That's right.

Bonnie Richardson was the only athlete from Rochelle High School to compete in the 1A state tournament Saturday in Austin, Texas, and in five events she accumulated more points by herself than any other team.

Richardson, a junior, won the high jump (5-feet-5) and the 200 meters (25.03), finished runner-up in the long jump (18-feet-7) and the 100 meters (12.19) and was third in the discus (121-0) in events held over two days, Friday and Saturday.

It was a good thing the 1A events were split over two days because Richardson said the heat -- temperatures were in the high 90s both days -- might have knocked her down. She laughed off a suggestion that she could have won more if UIL rules didn't limit individual participation to five events.

"I don't think I could handle any more," she said. "It was hot and I was tired."

Officials believe it's the first time a girl has ever won a team title on her own. Former Pittsburg Steeler Frank Pollard is believed to have done it on the boys side for Meridian High School in the 70s.

Not a bad weekend, I'd say.

Two games. It happens just like that. For two months, Eastside Catholic was one of the top baseball teams in the state, and the Crusaders took over the top spot in Class 3A just last week.

But like that, they're gone.

The high-school playoffs are unforgiving, with no room for hiccups. The Crusaders won 18 consecutive games before the postseason, but two consecutive losses did them in. Give credit to West Seattle, which surely knew it was the underdog last night but didn't give in when it was down early. The Wildcats scored eight runs in the fifth inning to boost itself to an 8-6 win and kept their season alive.

That's not the only Metro upset last night. Lakeside ended Holy Names' five-year streak of Metro girls track championships last night, with a large supporting cast surrounding its two individual champs: Rachael Severtson (pole vault) and Madeline Rathbun (800 meters). As coach Doug Porter told our Craig Smith after Lakeside's first championship since 1992, "There is not a more surprised person in this stadium than myself."

Morning stars

1. MiKenzie Voves, Issaquah, softball. Threw a two-hitter and struck out seven in a shutout that allowed Issaquah to claim the KingCo 3A tournament championship with a 1-0 victory. The Eagles remain undefeated.

2. Ivana Krommelova, Arlington, girls tennis. She didn't lose even game in a two-set victory to win the WesCo 3A tennis tournament.

3. Bothell boys track. It was a big track night, and you can read about all of the individual stars in our stories about the KingCo, Metro and SPSL 4A meets. But Bothell gets a mention this morning for winning its first league championship in school history, edging out Inglemoor 122-114.

In one night, the playoffs in Class 3A's best conference this decade flipped upside down. The top two seeds -- Newport and Skyline -- have been relegated to fight it out for the right to play in a pigtail game, while the division's third and fifth seeds -- Issaquah and Liberty -- will play in the final.

Issaquah beat Newport with the Knights down a couple star players, but starter Jacob Kemmerer allowed just three hits in the 6-1 Eagles win. Four first-innings runs were all Issaquah needed.

Liberty also got off to a fast start with two first-inning runs against Skyline's dominating sophomore, Adrian Sampson. But Skyline eventually fought back, tying it in the sixth. But Liberty, which beat Bellevue in an eight-inning game to stay alive Tuesday, won behind a Chandler Tracy RBI double in the seventh.

You might be asking: Why is this important? What the Metro League is to 3A state basketball, KingCo 3A is to 3A state baseball. It has produced six of the last eight state champions, including Issaquah last year, when it started as the KingCo 3A's fifth seed and went all the way to the state championship.

But with only 1 1/2 berths to state -- the team that wins the second seed plays Metro's third seed for a berth -- this might be one of the most intense tournaments around the state. Saturday's playoffs should be fun to watch.

But it can't be the only fun conference to watch this weekend. Feel free to chime in on what you think will be the best playoffs, in any sport, as we get closer and closer to state tournaments.

Morning stars

1. Natalie Allen, Holy Names, and Davis Mangham, Lakeside; tennis. Meet your new Metro League champions. Mangham won 6-2, 6-3 in the championship against Seattle Prep's Shuhei Matsuya, and Allen beat teammate Rachel Storz 6-3, 6-0.

2. Natsumi Ueda, Newport, softball. Hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth to put Newport ahead in a 5-3 win against Skyline.

3. Chris Hashimoto, Lake Washington, baseball. Went 3-for-3 with a big two-run home run in an 11-2 win that kept the Kangs' season alive.

Today's top games

KingCo 3A softball championship: Newport vs. Issaquah, 5:30 p.m. at Issaquah. Issaquah has yet to lose a game this season, and can clinch the KingCo 3A's top seed with a win.

Metro League track, at Southwest Athletic Complex and KingCo 3A/4A track at Liberty. Conference finals all around today, with state only two weeks away.

I took a call last night with one of the most impressive individual performances I've ever seen.

Emerald Ridge goalkeeper Kevin Weeks did it all.

Through 80 minutes of regulation and 10 minutes of overtime, Weeks stopped 20 shots by Kentlake for his seventh shutout. But that's not all. In the subsequent penalty-shootout, he stopped four of the Falcons' five attempts.

But again, there's more.

Weeks, a senior, also converted a penalty shot of his own. Which turned out to be the game-winner as the Jaguars advanced in the SPSL 4A playoffs.

Wow.

But there have been other amazing feats this spring: Kentridge senior Spencer Graham recently had a 3-homer, 7-RBI day. Ryan Prentice ran an amazing sub-9 minute 3200 at the Shoreline Invitational. Brittany Allen from Archbishop Murphy threw an 11-inning no-hitter and had 25 strikeouts!

What have been some of the most performances you can remember from this season?

Morning stars (the non-Weeks edition)

1. Seattle Prep baseball -- The Panthers stunned top-ranked Eastside Catholic with four runs in the top of the seventh in a 10-6 win to qualify for the state tournament. Prep was led by John Humphrie, who hit a two-run home run and got the win on the mound, Paul Twining (4-for-5, triple) and Mike Buckley, who doubled and drove in three runs.

2. Other Metro state qualifiers -- Adam McNaghten booked Bishop Blanchet's ticket to state with a 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the seventh after the Braves blew a 1-0 lead in the top half of the inning. Nathan Hale and Lakeside's boys soccer teams qualified for state with 2-0 wins.

3. Hallie Martin, Roosevelt girls tennis -- Despite losing her first set, Martin battled back to defeat Inglemoor's Coco Bater in the KingCo 4A girls singles championship, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Good story out of Northern California. A girl beat out 15 boys and made her high school's JV baseball team.

See the video and full report here. (Wait for the advertisement to play out).

Pretty cool, huh? Be great to see more stories like it!

Last night was an important night for high-school sports in Seattle. Take a look at today's roundups, and you'll see some teams clinching state berths. Others had to watch their seasons end.

I sat in the stands at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue last night and watched a classic between Bellevue and Liberty, an eight-inning loser out game that crazily went back and forth, and rarely have so many squeeze plays affected a single game's outcome.

Let's go to the sixth inning, with Bellevue leading 2-0 and its ace, Colton Bielaski, on the mound and the bases loaded. No outs. Liberty runs one squeeze play, the only play is to first and the throw is off the mound. Safe. So it's 2-1 Bellevue, still no outs.

Then, Liberty runs another squeeze play, and this time the throw to home bounces out of the catcher's glove. Safe again. And it's tied at 2. Bases still loaded, still no outs.

So Bellevue, sensing a pattern here, pitches out on the next play, and Wolverines not only get the runner going from third to home on the squeeze; they also get the runner going from second to third. That's right: a double play on a pitch out. Bielaski gets the final out, and the game stays tied until the eighth.

In the eighth, Liberty's Nick Hart squared up to bunt with a runner on third and one out. But this time, Hart pulled the bat back, and slapped a hit right at the charging first baseman, and the ball deflected off the first baseman's glove for the RBI single that won the game, 3-2.

A side note on Bellevue's Taylor Anderson. In the third inning, Anderson walked up to the plate wearing a yellow armband with "CA" engraved in black. The initials stood for Chase Anderson, his big brother, who died April 25 in a bus accident. The team canceled its game that weekend. Early the following week, Anderson told Bellevue coach Mark Tyler, "I'm ready." And was he ever.

Anderson had a hit in each game since then, helping Bellevue recover from a 2-5 start in KingCo 3A to finish 10-6 and claim the fourth seed in the tournament. Last week, as previously noted in the blog, Anderson was the MVP of a win against Liberty, bringing home the winning run and closing out the seventh.

So back to the third inning. With a man on and one out, Anderson hit a home run into the woods beyond the left field fence, bringing a standing ovation out of the Bellevue crowd. The place went nuts.

One Bellevue dad seemed to sum up the moment best: "That. Is. Cool."

Other dispatches from a big baseball night: Our own blog contributor Zach Landres-Schnur witnessed Marysville-Pilchuck's five-run seventh inning to shock Snohomish in a winner-to-state game.

-Redmond and Bothell will play Thursday night for the KingCo 4A championship after Redmond beat Lake Washington and Bothell outlasted Inglemoor. LW and Inglemoor will play for the right to go down to Vancouver for a winner-to-state game against the Greater St. Helens League's second-place team.

-Everett and Meadowdale will meet in the Northwest 3A District championship game, a winner-to-state game.

-Congrats to Auburn and Hazen, which clinched state playoff spots on Tuesday with wins. Life just got more difficult for Mount Rainier and Bonney Lake, which must carefully navigate the loser's brackets to clinch a spot.

How about soccer? Let's start with the craziest game: Jackson 3, Cascade 2. In a loser-out game, Jackson won in a shootout by a score of 9-8. I can't imagine how tense that was for both sides.

(On a side note, I'm not sure how I feel about shootouts in playoff games. Seems like that's the time, with seasons on the line, to let the teams decide it with a goal on the field, no matter how long it takes.)

Marysville-Pulchuck will play Jackson for the Northwest District's third state berth on Thursday.

-Juanita claimed the KingCo 4A crown with a 4-1 win against Eastlake, with league player of the year Tyler Bjork scoring a hat trick.

-Two tense finishes in KingCo 3A, where Skyline beat Newport 1-0 on a David Brett's goal in the 62nd minute, and then Sammamish beat Bellevue with two goals in the final seven minutes. (Yeah, it was a crazy night). They'll play for the right to play the Metro's third-place team in a winner-to-state game.

-Cedarcrest's undefeated season continues. R.J. Sorenson scored with 10 minutes left to beat Sehome and claim the school's second straight state-playoff trip.

-Finally, Shorecrest will play Mount Vernon in Thursday night's championship game after both teams won with shutouts last night.

Morning stars (Non-soccer or baseball edition)

1. Reid Martin, Kamiak, boys golf. Shot a four-under 68 at Harbour Pointe to lead the first round of the WesCo South tournament. Meanwhile, Kamiak girls golfer Seo Hee Moon won the WesCo South girls tournament at Walter Hall, and in KingCo 3A, defending 3A champ Brittany Tallman won the KingCo 3A tournament.

2. Stephanie Fox, Eastlake, softball. In a huge KingCo 4A game, Fox threw a shutout against Woodinville, and Eastlake held on to a 1-0 win thanks to Marissa Guches' solo home run.

3. Kori Seidlitz, Mountlake Terrace, softball. Threw a two-hit shutout with 16 strikeouts in a 7-0 win against Mariner.

Lem Elway's final baseball poll is out, with Richland staying on top in Class 4A, and Eastside Catholic jumping up a spot to No. 1 in Class 3A after a pair of wins last week against former No. 1 Bishop Blanchet.

(Records provided by Elway)

4A

1. Richland (19-1)
2. Redmond (18-2)
3. University (18-2)
4. Olympia (19-2)
5. Kentlake (16-4)
6. Snohomish (17-4)
7. Battle Ground (15-4)
8. Puyallup (17-4)
9. Tahoma (15-5)
10. Mountlake Terrace (15-6)

3A

1. Eastside Catholic (20-1)
2. Kelso (20-1)
3. Ferndale (16-2)
4. Skyline (15-5)
5. Blanchet (18-2)
6. Bonney Lake (15-5)
7. Timberline (15-4)
8. Capital (15-3)
9. Mt. Rainier (18-3)
10. Southridge (11-5)

2A

1. Sehome(17-2)
2. Selah (16-2)
3. WF West (16-1)
4. Fife (16-2)
5. Mark Morris (16-4)
6. River Ridge (15-3)
7. West Valley, Spokane (15-4)
8. East Valley, Yakima (15-4)
9. Lakewood (16-3)
10. Cedarcrest (15-5)

1A

1. Friday Harbor (17-0)
2. Kio-Benton (17-1)
3. Freeman (16-1)
4. Teninio (13-2)
5. Kalama (15-2)
6. Naches (15-3)
7. Orting (15-4)
8. Rochester (16-3)
9. Brewster (14-6)
10. Lakeside (13-6)

Who's the best high school athlete in state history? Such a simple question that ideally will spark not-so-simple debate. What does the best high school athlete mean to you? Most team success? Most post-HS success (like Brandon Roy or Tim Lincecum)? Records held?

All sorts of names come rushing in, some current, some recent, some from years before.

Make your case for the best in the comments. This should be fun!

Morning stars:

1. Eric Holpainen, O'Dea, baseball. The senior went 3-5 with three homeruns (one in each of the first three innings), seven RBI and three runs scored in O'Dea's 17-4 win over Nathan Hale.

2. Garrett Totten, Mountlake Terrace, baseball. The senior shortstop went 3-4 with a second-inning grand slam to give the Hawks a 9-2 win over Stanwood in the first round of the NW 4A district tournament.