Lakeside School

Lakeside Athletics’ winter sports season was explosive, with teams growing, advancing, and making waves in state tournaments and meets.

Read on for a celebration of the winter season, provided by Lakeside coaches and athletics staff.

Girls Basketball

The Lakeside girls basketball team battled through an incredibly difficult schedule this season to earn third in the Metro League, fourth in district, and finish in the top eight at the Tacoma Dome in the State Tournament. This was the fifth consecutive year our team advanced to the State Tournament! Credit this year’s run to a resilient and battle-tested unit. Every team that beat us during the regular season qualified for either the 4A or 3A tournaments, so we were well prepared for post-season competition.

This season we celebrated several major individual accomplishments: Senior Lili B. was selected to the 2nd team All-Metro Mountain Team. And sophomore Helena C. was a 1st team All-Metro Mountain Selection, receiving this honor for the second straight year.

We are graduating four incredible seniors: Ava J., Chloe M., Mia S., and four-year varsity member Lili B., who will continue her playing career at Division 1 Johns Hopkins University. The seniors have set a high bar for future teams, and we do return a strong core group of players who will strive to match and even exceed their accomplishments!

Finally, last week it was announced that Coach Sandy Schneider was honored with the 2025-2026 Girls Basketball Coach Ambassador Award from the officials’ association.

Congratulations to the team and to Coach Schneider!

Find season highlights at @lakesidesgbb.
 

Boys Basketball
 

The Lakeside boys basketball team had a standout season, finishing in the top three of the Metro League Sound Division and exceeding expectations along the way. With just one senior — Alistair K. — this was a remarkably young roster that played with poise and grit all season long.

The Lions thrilled fans with several nail-biting victories, including two overtime wins against Franklin high school. In one of those memorable matchups, guard Quentin M. ’28 poured in 40 points and 10 assists to seal the win. Quentin also surpassed 1,000 career points as a sophomore — an extraordinary milestone — and capped the season by earning Metro League Sound Division MVP honors.

Juniors Xavier G., Nate B., and Jack N. were key contributors throughout the year, while sophomores Quentin M., Grayson P. and Chrishaun J., along with freshmen Jaylen H., demonstrated that the future of Lions basketball is in excellent hands. Lakeside surrendered only three home losses all season, a testament to the team's effort and focus.

Coach A.J. Turner would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out to support the Lions this year in his first year as head coach — especially at the spirited games against Seattle Prep and Ballard High School. With this young core returning, the program has much to look forward to.

Season highlights are @lakesidebbasketball.
 

Flag Football

This season was a testament to growth, resilience, and belief.

After an 0–3 start to our inaugural season, the girls flag football team could have gone in many different directions. Instead, they chose commitment. They chose improvement. They chose each other. What followed was one of the most impressive turnarounds I’ve ever witnessed, finishing the regular season 9–5 and earning a well-deserved spot in the State Tournament.

This group grew tremendously over the course of the year. Practices became sharper. Communication became stronger. Confidence replaced timidity. Most importantly, this team learned how to compete with both joy and courage. They played fast, they played fearlessly, and they played for one another.

Our seniors set the tone from day one. Their leadership, consistency, and belief in what we could become carried us through adversity and helped define who we are. We were especially proud to be led by Metro Defensive MVP Sarah Haycox, whose impact on and off the field elevated everyone around her. In total, eight of our players earned All-Metro or Honorable Mention recognition.

They became students of the game, committed to daily improvement. They became competitors who believed a state championship was possible because they were willing to put in the work required to pursue it.

This was a season defined not just by wins, but by growth. Not just by accolades, but by character. And while the journey continues, we are excited about what the future holds for Lakeside girls flag football!

Check out season highlights @lakesidegirlsflag.
 

Boys Swim & Dive

The Lakeside boys swim & dive team had an exciting and historic winter season!

As a team, we welcomed 16 new swimmers and divers to the program, which accounted for over half of our total athletes. It was really fun having such an incredible influx of new energy and personality on the team! We placed second at the Metro Championship Meet, second at the District Championship Meet, and second at the State Championship Meet.

Our Metro Championship Meet was highlighted by every member of our team competing over 85% of our individual swims achieving best times of the year. We had four individual Metro Champions: Brett W. ’26, Alex M. ’26, Charlie C.’28, and Brandon W. ’28. We also won two relays at the Metro Meet.

Our District Meet crowned even more champions! Charlie won the 200 Free and 100 Fly — both new district records — and Alex won the 50 Free. The Medley Relay of Alex, Brandon W., Charlie, and Brett won the event and set a new district record. And the 200 Free Relay of Alex, Charlie, Brett, and Daniel L. also won and set a new district record and the state record for 3A.

At our State Meet 10 Lakeside swimmers and divers represented the Lions in the water: in addition to the athletes already named, other participants included Cole K. ’27, Eli L. ’26, Kian S. ’26, and Brandon L. ’27. Top finishers included: Charlie in the 200 Free — winning the race and going the second fastest time in state history — and the 100 Fly, also winning the race and breaking the state record. Alex in the 50 Free — winning and swimming the fastest individual 50 Free in 3A state history — and winning the 100 Free. Brandon W. getting second place in the 100 Breaststroke. Our 400 Free Relay of Alex, Brett, Daniel, and Charlie shattering the state record by over a second and a half. A special congratulations to Charlie C., who was named the 3A State Swimmer of the Meet.

When all was said and done, this year’s team won five of the 12 events at the State meet, broke seven school records, three Metro records, four District records, and three State records... which is truly incredible! Congratulations to all members of this historic team!

Check out the season highlights @lakesideswimdive.
 

Wrestling

The wrestling team had a very successful season this year, marked by lots of individual success as well as some impressive team accomplishments. The team combined for 118 wins (good for an overall winning record, at 56%!), 65 pins, and 17 technical falls. Nearly half of the team's wins (47%) were "bonus point wins" (pins, techs, and major decisions), a major reflection of dominance on the mat.

For the first time in many years (possibly the first time ever), we had two individual Metro league champions this year: Fisher N. ’26 and Emma L. ’27. We had four total medalists at the Metro tournaments, representing all four grades: Senior Fisher and junior Emma (1st); Sophomore Lingying S.(2nd); and 9th grader Ned K. (3rd).

Three wrestlers qualified for state this year: Fisher, Emma, and Ned. Fisher finished in the top 12.

A big highlight from this year was Fisher's standout season performance. He now holds two Lakeside Wrestling records, in addition to his Metro league title: 38 single-season wins (tied for 1st with Gabe M. from last year); and 137 single-season takedowns. It's hard to overstate how impressive this is: we don't have exact numbers for the previous record, but we estimate it's somewhere in the 60s or 70s. Fisher likely doubled or almost doubled the previous record.

In wrestling, individual success is team success. The way your practice partners wrestle, and how well they wrestle, directly determines what skills you develop and how good you get at executing them. I'm really proud of the way the team worked together this year, and especially the way they pushed into the postseason. Everyone really took ownership of making their own wrestling and their partners' wrestling better, and we saw the best wrestling of the season from everyone in the postseason tournaments.

Check out the season highlights @lakesidelionswrestling.