Community Sports

Sports Beat | Tides impress at tournament against many of the state’s top golfers

With the Masters golf tournament in full swing, it seems appropriate to focus on two local golf teams with realistic state championship aspirations.

Gig Harbor’s boys and girls golf teams are both unbeaten in league play and loaded with the talent it takes to contend for a state trophy.

The Gig Harbor girls finished second at the Class 3A state championships at Indian Canyon in Spokane last spring. Ace Carli Ikei finished third individually, but has graduated. However, the rest of the team returned some uber-talented freshmen joined them.

The Tides faced some of the top teams in the state at the Gamble Sands Invitational on March 31. The tournament combines the scores of each team’s top four players to decide an overall winner on the undulating 6,207-yard, par-72, 18-hole course in the Okanogan County town of Brewster.

Gig Harbor golfer Myla Louch. Photo by Jeff Milbourn

Big win against tough field

The Tides obliterated a talented field.

Gig Harbor beat their closest competitor, Bellarmine, by a combined 34 strokes. The Tides burned through the Sands to post a smoking-hot total of 295, an average of 73.5 strokes per golfer.

Just how good are those scores?

Based on USGA and handicap distribution data, the percentage of women golfers who can score a 73 (one over par on a typical 72- par course) for 18 holes is likely less than 1% of all female golfers.

But the Tides have five or six golfers who can go that low and a few more that wait in the wings and battle every week in practice.

Several top golfers

Freshman Olivia Snyder is fresh off a coveted Washington Junior Golf Association state title last season in her age group. Several more Tides players have been near the top of those leaderboards for years.

At Gamble Sands, Gig Harbor sophomores Kaliya Ikei and Myla Louch tied for top honors. Both fired even-par 72s, even though they only had one practice round to acclimate to the course. Synder shot a clean 3-over-par 75, and the experienced senior leader Sofia Skogen shot a 76.

Freshman Layna Louch has also turned heads with her play. She hit the longest drive of the day for the Tides after her bomb on 18 kept going and going. Louch and teammate Mel Schuchart each shot efficient, 6-over-par 78s.

Gig Harbor golfer Kaliya Ikei. Photo by Jeff Milbourn

The Tides have since rolled through Puget Sound League competition, beating Timberline and River Ridge by at least 88 strokes on April 2.

Gig Harbor has a dual match against their two closest PSL competitors — Bellarmine and Capital — at the Olympia Country Club on April 14 in a match that will probably decide the regular-season league title.

The Tides play Peninsula at 2:30 p.m. April 28 at the Gig Harbor Golf Club.

Theo Snyder shines against state’s best

The Gig Harbor boys golf team is also extremely talented. They finished sixth in the state last season, with Theo Snyder placing fourth individually.

Now a senior, Snyder has gotten even better this season. He averages 3.9 strokes under par this year, one of the best averages in the nation. His extensive national and international play in the offseason has him tuned up and ready to win a Class 3A state title.

Synder’s chances look very promising after he fired a 9-under-par 63 to win Gamble Sands last month. The Tides finished second as a team, behind champion Cheney High School.

Gig Harbor is once again unbeaten in Puget Sound League play.

Gig Harbor golfer Theo Snyder. Photo by Dennis Browne

Other Tides

Freshman Zane Allred is averaging 0.8 under par for nine holes and has been cutting Madrona Links’ tight corners with perfection this season. He learned the ropes from a pro.

His father, Jason, held a Professional Golf Association card for three years. He participated in five major championships and 70 PGA tournaments before accepting an assistant coaching job at Pepperdine University.

Tides senior Max Ferrier is holding down the third spot on the team with a 1.6-over-par average. Sophomores Charlie Eichenberg and James Burleigh are Gig Harbor’s No. 4 and 5 golfers.

Also contributing is junior August Schaumburg, a lengthy hitter who averages 2.46 strokes over par but has a game befitting the longer courses the Tides will play on in the postseason.

Gig Harbor will face Peninsula at home on the Madrona Links course on at 2:30 p.m. April 28.

Gig Harbor freshman golfer Zane Allred. Photo courtesy Gig Harbor golf

Tides sweep dual meet

Gig Harbor swept a boys and girls track and field dual meet against Peninsula and Lakes on April 9.

The Tides boys won by a point over Lakes, 63-62, with Peninsula third at 56 points.

The Tides girls team had more room to spare, beating Lakes 76.5 to 58. Peninsula was third with 51.25 points.

Gig Harbor returns three-quarters of the girls 4×100 relay team that won a state championship in 2025. Peninsula returns Puget Sound League champions Suri Sardinia (discus and shot put) and Emma Young (high jump).

Suri Sardinia won the shot put and the discus during a dual meet against Gig Harbor and Lakes. Photo courtesy PHS track and field

Results from the April 9 dual meet:

Boys

100 meters: Gig Harbor senior Gavin Olson won in 11:25.

200 meters: Olson was second in 22.82.

400 meters: Peninsula freshman Channing Gilbert was second in 54.38.

800 meters: Gig Harbor sophomore Bennett Jamieson was second in 2:12.95.

1,600 meters: Gig Harbor senior Gavin McKeegan won in 4:27.17.

3,200 meters: Gig Harbor junior Joshua Minner won in 9:43.95.

110-meter hurdles: Gig Harbor senior Asher Finch won in 17.96.

300-meter hurdles: Peninsula junior Eaton HansonSmith won in 46.20.

4×100 relay: Gig Harbor (Justin Morris, Atzel Chavez Avelar, Troy Arnold, Olson) won in 43.24.

4×400 relay: Peninsula (Wyatt Harding, Cuda Ferencik, Anthony Valenzuela, Gilbert) won in 3:47.15.

Shot put: Peninsula senior Kolby Karabinos won with a throw or 43 feet, 1 inch.

Discus: Karabinos won with a throw of 119 feet, 3 inches.

Javelin: Peninsula sophomore Brody Finch won with a throw of 138 feet, 4 inches.

High jump: Peninsula freshman Elijah Petersen was fourth, clearing 5 feet, 2 inches.

Pole vault: Gig Harbor sophomore Nash Michael was second at 9 feet, 6 inches.

Long jump: Peninsula senior Trever Bingham, third, 19 feet, 5.25 inches.

Triple jump: Gig Harbor sophomore Henry Harding, second at 38 feet, 6 inches.

Girls

100 meters: Gig Harbor junior Isabelle Harruff won in 12.77.

200 meters: Gig Harbor freshman Violet Lester won in2 6.19.

400 meters: Gig Harbor junior Clarabelle Simmonds was third in 1:05.72.

800 meters: Gig Harbor freshman Maya Crane won in 2:24.01.

1,600 meters: Gig Harbor senior Ruby Savage won in 5:29.47.

3,200 meters: Gig Harbor sophomore Ella Savage won in 11:54.97.

100-meter hurdles: Gig Harbor freshman Eisley Hering won in 15.63.

300-meter hurdles: Gig Harbor senior Karin Heikkila won in 47.87.

4×100 relay: Gig Harbor (Hering, Heikkila, Addison Sullivan-Glennon , Harruff) won in 49.49.

4×200 relay: Peninsula (Annie Jensen, Ali Jacobson, Nora Sutherland, Brooklyn Mays) second in 1:50.90.

Shot put: Peninsula senior Suri Sardinia won with a throw of 38 feet, 2.5 inches.

Discus: Sardinia won with a throw of 132 feet, 5 inches.

Javelin: Peninsula freshman Emi HansonSmith, third, 87 feet even.

High jump: Peninsula senior Emma Young, won with a leap of 5 feet, 2 inches.

Pole vault: Gig Harbor junio Ella Morris was second at 8 feet, 6 inches.

Long jump: HansonSmith won at 15 feet, 9.75 inches

Triple jump: Young won at 31 feet, 5.25 inches

Eisley Hering of Gig Harbor won the 100-meter hurdles during a meet against Peninsula and Lakes. Photo courtesy Gig Harbor track and field