Summer is over, and the fall sports season has officially arrived in Blaine. Borderite football, girls soccer, cross-country and volleyball will all begin their seasons in the coming days, and expectations are running high.
Volleyball will be helmed by a new head coach, Kjirstin Assink, the former Blaine High School C-team coach, while football head coach Andy Olson and cross-country coach Roberto Aguilera both enter their second seasons with Blaine. Gio Quesada will helm the girls soccer team after a competitive 2023 season.
The Blaine Athletic Department also unveiled a new and improved website over the summer, borderitesathletics.com, and just announced a new mobile app for iOS and Android phones: “Blaine Athletics.”
Head coach Andy Olson heads into his second season leading the Borderites with a slightly different roster after losing a number of senior skill position players to graduation. Blaine finished last season with a 3-7 record, failing to make a spot in the district playoffs, but Olson said he hopes the team improves this season with a stronger defensive front line.
While the team lost some experience on the wings, it gained more experience on the offensive and defensive lines, and the whole team has hit the weight room hard over the offseason, Olson said. Olson implemented an early-morning weight training routine after the end of last season, and invited athletes from all Blaine teams to attend.
“The physicality has changed and I do attribute a lot of that to the weight room,” Olson said. “That’s provided them with confidence to go and say, ‘I can stick somebody on the perimeter and make a play.’”
In a hyper-competitive league like the Northwest Conference, getting stronger is always a good thing. Even with a younger receiving core, Olson expects a ton of improvement from that group under the guidance of senior quarterback Colin Davis.
“We love Colin [Davis],” Olson said. “He’s a two-year team captain for us who’s been a leader on and off the field throughout our time together over the past two years. He’s our guy. He does a really good job of teaching while also playing.”
Blaine football’s first game of the season is at home against Renton on Saturday, September 7 at 3 p.m.
Roberto Aguilera will lead a Blaine cross-country team that looks to improve on a 2023 season that Aguilera called a “warm up” for his coaching career, with big years expected for returning veteran runners Steven Phelps-McDonald, Tucker Greene, Ian Tuski and Verdaan Aujla.
The head coach said he doesn’t like setting goals and expectations for players, but knows that each member of the team has personal goals that he can help them reach, whether that is a state championship, or a personal best race.
“I let them talk to themselves about their goals,” Aguilera said. “I want everyone to do the best to their capabilities and build confidence year after year, and understand that it does take a lot of mental and physical toughness to do this sport.”
Aguilera said that with a grueling sport like cross-country, the goal for a coach is to get their student-athletes showing up and trying their best every practice and every meet, and he expects that of this year’s team.
“I’m excited to accomplish our goals,” Aguilera said. “I want them to do good for themselves and I want them to always enjoy the sport.”
The Blaine cross-country team maintained a team of 14 runners, the same number as 2023, and will officially start the season at the Gear-Up Northwest Preview at Civic Field in Bellingham on Saturday, September 14 at 10 a.m.
Head coach Kjirstin Assink will run the Blaine volleyball program after head coach Jacquie Tesarik retired at the end of the 2023 season after a decade running the varsity team.
Assink grew up in Blaine and attended Blaine school district from kindergarten through high school, playing volleyball at school and club levels. After high school, she attended Whatcom Community College, where she continued her volleyball career collegiately before beginning her coaching career.
Assink has eight years of volleyball coaching under her belt, and four years coaching Blaine’s C-team, so the head coach already has a feel for the culture and history of Blaine volleyball.
“I know a bunch of the girls already, but I think the big thing is just being disciplined and working hard,” Assink said. “There are so many positives that come with that, whether it leads us to a state championship or even just getting to districts or being able to go to Yakima [for the postseason].”
Speaking of discipline, while running an offseason physical conditioning regimen for the team, Assink has also been coaching her players on mental skills as well, with the help of Zoom calls with a mental skills coach.
“We saw a lot through the season. Kids get in mental blocks during the game and they just can’t get out of it,” Assink said. “Mental toughness is huge in any sport. Teaching these kids to be mentally tough and show them that through volleyball is a huge goal that I have.”
Blaine volleyball starts the season on the road against Meridian on Thursday, September 5 at 5 p.m. The team’s first home game will be against Lakewood on Thursday, September 12 at 7 p.m.
Blaine girls soccer had a painful exit last season, narrowly losing out on a spot in the state playoffs in a 2-0 loss to Lynden Christian.
This year, the Borderites hope to make an even deeper postseason run despite losing a few high-performing seniors.
Goalkeeper Larissa Pluschakov enters her senior season with high expectations after two solid seasons as the starting goalie, earning a first-team All-Conference selection last season.
Midfielder/forward Juliana Zuzarte will lead the team on the field, with the speedy track star entering her senior season with a first-team All-Conference selection of her own. Sophomore defender Kaitlyn Ritter Von Trautmann, the third returning Borderite to receive a first-team All-Conference selection last season, will hold down the back line.
The Borderites’ first game of the season will be on the road against Oak Harbor on Tuesday, September 10 at 7 p.m. The first home game will be against Lakewood on Thursday, September 12 at 7 p.m.
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