Community Sports

Sports Beat | Tides relays looking strong again

The state’s finest track and field athletes turned up the heat in the sunshine on Saturday, May 2, at the South Sound Classic at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. The meet is a tune-up for the postseason that annually attracts the top teams from around the region.

The Gig Harbor track team made hay in the past with a stable of middle- and long-distance runners. The Tides have shifted gears this year and have plenty of speed in the sprints. Both boys and girls relay teams are among the state’s fastest.

Relay excellence

The Gig Harbor girls 4×100 team won the state Class 3A title in 2025 by a few tenths of a second, thanks to incredible baton-passing and a well-timed lean at the tape by Isabelle Harruff.

Anjanae Humphrey graduated from that team, but Karin Heikkila, Eisley Hering and Harruff return. They would love to hang another first-place medal around their necks.

Gig Harbor relay runner Eisley Hering. Photo courtesy Gig Harbor track

Addison Sullivan-Glennon joined the returning trio on Saturday in Puyallup. Their 48.14 relay was good enough to earn second place, just .02 seconds behind Mercer Island.

That time is only 0.18 seconds slower than the Tides’ state-championship winning mark of 47.96 last year. Gig Harbor still has 26 days to improve their timing before Star Track, the state championship, on May 30.

Longtime Tides coach Kevin Eager and his staff have proven they can coach relay teams. They spend countless hours with their athletes perfecting the art of blind baton handoffs, passing zone start sequences and running the corners.

Successful relay teams keep their pace constant through their handoffs without lulls in momentum that are the death of many quick teams. Last year’s team certainly had fast individuals, but they won a title with teamwork. No member of the girls 4×100 team was in serious contention for an individual state 100-meter title.

Karin Heikilla clears a hurdle during the state championship meet last spring. Photo courtesy of Kevin Eager

Boys 4×100 third

Further proof to Eager’s abilities happened when the boys 4×100 team of Troy Arnold, Justin Morris, Gavin Olson and Atzel Askew-Poirier came in third at the Classic. Their blistering time of 42.61 was a shoelace behind Lincoln (42.57) and Silas (42.16). No individual Tides runner finished in the top 14 of the boys 100-meter individual race on Saturday.

The girls 4×200 relay team had another impressive showing, placing third in 1:42.75. The team includes Harruff, Sullivan-Glennon, Kennedy Collins and promising freshman Violet Lester.

Troy Arnold of Gig Harbor takes the baton from Atzel Askew-Poirier during a 4×100 meter relay race. Photo courtesy of Gig Harbor track

Suri Sardinia of Peninsula finished second in the discus with a throw of 138 feet, three inches. That was just eight inches short of the winning throw of a contestant from Lake Stevens.

Sardinia was fourth in the shot put with a heave of 40 feet, one inch, eleven inches from the winning toss.

Gavin McKeegan of Gig Harbor finished fifth in the boys 3,200 meters with a time of 9:25.78. Gig Harbor freshman Maya Crane finished seventh in the 1,600 meters.

Peninsula thrower Suri Sardinia after a recent win. Photo courtesy of Peninsula track and field

Team results

The Gig Harbor boys finished 21st as a team with 11 points. The Tides girls finished 13th with 19 points while Peninsula was 17th with 13 points.

All four teams will participate in the Puget Sound League track and field championships at South Sound Stadium on May 13.

Peninsula wins singles, Gig Harbor sweeps doubles

Peninsula (4-6) put a scare into the Gig Harbor (9-2) girls tennis team on April 21, winning both singles matches. But the Tides swept three doubles matches to prevail on Gig Harbor’s court.

Peninsula senior McKenna Baurichter already has a South Sound Conference singles championship and a Puget Sound League doubles championship on her resumé. But Gig Harbor’s Anya Schmid pushed her hard in a back-and-forth battle between the schools’ top singles players.

Schmid, a talented junior who is 8-3 on the year, defeated Baurichter 6-3 in the first set. That got Baurichter’s attention — she has never lost a previous match against a Gig Harbor opponent during her high school career.

Baurichter used her dependable first serve to take control of the second set, winning 6-3. Schmid’s fast-paced groundstrokes helped keep her close in the third set, but Baurichter prevailed 6-4 to keep her crosstown rivalry streak unblemished.

Junior Olivia Mercao of Peninsula won the No. 2 singles match against Gig Harbor sophomore Brandie Best to give the Seahawks a 2-0 lead.

But the Tides’ sister combo of Lauren and Sarina Pitt sparked a rally by winning the No. 1 doubles match. The Pitts are 8-2 on the season and look like PSL championship contenders.

The Tides later racked up wins over Lakes (4-1) and North Thurston (5-0) before falling to Puget Sound League leader Bellarmine (4-1) at home on April 28. Gig Harbor is in third place in the 16-team league.

Tides prevail in boys golf

The Gig Harbor boys golf team won its crosstown match-up versus Peninsula (3-4) by 25 strokes on April 28 at Madrona Links. The score was 182-207.

Theo Snyder led the Tides with a 34 for nine holes. Freshman Zane Allred and sophomore Charlie Eichenberg both shot 36s, while Max Ferrier completed the course in 37 strokes and Carson Hill contributed a 39.

Peninsula senior Dustin Gerlach hung close to Snyders score for most of the round and ended with an impressive 36.

Peninsula senior Christian Callan finished fifth overall with a 37, four strokes ahead of sophomore Hudson Beck. Shepherd Zarter came in at 46 while senior Scott Raymond shot a 49.

The Tides subsequently clinched their fourth consecutive league championship with a win over Bellarmine on April 30. Snyder missed that match, because he was busy winning an opening round U.S. Open qualifier in DuPont.

The Puget Sound League boys championships were Monday, May 4, at the Capital City Golf Course.

Girls golf ranked No. 1 in state

The Gig Harbor girls golf team defeated Peninsula by 95 strokes, 220-315, on April 28 at Gig Harbor Golf Club.

The Tides are No. 1 in the WIAA Class 3A girls golf rankings. They average 6.5 strokes over par for nine holes from their top five players. By comparison, No. 2 Bellevue averages 13.1 strokes over par from their top five players.

Gig Harbor dominated the recent Kitsap Invitational at Gold Mountain in Bremerton, winning the tournament by 12 strokes over a field that included state contenders Kamiak, Silas, Bellarmine Prep and Mercer Island.

The No. 1-ranked Gig Harbor girls golf team. Photo courtesy of Jeff Milbourn

Coach Jeff Milbourn has a tough decision on his hands picking his top five players for postseason play. He figures he has eight golfers with elite talent.

His top six for most of the season have included Olivia Snyder, Kaliyah Ikei, Layna and Myla Louch, and senior captains Sophia Skogen and Laila Douglas.

The Puget Sound League girls golf championships are Tuesday, May 5, at the Capital City Golf Course.