Community Sports

Sports Beat | Seahawks out-swim Tides for first time in 20 years

The Peninsula Seahawks (5-0) girls swimming team did what has proven to be very difficult in the past — defeat their crosstown rival, Gig Harbor. The Seahawks won the Shark Bowl, 116-69, on Sept. 29 at Gig Harbor High School.

It’s Peninsula’s first win over Gig Harbor since 2006. The Seahawks put that slide to rest while winning all nine swimming events at the dual meet.

The Peninsula High swimming team after defeating Gig Harbor for the first time since 2006. Photo courtesy of PHS swimming

Hunter Hobbs is in his third season coaching the Seahawks after he was a standout swimmer at the Peninsula just four years ago.

He emphasizes the importance of efforts from all of his swimmers and that’s allowed him to build a strong team from top to bottom.

“This is so exciting. We’ve been working towards a season like this for a while,” Hobbs said. “To see the girls’ hard work pay off is beyond rewarding. We as a coaching staff put in so much time and thought into how we train, so it’s cool to see the athletes throwing down quick times so early in the year.”

The Seahawks started out strong with a win by the 200 medley relay team of Steffi Delacruz, Leila Roddy, Bianca Henderson and Allison Taylor. Another Peninsula team took second.

Lee Gjertson won the 200-yard freestyle by nine seconds and Roddy won the 200 intermediate medley by 10 seconds. Boe Ballard swam a blistering 25.33 seconds in the 50 freestyle.

Lee Gjertson of Peninsula won the 200 freestyle and contributed to a relay win in the Seahawks’ victory over Gig Harbor. Photo by Athena Petterson

Gig Harbor got its lone victory from the diving board. Reigning state champion Jane Jackman proved she’s on a whole other level with a score of 234.0, 120 points better than second place. Jackman, a sophomore, finished in the top ten at national meets this summer.

Henderson nipped the Tides’ Audrey LaTendresse by a second in the 100-yard butterfly before Roddy won the grueling 500 freestyle by 13 seconds.

Sophia Evers joined with Ballard, Henderson and Gjertson to win the 200-yard freestyle relay by nine seconds. Delacruz was a second faster than Gig Harbor’s Snegana Yestifieieva in the 100-yard backstroke, winning in a time of 1:07.96.

Tides sweep Seahawks in volleyball

Gig Harbor (3-3) played consistently throughout their 3-0 girls volleyball victory over Peninsula (3-3) in Purdy on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

Both teams displayed crisp passing, powerful spikes, and all-out effort in the crosstown rivalry match that was filled with emotions and hustle.

The Seahawks, led by energetic new coach Tommi Gallucci, came out hot. Senior jumping jack Elsie Leavengood smashed a kill to give the Seahawks an early 6-4 lead before an ace by Tides setter Kaija Mackie knotted the score at 6-6.

Gig Harbor setter Kaija Mackie. Photo by Bryce Carithers

Peninsula responded behind a spike from 6-foot-1 senior Leah Schmidt, an all-conference performer last year who has a rocket launcher for a right arm.

The Seahawks also received fine play from the 5-foot-10 Emi HansonSmith, who made plays all over the court.

Tides rally repeatedly

But Gig Harbor, coached by Slade Klein, is loaded with powerful and athletic frontline players and back-line standouts who were error-free for much of the first game.

The Tides eventually won the opener 25-19 when three Seahawks rushed to the ball on the game’s final point, but each thought the other would get it.

Peninsula again took a lead midway through the second game, but the Tides stormed back behind the net play of 6-foot-1 Kylie Goranson, who had several rally-ending kills.

Kylie Goranson of Gig Harbor. Photo by Bryce Carithers

The Tides also got a fine effort from 5-foot-10 Adaline Anderson, who may be the Tides’ best athlete, plus some well-placed shots from sophomore Piper Costa-Hodskins.

Despite serving three straight balls out of bounds in crunch time, the Tides clawed their way back to a 24-22 lead in the second game. Then Anderson blasted a laser at HansonSmith, who popped the ball up perfectly to the middle of the court. But indecision cost the Seahawks again.

All Gallucci could do at that point was put her hands on her head as the Tides celebrated the 25-22 game win to take a 2-0 lead.

Back-and-forth third set

The third set was a back-and-forth affair that featured several long rallies as both teams displayed how hungry they were to win.

Emi HansonSmith of Peninsula. Photo by Bryce Carithers

Mackie, the Tides’ setter, stood out with several excellent passes under pressure while Seahawk libero Eden Thoennes made fantastic digs to keep points alive for Peninsula.

With the score tied at 11 in the third game, Goranson smashed a shot that ricocheted hard off a Seahawk into the crowd. Schmidt answered on the next point as she went high over Goranson to plant a ball straight down in a “anything you can do, I can do better” moment.

The Tides were ahead 22-20 when Gig Harbor returning first-team all-conference player Bethany Rajnus had the point of the night. The 6-foot senior stuffed two shots close to the net to win the point.

Bethany Rajnus of Gig Harbor during the Tides’ 3-0 sweep of Peninsula. Photo by Bryce Carithers

The straight-set victory was definitely tougher than the final score indicated.

Both teams are good but will have uphill battles to win their divisions. Timberline of the Nisqually Division is ranked third in the state while Central Kitsap of the Narrows Division is ranked seventh.

Klein feels this is the deepest team he has had at Gig Harbor, though the Tides only have two seniors on the roster.

Peninsula hosts North Thurston at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1. Gig Harbor faces Lincoln in Tacoma at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 1.

Tommi Gallucci is the new volleyball coach at Peninsula. Photo by Bryce Carithers

Football teams even their records

Both local football teams secured league wins last Friday, Sept. 25.

Peninsula (2-2) went on the road and soundly beat previously undefeated Timberline, 31-14. Gig Harbor (2-2) shut out Bellarmine, 20-0, at Roy Anderson Field.

The Seahawks got standout performances from quarterback Talen McDonnell, who passed for 132 yards and two touchdowns, and receiver Landon Schultz, who caught both scores.

Logan Johnson led the Seahawks defense with two interceptions. Defensive linemen TJ Strilcov and Asher Epstein both had multiple tackles for loss.

The Tides ran for 222 yards in their win over the Lions. Lucas Olivas had 70 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown, Max Schwab added 61 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts, and Taylor Carey contributed 69 yards on six carries.

Carey also had the Tides’ play of the night defensively, a scoop-and-score touchdown after a Lion fumble. The fumble recovery put Gig Harbor up 14-0 in the fourth quarter.

The Seahawks host Capital at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at Roy Anderson Field.

The Tides play Lincoln in Tacoma at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2.