Community Sports

Sports Beat | Big local contingent headed to Star Track

The Gig Harbor girls ran away from a field of 20 other teams to win the District 3/4 track and field championship on May 22 at Kent Meridian High School.

Chalk up another district title for Tides coach Kevin Eager and his staff. No other local coach is described better by their last name than the longtime Tide leader, who is eager to teach, eager to compete and eager to win.

Track and field athletes from both Gig Harbor and Peninsula are competing this weekend at Star Track, the WIAA state championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

Gig Harbor relay a contender again

The reigning state champion Tides girls 4×100 relay team is there after winning a district championship with a run of 47.79 seconds.

Isabelle Harruff runs the anchor leg for Gig Harbor’s 4×100 relay team. Photo courtesy of Gig Harbor track

How fast is 47.79? Last year, the Tides won a state championship with a slightly slower time of 47.96.

Isabelle Harruff runs the final leg for Gig Harbor. She qualified for state in four events, including as a district champion in the 200 meters.

Eisley Herring, a junior who qualified for state in three events, runs the lead-off leg. She hands the baton to senior speedster Karin Heikkila, who also made state in both hurdle races and was the league MVP in soccer last fall.

Addison Sullivan-Glennon, who can fly and has displayed the ability to hand off the baton without a speed reduction, runs the third leg before turning things over to Harruff.

Eisley Hering hands the baton to Karin Heikkila. They are members of Gig Harbor’s reigning state champion 4×100 relay team. Photo courtesy of Gig Harbor track

Carlsson goes the distance

Another Tide talent is senior Lejla Carlsson, who achieved numerous accomplishments in track and cross country during her career.

Carlsson was a rare double winner at district, earning first-place medals in the 800 and 1,600 meters. In the 800, she won by a second over Lillian Haas from Enumclaw and two seconds over Tides freshman Maya Crane.

The 1,600 was even closer. Carlsson edged Haas by 0.64.

Other Gig Harbor girls

Tides freshman Violet Lester, who has an impressive mix of speed and endurance, won the 400 meter race in a blazing time of 57.78. She also made state in the 200 meters.

Longtime Gig Harborites may remember Violet’s grandfather Tom, who owned a sporting goods store named Lester’s in the Point Fosdick shopping center.

Gig Harbor freshman Violet Lester, shown in a meet earlier this year won the district 400 meter championship. Photo courtesy of Gig Harbor track

Tides sophomore Ella Savage won a district title in the grueling 3,200 meters in a time of 11:21.38, three seconds faster than a runner from White River and Tide teammate Brynnlie Upchurch, who finished third and also qualified for state.

Gig Harbor’s 4×200 relay won a district championship in a blistering time of 1:41.69 to beat second-place Bellarmine by two seconds. Team members included Lester, Kennedy Collins, Sullivan-Glennon and Harruff.

Gig Harbor boys qualifiers

Tides boys who made state included senior Gavin McKeegan, who finished second to Mana Voss of Central Kitsap in the 1,600 meters and won the district title in the 3,200 meters. Gig Harbor runners will comprise a big chunk of the state field in the 3,200, as Jack Greer (third at district), Joshua Minner (fourth) and Max Dower (sixth) qualified.

Gavin Olson advanced to state by placing fifth in the 200 meters and the boys 4×100 relay team of Justin Morris, Atzel Chavez, Troy Arnold and Olson qualified by finishing fourth at districts.

In the field events, Gig Harbor senior Hunter Parris qualified in the shot put and discus while senior Cole Fischer finished fifth in the javelin with a throw of 144 feet.

Peninsula’s Sardinia dominates

Speaking of field events, Suri Sardinia of Peninsula won district championships in the shot put and the discus.

Sardinia, ranked first in the state in the Class 3A shot put competition, won the district title in that event with a heave of 42 feet, 3.75 inches. That was four feet further than the second-place competitor from Todd Beamer.

Suri Sardinia of Peninsula is ranked first in the state in the shot put and fourth in the state in the discus. Photo courtesy of Veronica Foley

Sardinia, fourth in the state in the discus, won the district title in that event with a throw of 131 feet and seven inches. That was 30 feet, six inches farther than her district competitors.

Seahawk senior Emma Young shared the district high jump title with three others with her leap of 5 feet, one inch.

Young also qualified for state in the triple jump when she hopped, skipped and jumped 35 feet, 4.75 inches to finish fifth.

The Seahawks’ 4×100 relay team of Aliya Cook, Ali Jacobson, Annie Jensen and Nora Sutherland earned a trip to Tacoma by finishing sixth at districts.

Wyatt Harding of Peninsula will compete in the 800 meters at Star Track after finishing sixth in the 800 meters.

Emi HansonSmith qualified to state with a sixth-place finish in the girls 100 meter hurdles.

Peninsula state track qualifiers include, from left, Annie Jensen, Aliya Cook, Emi HansonSmith, Wyatt Harding, Emma Young, Suri Sardinia, Nora Sutherland and Ali Jacobson Photo courtesy of Veronica Foley

Baseball teams fall at state

The state tournament runs of both local baseball teams ended prematurely.

Peninsula lost to Snohomish 2-0, falling in the first game at state for the second year in a row.

Gig Harbor, behind starting pitcher Quentin Bockhorn, beat Liberty 6-0 in their state opener at Lincoln High School. But they fell to Kentlake, 7-4, a few hours later in the second round. Jake Cuda started against the Falcons.

That was the same Kentlake team Gig Harbor beat 12-0 a week earlier in the district championship game.

Seahawk bats go silent

Peninsula (17-7) sent senior pitcher John Browand to the mound for their state opener. Coach Matt Thomas kept senior ace Kaleb Copeland in the holster for a possible second round game if the Seahawks advanced.

Browand allowed seven hits in five innings and took the loss, but it wasn’t pitching that did in the Seahawks. Their big bats went cold and an offense that was great against league opponents failed to score a run when they needed it.

Copeland went 2-for-3 at the plate in his last game as a Seahawk.

Sophomore Andy Merry concluded a big year going 2-for-4, while senior Jeff Ortega, junior Thomas Marzano, junior Kainoa Coit, and sophomore AJ Williams each had a hit against Snohomish. Senior outfielder Mason Hartung will also graduate for Peninsula.

Magical run ends for Gig Harbor

The Tides (19-8) baseball team will be sick if Kentlake and Decatur win their semifinals and play for a state championship this weekend. The Tides destroyed both teams last week at districts by a combined score of 16-1.

The door was open for the third-ranked Tides after No. 1 Mount Vernon and No. 2 Kennewick lost early at state.

Still, the Tides accomplished much this season, winning Puget Sound League and District III championships.

Seniors playing in their final game for Gig Harbor included Cuda, Bockhorn, Hunter Payne, Hudson Smith, Jack Price, Greyson Riley, Logan Pederson, Carter Collins and Kyle Anderson.

Peninsula fastpitch drops two

The young Peninsula Seahawks (21-5) fastpitch team gained tournament experience that will help down the road, but lost their first two state games last week.

The Seahawks lost to Kennewick, 13-7, and Kelso, 6-1, on May 22 at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey.

Peninsula’s roster was filled with underclassmen, but departing seniors Meghan Webster and Asanti Perez will be missed.