Sports are finally back at Bothell. In the first 2020-2021 sports season all the usual fall sports except for rowing competed. Bothell’s Girls Soccer, Football, Girls Swim and Diving, Boys Golf, Girls Volleyball, Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys Tennis, and Slow-Pitch Softball teams competed for district supremacy this March. 

While Bothell sports are back in full swing there have still been changes due to COVID. The biggest change is the shortened seasons. This year each sports season has been cut down to a month and instead of playing all the other Kingco schools, Bothell teams only play against the other Northshore teams. Bothell athletes also have to get tested every Wednesday at the school to be allowed to participate in team activities the following week. In addition, masks were required at all times. The covid protocols didn’t seem to bother the athletes too much. Myles Anderson (‘22) said the masks, “didn’t interfere with our ability to breathe, but was still able to help prevent the spread of Covid.” He also mentioned, “the team was very good about making sure to keep interactions with outside groups limited so that was definitely helpful knowing the team was being safe about everything.”

During this funky COVID season Bothell teams were pretty successful. The Volleyball team did well, only losing two games all year. The girls cross country team finished the season first in the district while the boys finished a couple spots behind them in third. Freshman golfer Walker Lamb finished first in every match during the season. Bothell’s two slow pitch teams, blue and white, claimed the top two spots ahead of Woodinville. 

The Bothell Football team had an outstanding season this year. For the second time ever, the team went undefeated. During the season the team was absolutely dominant. In the season opener they beat Woodinville by 26. This was followed up by a ten-point win over North Creek and a 35-13 win over Inglemoor. The final game was a rematch against the Falcons for the district title. The Cougars went down early after a second-quarter touchdown by the Falcons but responded with 19 unanswered points in the second half to take the lead. A touchdown by the Falcons in the last minute cut the Bothell lead down to five, but the Cougars hung on to beat the Falcons 19-15 and win the district championship. According to Anderson, the key to the team’s success was very productive practices which helped the team improve day in and day out. He also mentioned, “there was a lot of work put in during the off-season, and it definitely showed when we got to the actual season.”

Bothell’s girls soccer team also had a stellar season. The team finished second in the district and played for the district title against Inglemoor. Going into the finals, Inglemoor looked unbeatable. They had gone through the regular season undefeated, winning all but one of their games by multiple goals. The game started off quickly with a Bothell goal in the 21st minute by forward  Hannah Cecil (‘21). After an Inglemoor goal about 10 minutes into the second half, Cecil tucked away her second of the day to give Bothell the lead once again. The Vikings tied it less than a minute later and won 4-3 on penalties. Despite the finals loss, the Bothell girls soccer team had a great season and it was capped off with Cecil winning the district MVP. Cecil scored 6 goals and played excellently throughout the year.  Cecil attributed the successful season to the excellent team chemistry and said that Devon Lipkin (‘21) and Ella Stroup(‘22) had particularly good seasons. When asked about her favorite part of the season, she said, “It was kinda cool to have every game at Pop Keeney and it was nice having fans in the stands after so long.”