The winter sports season has come to an end for athletes at Oak Harbor and Coupeville High Schools, and congratulations go out to everyone — players, coaches and fans who made the season an enjoyable one.

In particular, I’d like to recognize Oak Harbor junior swimmer John Hu, who was the first Wildcat boy to bring home a gold medal.

Also, a big tip of the hat goes to freshman wrestler Josh Martinez, who brought home the silver medal in the 103-pound weight division at the state championship. Keep your eyes on this young man, as we are going to hear a lot more about him.

All things considered, both schools had pretty good winter seasons.

In a way, it was sort of an unfortunate set of circumstances — especially in girls basketball at Oak Harbor and Coupeville boys basketball.

Both schools fielded outstanding teams with many veteran players on the roster, and will probably not have as much talent together on the same team for several years to come.

The only problem was, teams in both the WesCo North and the Cascade Leagues were also able to put experienced, talented players on the court.

The Oak Harbor girls returned the entire starting lineup from last year and their experience and maturity showed as the Wildcats won two games at the district tournament, and came within a fraction of advancing to the state tournament as the district’s No. 3 seed.

In the league, Oak Harbor finished 11-5 and tied for third place with Marysville-Pilchuck.

Lake Stevens finished 15-1 in the WesCo North and Snohomish was 14-2.

Oak Harbor did gain a measure of revenge, sending the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks home with a defeat at the district tournament.

The Coupeville boys were the No. 2 Class 1A seed from the Class 2A/1A Cascade League and played some tough basketball to finish 7-7.

Of course, the Wolves had to deal with undefeated King’s, (also a 1A school in the league), along with 2A Cedarcrest, South Whidbey and Archbishop Murphy.

Coupeville showed its mettle beating Cedarcrest convincingly in the final game of the regular season, but then had its season ended by Friday Harbor.

Another bright spot during the winter was the play of the Coupeville girls, who also finished 7-7 in the league, but earned the No. 1 seed with a pair of victories over King’s.

The Wolves won two games in the sub-district and advanced to the bi-district before being knocked out by Vashon Island.

The Oak Harbor boys suffered through a frustrating basketball campaign and there is no need to mention what their overall record was. What needs to be mentioned is the spirit of the Wildcats, who never gave up and continued to play to the best of their abilities in every game.

Most of the athletes who played winter sports are now in the process of getting ready for the spring seasons and it will be fun to watch them and outdoors.

How about you fans getting out to catch a little sun and cheer your favorites on to victory? I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.