Things kick off tonight with the boys lacrosse state semi-final game against Issaquah. The game starts at 8 p.m. at Islander Stadium. The Islanders are undefeated this season, 19-0 overall and 14-0 in league. Issaquah, the two time defending state champs are 16-4 overall and 12-2 in league. In the two teams only meeting this season, Mercer Island won the game 9-7 in a rematch of last year’s state final game.

Tomorrow, members of the Islanders track team will travel to Mt. Tahoma High School for the state meet. Molly O’Callahan, Carly Andersen, Lauren Ellis, Cora Miller and Aaron Elefson are all competing at the event.

The girls 3A 3,200 race, which O’Callahan is competing in will take place on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. The boys 3A 3,200 race, which Elefson will compete in, also takes place Thursday at 8:30 p.m.

Andersen and Ellis will both compete in the 3A girls javelin contest, which will take place on Friday, May 28 at 12:30 p.m.

The 300-meter hurdles race, which Miller will compete in, begins with heat 1 at 1:55 on Friday. Heat 2 will race at 2 p.m. The finals will be held on Saturday at 12:15 p.m.

For a full list of the track and field state schedule, and the heat sheets for each competition visit the WIAA track and field page.

The state tennis competition starts on Friday, May 28. Jordan Smith, Max Franklin, Andrew Smith, Chelsea Bailey, Julia Schubach, Kelly Crandall, Julia Zook and Nora Tan will all play for the Islanders. You can find the various doubles and singles brackets here for both boys and girls.

The girls and boys state golf tournament will wrap up this afternoon. Here’s a look at the first day scores for the Islanders and I will be updating the final scores as soon as they become available.

Best of luck to all the MI teams!

The team is heading to Centralia on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game at Wheeler Field in the first state game against Sumner (16-7).

Our sister paper, the Bonney Lake Sumner Courier-Herald has a piece online about the Spartans first trip to the state tournament in 25 years.

If Islanders (17-6, ranked 7th in state) win they will face the winner of the Colubmia River/Highline game at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Wheeler Field (essentially they would start the second game right after the first finishes).

Another win would push Mercer Island into the semifinals which would be on May 28 at 1 p.m. at Safeco Field.

Here’s a look at the state bracket, which the WIAA will update as scores become available.

For those who will be heading south for the game don’t forget tickets are $8 for adults and students with an ASB card and seniors are $6.

The so called “sacred cow” of the state tournaments (according to Executive Director Mike Colbrese) lost money last year, and has been on and off for several years. Part of the problem he said, too many sites over too long of a time period. Plus, many consolation bracket games (aka the 3rd/6th place games which take place Saturday afternoon) have low attendance.

Currently, the state basketball tournaments are held on three separate weekends, in three separate locations, depending on which classification a school is apart of. This past season the 1B girls and boys tournament was held in Yakima at the SunDome, while the 2B girls and boys played the following weekend in Spokane, before the 4A tournament began the first weekend of March in Tacoma, followed the next weekend by the 3A tournament. This means the WIAA rents out three different spaces, over three different weekends.

Next year the tournament will become a 16 team format, for all schools, with the first round of state held at regional locations Feb. 25-26. From there eight teams will advance to a state tournament site for the rest of the tournament from March 3-5. So rather than spreading the various classifications out, starting next year the WIAA would have three state championship sites, with two classifications per site (3A-4A would be in Tacoma, 1A-2A in Yakima and 1B-2B in Spokane) all on one weekend.

While the particulars have not yet been figured out for how the regional first round games would be played (as many places will have just hosted their regionals district and league tournaments) the WIAA is going to figure out how to make it happen in time for the 2010-2011 season.

While driving to Tacoma for the 3A tournament isn’t nearly as bad as 2A teams from Bellingham heading to Yakima for anywhere from one to three days, having the first round at local sites would eliminate a lot of driving and transportation for some teams, especially if they don’t make it past the first round.

Another plus, at least from a sportswriters point of view, I know people who basically lived in the Tacoma Dome this season, covering both 4A and then 3A the next week. All on one weekend would certainly makes things a little easier on our end.

On April 23, next Friday, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association representative assembly will vote on whether or not lacrosse will be a sanctioned sport in the state of Washington. Currently teams play at what is considered a club level, meaning they aren’t recognized like traditional high school team sports are.

Since lacrosse first began to pick up speed in Washington it’s grown, especially in the Puget Sound, at a rapid pace. This year also marks the first season of the Washington Stealth, a professional lacrosse team based in Everett. While Mercer Island has a long standing lacrosse tradition, since programs began on the Island teams have sprung up across the state with a total of 48 teams. In many communities its more than a high school game, kids as young as first and second grade are learning the basics.

Should lacrosse be a WIAA sanctioned sport?
(polls)

These are all valid points made by the people who are encouraging the WIAA to sanction the sport. The state’s three main lacrosse organizations are largely behind the push. The Washington state chapter of U.S. lacrosse, the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association and the Washington Schoolgirls lacrosse association are all advocating for the sport to be added.

Personally, I believe it’s high time for lacrosse to be recognized by the WIAA. Obviously, based on the growth in the area, kids are loving the game and it’s spreading like wildfire. Imagine if Seattle had a professional NBA team again, but basketball in high school was considered a club sport? While professional lacrosse hasn’t yet reached this height of fandom, having a professional team seems to show a certain level of interest in the game.

(Check out these graphs of how lacrosse participation has grown in the past several years. Courtesy of USLAX-WA)

There are 17 states in the U.S. which have sanctioned lacrosse, including California, Colorado, Illinois, South Carolina and Minnesota. Lacrosse has been huge on the East Coast for years. The analogy that typically comes up is that it’s similar to football in Texas. It’s just what you do.

What’s more the state’s lacrosse association already operates under a system modeled after the WIAA, so bringing the system into the fold would be an easy move to make.

Other concerns against adding the sport are that it’s expensive to get involved and that not all schools would want to burden their kids with that possibility. Like any other high school sport recognized by the WIAA, schools are not required to offer every sport.

According to the Washington State Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse the cost to outfit a boy to play the game is about $200, where girls typically spend $100 to be able to play. The difference between lacrosse and high school football, for example, is that many players prefer to have their own equipment, rather than the school purchasing it and lending it to students for a season.

Obviously on a place like Mercer Island where the high school boys team has been in the running for the state title basically every year, there is a big hope this will pass. Kids from the Island are even turning their success in the sport into a ticket to play in college. Currently Doug Mahony plays for Yale University after years with the MI program, while his younger sister Caroline, who graduated from MIHS last year, plays for St. Mary’s College in California.

But no matter where a kid lives or goes to school, giving him or her another sports option, can only be a good thing right?

The MIHS girls volleyball team fell to Mount Si during the district tournament last weekend, but because state volleyball takes place this weekend in Kennewick, hears a quick look at how the coaches association ranked the top 8 3A teams.

Volleyball Coaches Association Class 3A rankings

1. Camas 2. Seattle Prep 3. Mount Spokane 4. Capital (Olympia) 5. Timberline (Lacey) 6. Bishop Blanchet (Seattle) 7. Lakes (Lakewood) 8. West Valley (Yakima)

The Islanders soccer team is still alive in the hunt for some state hardware. Last night the team took down Auburn Mountainview in the first round. They next play Glacier Peak, a state favorite this season. To watch the complete 3A girls soccer bracket visit the WIAA’s bracket or the WIAA state soccer tournament page.

In Northwest swimming action the Mercer Island girls team heads to Federal Way this weekend for the state tournament. Last year the girls finished third overall, and after sweeping KingCo and Districts this year it’s anyones guess how high the team could finish. The prelims begin Friday for the 3A event with the finals on Saturday. To get more info on the state swimming schedule check out the WIAA’s state swimming page.