; 500 free — Kidd 6:27.57; 200 free relay: Fern (Esparza, Mills, Kincaid, Sande) 2:32.38; 100 back — Truemper 1:15.47; 100 lbreast: Esparza 1:40.41; 400 free relay: Squalicum (Natalie Ravitsky, Hamai, Truemper, Samantha Ward) 5:24.42.

Anacortes 133, Lynden 45. Lynden winner: 100 fly: Kaitlyn Morris 1:21.17.

Lynden 111, Squalicum 41. Winners: 200 medley relay: Lynden (Ella Bredeson, Aurora Solum, Morris, Avery Rutledge) 2:24.14; 200 free: Truemper 2:38.28; 200 IM — Morris 2:51.08; 50 free:Ferrell (Bl) 26.44; 100 fly — Truemper 1:24.13; 100 free: Eden Shields (Bl) 1:04.66; 500 free — Bredeson 7:01.38; 200 free relay: Lynden (Solum, Boldt, Maren Baldwin, Jocie Hall) 2:29.91; 100 back — Ferrell 1:05.14; 100 breast: Solum 1:36.53; 400 free relay — Lynden (Bredeson, Hall, Avery Rutledge, Morris) 5:05.17.

Anacortes 117, Ferndale 45, Meridian 11. Ferndale winner: Espinoza 1:40.42.