SEATTLE — Winning a football title under the elevating lights of Husky Stadium in June is cool.

Repeating the same feat in December would be substantially more enjoyable.

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After Almira-Coulee-Hartline’s baseball team was eliminated in the Class 1B quarterfinals May 23, it ended the remarkable three-sport year for 6-foot-4, 210-pound junior Max Grindy.

How good was it?

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The 2025-26 high school sports year concluded late last month around the state of Washington.

Following the fall, winter and spring seasons, VarsityWA selected all-state teams in football, flag football, boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball.

Here is a roundup of this year’s teams in each sport, which recognized 243 players and coaches representing 117 schools across the state:

FOOTBALL

FLAG FOOTBALL

BOYS BASKETBALL

GIRLS BASKETBALL

BASEBALL

SOFTBALL

PARKLAND, Wash. — For those who became captivated by the Nate Donavan-to-Braylon Pope downfield connections with Sumner football over the past two seasons, new starting quarterback Brennan Abbott has a message for you:

Pope — the state’s top 2026 receiving prospect headed to the University of Washington — will not be underthrown as a deep target this fall.

“For sure, I have the arm strength,” Abbott said.

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PARKLAND, Wash. — “Mo Island” has been anything but a dreamy destination resort.

That is usually the life of the elite shutdown cornerback — and that is Maurice “Mo” Williams has been during his high-school career.

Because of it, he doesn’t get to post about gaudy statistics or school records. He just does his job — making sure you don’t get those numbers.

“I am kind of silent,” Williams said. “You don’t really know I am there.”

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The statewide team covers all WIAA classifications, and 23 different schools were represented in the selections.

Criteria for the all-state selections is largely based on individual accomplishments — including statistics and league honors — and team success, particularly in the postseason. Input from coaches and media was also heavily considered:

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The statewide team covers all WIAA classifications, and 24 different schools were represented in the selections.

Criteria for the all-state selections is largely based on individual accomplishments — including statistics and league honors — and team success, particularly in the postseason. Input from coaches and media was also heavily considered:

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In all, 572 high school players participated during four sessions of skill-showcasing, ranging from four-star quarterbacks to a bevy of up-and-coming offensive and defensive linemen.

Here are 25 photos from the showcase:

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TACOMA, Wash. — After watching Kitiona Tupua do something rarely seen in 4A SPSL football — dominate in the trenches as a ninth grader — Puyallup High School coach D.J. Mims thinks a logical step will follow this fall.

“Be the all-state player who wrecks a football game,” Mims said.

After what Tupua has shown during the offseason camp circuit, that trajectory seems inevitable.

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TACOMA, Wash. — All it took was a few seconds, and a magical connection was made between brothers.

Why would anybody be surprised? They’re Tuiasosopos.

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TACOMA, Wash. — Mount Rainier High School football coach Quincy Carter knows class-of-2027 dual-sport prospect Mason Emil has next-level talent.

But there was a time after the Rams’ season last fall when Carter had to challenge the teenager’s next-step commitment to the sport.

Message received.

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Stone-faced football savant Butch Goncharoff is gone from Washington, likely for good.

Left behind is one of the greatest extended runs of home-built success in WIAA history — 11 state championships and nearly 200 coaching victories in his 16 seasons (2000-15) at Bellevue High School.

Goncharoff’s masterstroke went way beyond Class 3A titles, too. His Wolverines collected victories against national powerhouses — none bigger than in 2004 when they ended De La Salle’s national-record winning streak of 151 games with a 39-20 victory at Lumen Field.

Also left behind is a championship tenure blighted by off-the-field controversy — district and state-association investigations into alleged recruiting, academic fraud and financial misfeasance — that not only led to program sanctions, but cost the school two since-vacated WIAA titles.

Now a decade later, can the proverbial Phoenix rise again elsewhere?

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Many, many, many schools.

Specifically, 81 schools, ranging from Class 4A to 1B, earned at least one WIAA championship between the boys and girls programs in 2025-26.

And 20 schools won multiple combined state titles, led by Bainbridge (3A) and Mercer Island (3A) with six apiece.

Two schools — Mercer Island (3A) and Freeman (2B) — saw multiple state team champions crowned in both their boys and girls programs.

Bainbridge boys’ five 2A titles in cross country, swimming and diving, golf, soccer and baseball were the most by one school in either their boys or girls programs.

Here is the complete list of the 116 WIAA champions for 2025-26:

2025-26 WIAA TEAM CHAMPIONS

FALL SPORTS

BOYS CROSS COUNTRY

4A — Mead

3A — Mercer Island

2A — Bainbridge

1A — Cedar Park Christian

2B — Freeman

1B — Pope John Paul II

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

4A — Issaquah

3A — Mercer Island

2A — Sehome

1A — Meridian

2B/1B — Liberty Bell

FOOTBALL

4A — Sumner

3A — O’Dea

2A — Archbishop Murphy

1A — Royal

2B — Tri-Cities Prep

1B — DeSales

GIRLS SOCCER

4A — Mount Si

3A — Bellevue

2A — West Valley of Spokane

1A — Cedar Park Christian

2B/1B — Crosspoint Christian

SLOWPITCH SOFTBALL

4A — Moses Lake

3A/2A — Mount Spokane

GIRLS SWIMMING AND DIVING

4A — Kennedy Catholic

3A — Mercer Island

2A/1A — Bainbridge

VOLLEYBALL

4A — Lake Stevens

3A — North Thurston

2A — Lynden

1A — Chelan

2B — Northwest Christian of Colbert

1B — Garfield-Palouse

WINTER SPORTS

BOYS BASKETBALL

4A — Richland

3A — Rainier Beach

2A — Bremerton

1A — Lynden Christian

2B — Colfax

1B — Lummi Nation

GIRLS BASKETBALL

4A — Davis

3A — Eastside Catholic

2A — Lynden

1A — Zillah

2B — Cle Elum-Roslyn

1B — Neah Bay

BOWLING

4A — Skyview

3A — Walla Walla

2A/1A — R.A. Long

FLAG FOOTBALL

4A — Skyline

3A — Lincoln of Tacoma

2A/1A — Lynden

GYMNASTICS

4A — Lake Washington

3A/2A/1A — Shorecrest

BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING

4A — Woodinville

3A — Bellevue

2A/1A — Bainbridge

BOYS WRESTLING

4A — Tahoma

3A — Hermiston (Ore.)

2A — Orting

1A — Wapato

2B/1B — Granger

GIRLS WRESTLING

4A — Lake Stevens

3A — Kelso

2A — Toppenish

1A/2B/1B — Royal

SPRING SPORTS

BASEBALL

4A — Sumner

3A — Kentlake

2A — Bainbridge

1A — King’s

2B — Napavine

1B — Dayton

BOYS GOLF

4A — Skyline

3A — Cheney

2A — Bainbridge

1A — The Bush School

2B — Mount Vernon Christian

1B — DeSales

GIRLS GOLF

4A — Kamiak

3A — Bellevue

2A — Washougal

1A — Overlake

2B/1B — Freeman

BOYS SOCCER

4A — Eastmont

3A — Mercer Island

2A — Bainbridge

1A — Vashon Island

2B/1B (Fall championship) — Orcas Island

FASTPITCH SOFTBALL

4A — Skyline

3A — Mount Spokane

2A — Mark Morris

1A — Montesano

2B — Freeman

1B — Liberty Christian

BOYS TENNIS

4A — Jackson

3A — Shorewood

2A — Sehome

1A — Eastside Prep

2B/1B — Okanogan

GIRLS TENNIS

4A — Issaquah

3A — Mercer Island

2A — Lynden

1A — Overlake

2B/1B — Jenkins

BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

4A — Mead

3A — Shorewood

2A — Anacortes

1A — Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls

2B — Freeman

1B — Garden City Academy

GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD

4A — Mount Si

3A — Mercer Island

2A — Sehome

1A — King’s

2B — La Conner

1B — Naselle and Pope John Paul II

Who had the best overall showing at the state level, boys or girls?

While there were many viable candidates, three schools stood out for their excellence this season.

The podium finishers:

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By most measures, Clark Vining’s success in girls basketball at Colton High School is unmatched.

In 10 of his 19 seasons at the school, he won Class 1B titles, including eight championships in a row from 2009-16. His Wildcats currently still own the longest winning streak in WIAA history (79 games). And when it was over in 2024, he finished with an astonishing 419-54 record.

For all of that record-smashing success, Vining was recently inducted into the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches Association (WSGBCA) hall of fame.

But he missed it.

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What are the marquee showcases, team camps and tournaments to monitor in June and July?

VarsityWA has come up with five must-see events to follow for top prospects — and the projected best teams — for the upcoming 2026 fall season:

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LAKEWOOD, Wash. — The opening day of WIAA spring football is a little bit like the first day back to school after summer break.

Except it’s not the easygoing, "How-are-you-doing, tell-me-about-your-Disneyland-trip” charade.

Instead, it’s more like if, as a student on your first day, you were given an itinerary of the entire semester’s coursework as your welcome-back greeting.

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EVERETT, Wash. — In the wee hours of Sunday morning, Kentlake baseball coach Mike Suguro took a few glances at the WIAA gold-ball trophy stationed in his bedroom at home.

And each time, it reminded him of the craziness that unfolded under the lights at Funko Field.

His Falcons made a comeback for the ages to win the Class 3A championship.

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EVERETT, Wash. — As circumstances change, so does life’s direction.

Dylan McLauchlin thoroughly enjoyed what he built with West Seattle baseball, peaking with a run to the WIAA Class 3A championship in 2024.

Days later, McLauchlin stepped down. He was about to become a newlywed with a new address in east Pierce County — and figured he would just continue his work in offseason baseball.

But then one sudden WIAA coaching opening right down the road caught his attention: Sumner High School.

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TACOMA, Wash. — On the outside, Mead’s Simon Rosselli was the same classy, always-supportive competitor in discus ring at the WIAA track and field championships Saturday.

On the inside, Rosselli was taken aback by his unacceptable high-standards performance. It did not meet expectation.

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