Community Sports
Super Seniors | Gig Harbor High School girls
With the high school sports season completed, Gig Harbor Now presents our Super Seniors for the 2025-26 sports year.
Super Seniors recognizes seniors who had huge impacts on their teams during their careers at Peninsula and Gig Harbor high schools. Although many senior athletes excel at multiple sports, an athlete can only be selected once on our list.
The award is based on the athletes’ complete high school careers rather than an individual season. It includes Puget Sound League-sanctioned events, as well as water polo and lacrosse if those teams’ rosters included contributing seniors.
More Super Seniors
Peninsula girls (coming later this week).
The following are the Gig Harbor High School girls Super Seniors for the 2025-26 sports year, starting with fall sports participants.
From left, Hannah Artman, Kaliyah Miller, Ella Nimrick, and Lizzy Kolokithas and Karin Heikkila
Soccer: Karin Heikkila
Karin Heikkila (right). Photo by Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap Sun
Heikkila, a two-time Narrows Division MVP, was a tenacious competitor with a long, athletic body who possessed coordination, flexibility, balance and Ferrari-like top-end speed.
How fast was Heikkila? Fast enough to be a member of the Tides track team that won state 4×100 relay championships in successive years. She resembled a tenacious greyhound chasing down soccer balls in open space before ripping them into the net, but speed was just one of her many attributes.
Heikkila could score with either foot, get open against tight coverage, handle physical play and draw defenses while delivering pinpoint passes to teammates. She did all that while battling frequent defensive double teams.
Tides coach Robin Saathoff said Heikkila was easily one five best to ever lace up soccer shoes for Gig Harbor. She led her team to three state tournament appearances, three league championships and two district titles.
Heikkila is already making an impression for Samford University in Alabama. She started and played well in a 3-2 upset win over the University of Mississippi last week.
“Gig Harbor sports made me who I am as a person and an athlete and I’ve met the best people, coaches and mentors through it all,” Heikkila said. “I am so grateful for how it has prepared me for college and my life beyond.”
Girls swimming: Kaitlyn LaTendresse
Kaitlyn LaTendresse. Photo by Mike Kelly
LaTendresse was a freestyle and backstroke specialist who was nearly unbeatable in the pool during Puget Sound League matches. She also qualified for the Class 3A state swimming meet in several events during her career and finished fifth in both freestyle and backstroke events this season.
LaTendresse combined an explosive start off the blocks with an athletic freestyle stroke that was honed by Tides coach Mike Kelly and the competitive King County Aquatic Club. She was exceptional with her synchronized flip turns that increased her lead.
LaTendresse won four district titles as a senior. She set the school record in the 100 meter backstroke in a time of 58.72 and also won several district relay championships as a junior and sophomore.
She led the Tides to a seventh-place finish at the Class 3A state meet.
Volleyball: Hannah Artman
Hannah Artman. Photo courtesy Gig Harbor volleyball
Artman, a 6-foot middle blocker and outside hitter, amassed more than 575 kills during her three-year varsity career, with nearly as many blocks. Her Tides reached the second day of the Class 3A state volleyball tournament her senior year.
Artman combined leaping ability with excellent timing and an explosive right arm that fired missiles down the line or cross-court with pinpoint accuracy. Seniors Maggie Maharry and Payton Heim, both all-conference performers in their careers, also merited Super Senior consideration.
Artman prevailed as she contributed so much in both the offensive and defensive phases of the game and was the anchor when the team needed a big block or a kill to end an opponent’s rally.
Cross country: Ruby Savage
Ruby Savage. Photo by Patty Lea
Savage contributed on a deep cross country team that was stacked with talented underclassmen. She showed her value as an inspirational leader and a talented runner who added points to a team that finished fourth in the state. The Tides who won three league championships during Savage’s career.
Girls bowling: Kim Bornt
Kim Bornt. Photo courtesy of Gig Harbor bowling
Bornt qualified for the state tournament all four years, finishing seventh during her senior year. Known for her consistency and high-revolution spinners, Bornt had the talent to throw five or six strikes in a row when she got hot.
She turned in a blistering 977 over six frames that included a high game of 194 to earn the area’s only top-10 finish at state. She also bowled a 946 at state during her junior season to help the Tides finish 10th as a team.
Girls flag football: Emmalee Snell
Emmalee Snell. Photo courtesy of Vincent Starr
Snell, a shifty and quick tailback, could dodge defenders and run for touchdowns or catch passes with her soft hands in the flat before sprinting for big gains. She also played in the defensive secondary for the Tides and was a sure-handed flag puller who broke up several pass attempts as well.
Snell was also a member of the Tides’ state-tournament soccer team. Her soccer skills crossed over nicely to a sport where her position valued her speed, balance and elusiveness. Snell was a team captain who led the Tides on a late-season run that left them just one game short of a state tournament appearance in only the school’s second year of competition.
Girls basketball: Kaliyah Miller
Kaliyah Miller. Photo by Vincent Starr
Miller was a three-year starter and a two-time, first-team All-Narrows Division player. She scored more than 1,000 points in her Gig Harbor career and led her team to a Narrows Division crown, a 19-6 record and a state tournament appearance her senior season.
Miller will best be remembered for her shooting range. She was a threat to bomb away from 25 feet out with an effortless stroke that stayed compact and smooth even at deep range. She led her team in scoring as a senior and a junior, averaging 14.1 and 12.1 points per game, respectively.
Miller was also a skilled passer who led her team in assists at 3.7 per game and a capable defender who collected 3.9 steals per game.
Girls wrestling: Ella Nimrick
Elanor Nimrick of Gig Harbor. Photo by Veronica Foley
Nimrick, a tactician on the mat who capitalized whenever her opponent made a mistake, finished third in the 110-pound division at Mat Classic as a senior. Perhaps her most memorable performance, however, came during a dual meet against Peninsula.
Nimrick brought a packed Gig Harbor gymnasium to its feet when she wrestled against a quality male Peninsula opponent. She fought off a pin attempt, earned a reversal and ultimately drove her opponents shoulders to the mat for a pin as the crowd roared.
“That’s who Ella is….she’s a fighter and she truly inspires us all,” coach Blake Moser said.
Fastpitch: Payton Cantrell
Payton Cantrell. Photo courtesy of Gig Harbor fastpitch
Cantrell batted .542 with 26 RBIs to lead the Tides in both categories this season and came up clutch in the Tides’ run to the state tournament. The talented catcher earned first-team All-Narrows Division recognition for her efforts. Cantrell was a three-year starter and four-year player for a Tides team that made the state tournament every year she played.
Cantrell rarely allowed pitched balls past her catchers mitt, had a shotgun arm that kept base runners from advancing and was an excellent defensive catcher who could receive throws from the outfield and apply quick tags to prevent runs.
Girls golf: Laila Douglas
Laila Douglas. Photo by Jeff Milbourn
Douglas, a smooth-swinging senior, was surrounded by exceptionally talented younger teammates and was relegated to a sixth place spot on a varsity roster where only five scores count. But she had been a dependable varsity player over the past few seasons.
The stacked Tides finished third at state last season, so being No. 6 on a team that talented is still very good. Douglas maintained a positive attitude while continuing to practicing hard.
But here’s where Douglas’s story gets interesting: She was selected to play in the Puget Sound League championships as an individual, against the whole field. Douglas shocked the field and won the PSL title, earning an individual bid to state along the way.
Girls track: Lejla Carlsson
Lejla Carlsson. Photo by Russell Moore
Carlsson was a middle-distance star who helped the Tides finish second at state as a team during her senior year. She finished second in the Class 3A 1,600 meters, just 0.3 seconds away from an individual championship.
At nearly 6-feet tall, Carlsson had long strides, an impressive burst of speed and exceptional lung capacity.
She won a state title as a member of the Tides’ 4×400 relay as a sophomore and racked up six top-five state finishes in her career. Carlsson was also a cross country star and set school records in both sports.
Track coach Kevin Eager called Carlsson “special.”
“She is an exceptional athlete, an exceptional competitor and an exceptional person, who we were so very fortunate to have in our program,” Eager said.
Water polo: Lauren Elliott
Lauren Elliott. Photo by Mike Kelly
Elliott led the Tides to a third-place finish in the Division One state tournament after a podium finish in 2025 as well. She was one of two senior leaders on the team that lost a ton of talent before last season. A speedy swimmer with a strong right arm, Elliott was also a physical defender.
Stamina was also a huge part of her game. The Tides’ starters routinely played virtually the whole game, and that’s where Elliott excelled. She seemed to get stronger as a match went on.
The water polo coaches committee named Elliott first-team all-state.
Tennis: Lauren Pitt
Lauren Pitt. Photo courtesy Malia Fraser
Pitt combined dependable ground strokes from both sides with a solid serve and quick reflexes at net to become a four-year varsity player.
Pitt spent time at first singles, second singles and on all three doubles teams before settling in on the Tides’ No. 1 doubles team to play with her younger sister, Sarina.
The duo was one of the better doubles teams in a stacked Narrows Division. They made a run through the district tournament before falling a match short of making the state tournament.
Lacrosse: Lizzy Kolokithas
Lizzy Kolokithas. Photo courtesy of the Riptides
Some say a team is only as good as their goalie. The Riptides (a club team combining players from Gig Harbor and Peninsula high schools) had one of the top goalies in the state last year in Kolokithas. The senior combined excellent instincts, reflexes and toughness. She often charged out from goal to intercept passes before quickly firing pinpoint dots to her offensive teammates past the midfield line.
A two-time team captain, Kolokithas had a huge presence in goal and made life difficult for opposing players. She was a two time first-team Peninsula Conference selection with a remarkable 62 percent save average.
Riptides coach Mackenzie Harding called Kolokithas “the quarterback of the defense” who used her loud leadership to will her team to victories.
The Riptides drew defending state champion Seattle Prep in the state playoffs that were previously scoring with ease. But they cooled off against Kolokithas, who had 19 saves in a 12-8 loss. The state lacrosse coaching committee made Kolokithas a first-team all-state selection.
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