Community Sports

Sports Beat: Higgins blows away the field at league cross country meet

Peninsula’s Elektra Higgins was electric at the South Sound Conference cross country championships on Thursday, Oct. 19, at Fort Steilacoom Park.

Higgins faced a quality field that included last year’s Class 3A state runner-up, Claire Herring of Central Kitsap. The much-anticipated race turned into a blowout as Higgins ran away from Herring to win by a staggering 45 seconds in a superlative time of 17:47.4. The effort won Higgins’ second career league championship and her time sent  shockwaves through state running circles in the process.

Peninsula’s Elektra Higgins was running all alone to win the SSC XC championship with ease. Photo courtesy of Elektra Higgins.

Higgins’ run was so impressive that even the opposition was amazed.

“Higgins from Peninsula is RIDICULOUS,” Gig Harbor track coach and cross country assistant coach Kevin Eager said. “Her time was breathtakingly fast. I’ve been doing this for 21 years and I’ve seen multiple state champions. She is significantly faster than all of them. Her talent level is through the roof.”

“I was really excited that I won … It’s a good feeling when you see that the work you put in is paying off.” Higgins said. “The other girls are all strong runners and were hanging close behind me in the first mile. I noticed that I didn’t hear the other girls close behind after that, but it wasn’t until the third mile that I realized that I had such a big lead.”

The Gig Harbor duo of sophomore Leila Carlsson and junior Taylor Sletner battled for third place. Carlsson finished just three seconds ahead of Sletner, with both runners safely advancing to districts next week. Tide senior Alex Ferrier finished eighth, helping Gig Harbor to second in the team standings with 47 points.

Peninsula took third with 76 points as seniors Lola Sweet and Cecily Albrechet finished 15th and 16th. Both teams will move on to districts intact on Oct. 28 as a result of their top three finishes.

Boys cross country

On the boys side, disaster struck when Gig Harbor senior runners Preston Fradet and Johnathon Miles were leading the race at the halfway point but took a wrong turn on the course. They were disqualified from a possible South Sound Conference title.

The course was not marked as obviously as it has been in the past due to new restrictions. Teammates Joey Campbell, Christian Keck and Jack Greer finished well enough to advance the whole team, including Fradet and Miles, to districts next week.

Cooper Leavengood was Peninsula’s top runner on the boys side, finishing seventh in 16:45.5 and advancing to districts. The Seahawks were fourth as a team.

League tennis tournament happening now

The Gig Harbor (13-1) boys tennis team earned the South Sound Conference regular-season championship with a 3-1 win over North Thurston on Oct. 13. The Tides finished the season strong and won the title by one game over Central Kitsap.

The win clinches another title for Gig Harbor coach Lorrie Wood. Her team plays in the league tournament at Central Kitsap on Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21.

The Tides have the conference’s top-seeded doubles team in senior Rylan Coovert and junior Hugh Vicente, who qualified for state and won a match there. The Tides also have the fourth-seeded doubles pairing in Jonah Eilers and Luke Jolibois, who finished the regular season undefeated; and the team of Braden Smee and Jaron Simler are the league’s 6th seed.

Early league tourney results

Peninsula tennis finished fourth in the SSC and had a couple of winners in early league tournament play. No. 2 singles player Alec Krishnadasan advanced with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Colin Nelson of the Tides.

The Seahawk senior is a four-year player and has refined his game.

Peninsula tennis player Alec Krishnadasan, a senior, won his first match in straight sets at the South Sound Conference tournament. Photo courtesy PHS tennis

“All of our players love to hit the ball hard, but to do that consistently isn’t easy,” Peninsula assistant coach Britt Mayer said. “Alec is one of the few who has figured out it’s not necessary to play with all power, he mixes it up and has proven that being a versatile player is a better way to win more matches.”

Peninsula’s No. 1 singles player, Adam Massry, was upset on day one by a River Ridge player 6-3, 6-4 but will have a chance to rebound in the double elimination tournament.

Peninsula’s top doubles team of Thomas Cardinal and Tyler Ahrens were victorious on the first day of the SSC tournament. The senior duo has been friends since they were in grade school.

“They are both great athletes and the strategic knowledge has come with time, we are hoping for great things at the league tournament,” Mayer said.

That could include a possible matchup with Coovert and Vicente in the league finals on Saturday, Oct. 21.

Football teams extend winning streaks

Both local football teams continued to mow down South Sound Conference opponents.

On Oct. 13, Peninsula (4-3, 4-1 SSC) kept their postseason hopes alive with a 27-19 win at Capital. The Seahawks are looking for the upset of the year when they travel to Yelm (7-0, 5-0 SSC) to play the defending state champions at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20, at Yelm High School.

The Tornados haven’t lost a game in two seasons and average 56.6 points per game while surrendering just 6.6 points per game in league play. Peninsula has moved the ball efficiently with running back Connor Burton shouldering most of the rushing load and junior quarterback Mana Smythe directing the offense as the Seahawks are averaging 34.2 points per game.

Defensively, senior end Cole Muilenburg is among Peninsula’s leaders in sacks and tackles for loss. The Seahawks have been stingy on defense for coordinator Joel Epstien and are only allowing an average of 12.6 points in league play.

Peninsula defensive end and tight end Cole Muilenburg gets his team fired up. Photo PHS

Tides one week from playing for league title

Meanwhile, Gig Harbor (6-1, 5-0 SSC) has cracked the state’s top ten. The Tides are No. 9 in Class 3A, according to the WIAA RPI rankings. The Tides throttled North Thurston, 46-2, in front of a large and loud homecoming crowd on Oct. 13. The only score for North Thurston was a safety caused by an offensive holding penalty in the end zone by the Tides.

The Tides racked up 404 yards of offense. Senior quarterback Benji Park accounted for 236 of those as he completed 14 of 17 passes with four touchdowns. Park was the Tides’ third-string QB to start the year but may be the conference’s best pure passer and a possible first-team all-league selection, as game after game he drops passes in a bucket.

His Tides receivers have been the beneficiaries. Senior Drake Matthies leads the conference in catches and grabbed three balls for 53 yards and a touchdown against North Thurston. D.J. Darling snagged four balls for 63 yards and a touchdown.

The Tide’s offense averages 39 points per game in SSC play and were led in rushing by Ryland Geldermann, who had 77 yards on only five carries with a 57 yarder for a touchdown against North Thurston. Senior running back Aidan Fink chipped in 57 yards on 10 carries and also had the hit of the night on defense, when the cornerback tackled a Ram runner. Fink was clearly the ram on the play as the physical tackle ignited the Tides.

The Gig Harbor defense didn’t allow a single yard of passing to North Thurston in a smothering performance that may also be a new school record. The Rams were credited with -6 yards through the air.

Gig Harbor plays the Central Kitsap Cougars (2-5, 1-4 SSC) at 7 p.m. Oct. 20 at Roy Anderson Field. If they can get past the Cougars, they will have a final game remaining at Yelm on Oct. 27 in a matchup of the two top teams in the conference standings.

Gig Harbor soccer wraps up league title

The Gig Harbor (11-2-2, 11-1-1 SSC) girls soccer team locked up the SSC title with a 1-1 tie against the second-place Peninsula Seahawks (10-2-2, 10-1-2 SSC) on Oct. 17 at Roy Anderson Field. The tie left the Tides a game and a half ahead of the Seahawks with one game remaining in SSC action.

Gig Harbor plays Yelm — which has not won a conference game all year — on Oct. 24 while the Seahawks finish with a game at Central Kitsap.

Peninsula’s Emma Krueger advances the ball versus Gig Harbor. Photo Bryce Carithers

Against Gig Harbor, Senior midfielder Stella Conklin supplied an early goal on a beautiful assist from senior Makenna Getts for the fired-up Seahawks. Conklin’s blast was just past Ella Conrad for a 1-0 lead. The Seahawks played inspired defense behind their senior captains Emma Krueger, who was all over the field, and the fiery Addison Sebren, who is both aggressive and skilled.

The Tides, who have gotten used to multiple shots on goal during the regular season, found the sledding a little more difficult versus the Seahawks’ defense. Peninsula took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

The Tides came out more aggressive on offense and fired a few more shots on goal, but Seahawks goalie Brooklyn Finch was ready each time. Gig Harbor may have caught a break when a boarderline penalty was called versus a Seahawk defender near the goalie box. The Tides took advantage when the talented Sophie Blake went bottom drawer, left side to squeak one past Finch and tie the game a one apiece.

The Tides senior Sophie Blake prepares to fire a penalty kick to tie the game up 1-1, versus Peninsula. Photo by Bryce Carithers

Both teams played exceptionally hard as their game resulted in the third tie between the two teams in the last five games over two seasons.

Both teams will head into District 3/4 play next week with a possible chance at a playoff rematch down the line.