FOOTBALL
1990 Season
As a sophomore for Nooksack Valley, he saw limited playing time here and there. It was team loaded with talent (Dave Longoria, Troy Slayton and Tom Ackerman), but in a tough league, wins were hard to come by.
Usually limited to a carry, or two, per game, he showed glimpses of what was going to make him great in the future.
Against the eventual league champion Lynden Christian Lyncs midway through the season he touched the ball just twice in that game and gained 62 yards.
The Pioneers finished the season with a 3-6 record.
1991 Season
As a junior, his roles became much more involved. He was starting at running back, in the secondary and was returning kicks.
In game one against Blaine, he rushed for 56 yards and caught two passes for 37 yards in a 27-14 victory. He did it one better the following week at home against Mount Baker as he scored his first varsity touchdown when he intercepted a pass right in front of his own sidelines and raced 53 yards for the score. He capped the evening with a 29-yard touchdown run as the Pioneers defeated the Mountaineers 33-0.
The next three games didn’t go as planned as Nooksack Valley lost to Lynden, Meridian and Lynden Christian. In each of the games, the Pioneers were only able to score once.
They got back on track against Blaine by beating the Borderites 8-7 at home, with Kortlever rushing for a season-high 63 yards on 15 carries.
He scored his third touchdown of the season the following week at Mount Baker in a 19-7 win, which set up the big showdown against Lynden.
The Pioneers defeated the eventual state champions 14-13 in hard fought game that saw Kortlever rush for 31 yards.
Nooksack Valley finished the season with a 26-19 win over Meridian, and he ran for 62 yards and a touchdown.
The Pioneers just missed out on the playoffs with a 6-3 record. Kortlever was second on the team with 429 yards rushing, second on the team in receptions with seven and he averaged almost 21 yards per kickoff return. He also averaged 33.3 yards per punt.
He was named All-WCL Honorable Mention at both running back and defensive back.
1992 Season
It was a new team as Kortlever transferred to Blaine, and the Borderites went winless the season before. A lot was put on the shoulders of Kortlever, and he answered in a big way in game one.
Kortlever kicked off the season at Mount Baker, and he led his team to a 48-0 victory. He needed just 12 carries to run for a career-high 184 yards and two touchdowns. His 15.3 average yards per carry broke the school record, and remained the record for six years.
He was now known as one of the best running backs in the league, but his defense also began to shine as well, as he intercepted at least one pass in the next five games in a row.
He ran for 111 yards and a touchdown against Lynden in week two, but the Lions won 27-15. In the following week he faced his old teammates where he ran for 137 yards and a career-high three touchdowns in a 27-0 win.
He exploded for 131 yards and two touchdowns the following week against Friday Harbor in a 40-0 shutout.
The Borderites began to slide after that game as they were beaten by Lynden (despite Kortlever’s 114 yards), shutout by Lynden Christian and lost a non-league game at Cashmere 27-19.
Blaine bounced back at home by defeating Mount Baker 20-13 in overtime. He finished with 133 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
It was a foggy mess in the finale at Meridian as the Trojans dropped the Borderites 31-14.
Despite missing the playoffs, Kortlever was named All-WCL 1st Team at both running back and defensive back. He finished with 923 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns on offense, and he intercepted seven passes on defense.
Football Career
He was one of the most dynamic players of the 1990’s in Whatcom County, and he did a little bit of everything. Tremendous speed, and great instincts blended together perfectly as he stood out on the football field. In 2014 he was named #358 on the History of Whatcom County High School Football’s Top 500 list. One of very few players to have double-digit career interceptions.
CAREER OFFENSIVE STATISTICS
CAREER DEFENSIVE STATISTICS
CAREER SPECIAL TEAMS STATISTICS
BASKETBALL
1990-91 Season
In his sophomore season, he was a backup guard on the Nooksack Valley basketball team.
He scored his first points of the season in game seven against Meridian, which the Pioneers narrowly won 56-55.
He scored a season-high seven points in a 74-45 loss to the eventual state-champion Lynden Lions.
The Pioneers made it to the district tournament, and opened up with a 49-44 win over Granite Falls, but eventually fell to Lynden and Meridian in the following two games to end their season.
Nooksack Valley finished 12-12, and Kortlever scored 17 points in the 14 games he played.
1991-92 Season
As a junior, he again shined as a defensive specialist and it was quite a ride for the Pioneers.
A tremendously well-balanced team that saw eight different players score double-digit points in multiple games throughout the season, with only one player averaging double-digit points for the entire season.
Kortlever was one of the eight as he scored 11 points in game two against Granite Falls, and 11 points in the home finale against Friday Harbor.
The Pioneers made the district tournament once again, and they defeated King’s and Lynden Christian by a combined 31 points to reach the district championship game.
In that game they faced Lynden, who won 48-36. However, the Pioneers were state-bound.
They opened up the state tournament with a 39-36 win over Highland, and followed that up the next day with a convincing 75-51 trouncing over Washougal.
They couldn’t keep the momentum alive on Friday as they lost to Toppenish 53-45, and finished tournament with a 66-44 loss to Ephrata.
Nooksack Valley finished with a record of 17-10, and Kortlever scored 88 points in 26 games.
1992-93 Season
Now with the Borderites as a senior, Blaine was building something special under coach Rob Ridnour.
They started the season with a 10-game winning streak including a 56-55 win over Port Townsend with took five overtimes!
Kortlever was in the starting lineup and fit perfectly into Blaine’s full-court press defense. He was also usually regarded as the fastest player on the court with or without the ball in his hands.
In game 11, Blaine faced Kortlever’s old team, the Pioneers. It was a huge matchup in the county, as Nooksack Valley came in with an 8-2 record, with its only blemishes coming against city powers Bellingham and Sehome.
Kortlever scored 14 points in the game, but the 22 points from Mike Coppinger and 15 of Vince Anderson proved to be too much as Blaine dropped its first game of the season.
It was the only game of the regular season as Blaine went into the district playoffs with a 19-1 record.
The Borderites opened up the district tournament with a 68-40 win over South Whidbey, and followed with a 55-52 win over Bellevue Christian which took four overtimes. Kortlever scored in double digits in both games.
Then, it was the rematch, as Blaine would face Nooksack Valley in the district championship game.
The Borderites won 57-53 to secure the district championship and they went to state with a 22-1 record.
It was a tough draw as Blaine was beaten in the first round by Ephrata 49-42.
Even though state-title aspirations were dashed, the Borderites went on to defeat Orting 52-38 and Forks 71-44 to get to the final day of the state tournament where they ultimately fell to Connell 44-40.
Blaine finished 21-3 on the season, and Kortlever was the third leading scorer on the team with 227 points in 27 games.
Basketball Career
Known as a defensive stopper, he turned into a pretty good scorer as well. More than that, he was a winner. In the 67 varsity games that he played in, his team won 46 times. He’s also one of very few players in Whatcom County history to pick up state tournament wins with two different Whatcom County teams. He went on to play college basketball at Whatcom Community College.
CAREER STATISTICS
BASEBALL
1991 Season
As a sophomore he inserted right into the starting lineup as an outfielder, and he occasionally pitched as well.
His first varsity hit came in game two against Mount Baker, where he also started the game on the mound and pitched three innings.
He got his first varsity run batted in a week and a half later against Cascade-Leavenworth in a 5-4 loss. He also started that game on the mound, went five innings and took the no decision.
That game also started a streak in which he would hit safely in seven straight games, including racking up multiple hits in four straight games.
The team reached the district playoffs, but were ultimately eliminated by Mount Baker 4-2.
Kortlever finished the season with 14 hits and seven runs batted in. He also pitched in four games, starting two of them, and totaled 10 innings on the mound. The Pioneers finished 9-11.
1992 Season
His roles were upped during his junior campaign, especially as a pitcher. He started a team-high seven games on the mound, and came in as a relief pitcher an additional three times.
The Pioneers began the season trading wins and losses over and over again before going on a four-game winning streak in the beginning of April.
One of those four wins was a 7-5 victory over Cashmere in which Kortlever got the complete-game victory while also collecting a pair of hits.
His hitting was on point throughout the entire season, and he finished with eight multi-hit games, including a pair of 3-hit games to open up the district tournament.
He also knocked in three runs in a league road win over Friday Harbor, and did it again in the district opener against South Whidbey.
The Pioneers won three of four games at districts to advance to the regional round of the state tournament where they fell 8-3 to Elma.
They finished 15-9 on the season and Kortlever totaled 28 hits and 13 runs batted in. He also had a 2-3 record on the bump while pitching 33 innings.
1993 Season
Now on the Blaine squad for his senior season, Coach Gary Clausen had the pitching covered with hard-throwing right handers Tyler Swinburnson and Jason Wildermuth.
The hitting was going to be there, as he proved to be able to do the previous two seasons.
He made an immediate impact early on against Stanwood with three hits and two runs batted in.
He was also a big part of putting a halt to Mount Baker’s 17-game WCL winning streak in the top of the eighth when reached on a bunt single and eventually scored.
A few weeks later his sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the ninth moved the runner into scoring position moments before he scored the game-winning run against Lynden.
He also scored the go-ahead run against Lakewood in a loser-out contest of the district playoffs, but the Cougars ended up coming back to defeat the Borderites 6-4.
Blaine’s season ended with a 13-9-1 record, and Kortlever finished with a .324 batting average, 22 hits, 13 RBIs and a team-high 12 stolen bases.
Baseball Career
He did a little bit of everything for two different squads, but he’ll mostly be remembered for his ability to get on base and make things happen on the base paths. He finished his high school career with 64 hits and 33 RBI’s, both near the top of the leaderboards for the decade of the 1990’s
TRACK AND FIELD
1993 Season
One fun things about his senior season was that occasionally after, or sometimes during a baseball game (if it was out of hand), he would run over to the football stadium and compete in the track meet. Not only did he compete, but he did very well.
In his first competition he took first place in the 200 meters (23.9) against Anacortes, and took third place in the 100 meters.
A week later he took first place in 200 again, this time against Lynden Christian and Nooksack Valley. He also helped the 4×100 relay team take first place.
In week three of the season at Meridian he took first place in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.1 seconds, which is one of the fastest times in school history. He also won the 200 meter dash for the third time in a row, this time with a time of 23.6 seconds.
Against Lynden he finished in second place in both 100 and the 200 against eventual state champion sprinter, Scott Noteboom.
Late in the season against Mount Baker and Friday Harbor, he helped the 4×100 relay team take first place along with Byron Scheib, Tom Coe and Dan DeLong.
Blaine took first place in the WCL Championships, with Kortlever’s 4×400 relay team taking first place as he teamed up with Lathen Deming, Dan DeLong and Rob Bradbury. He also took third place in the 200 meters, and the 4×100 relay to advance to districts.
He took fourth place in the 200 meter dash at districts to head to state, but wasn’t able to place at state. Blaine took 10th place as a team.
