Community Sports
Sports Beat: Peninsula, Gig Harbor athletes bring home medals
It’s time for the Sports Beat, a weekly capsule of the local prep sports scene.
We start out on the track, as the state championships were held at Mount Tahoma High School May 26-28.
The Gig Harbor boys team, winners of five previous state championships, placed ninth this year. The following is a list of all athletes who finished in the top eight at state.
Gig Harbor sophomore Ben Stevens won three state track medals, helping the Tides to a ninth place finish. Photo courtesy of GHHS
• Tides sophomore Ben Stevens took sixth in the 100 meters and fourth in the 200 meters, running at 22.11. Stevens, a relative newcomer to the sport, used his closing speed and long strides down the stretch to pass several runners in the 200.
• Gig Harbor got a third place medal in the 4×400 relay. The team of Nick Grover, Micah Galeana, Will Newberg and Stevens efficiently passed a wet baton on their way to the finish line. They finished just seven-tenths of a second behind the winning team from Mount Spokane.
• Tides senior Joshua Felt closed his impressive high school career with an explosive javelin throw of 174 feet in a stiff cross wind to finish fourth.
• Gig Harbor’s Kael Probst finished seventh in the long jump at 21 feet, 4 inches and eighth in the triple jump at 42-10.
Peninsula’s Nathan Kuhnau chews on the third-place medal he earned in the 300 meter hurdles at the state track meet. Photo courtesy of PHS
• Peninsula junior Nathan Kuhnau finished third in the 300-meter hurdles. He had to miss the league championships after a suffering a hamstring injury but was awarded a pass into districts by South Sound Conference coaches.
• On the girls side, Peninsula freshman Elektra Higgins placed fifth in the 1,600 meters and fourth in the 3,200 meters.
• Seahawk Hannah Lee finished eighth in the 800 and seventh in the 1,600.
• Both Higgins and Lee would wind up with three medals after helping their 4×400 relay team finish seventh. Joining them on the relay were Sabrina Booker and Aaliyah Booker.
Peninsula freshman Elektra Higgins won three medals at the state track meet. Photo courtesy PHS
• The Tides’ Addisen Hering was eighth in the 110 meter hurdles with a 15.95.
• Gig Harbor’s Lydia Ward finished eighth in the javelin with a throw of 111-11. Ward, a sophomore, was behind seven seniors at the meet and will be the top returner in the state in 2023.
• Gig Harbor’s team of Hering, Skyler Kimball, Sophia Olson and Tia Berry was sixth in the 4×100 relay.
• The Tides’ 4×200 team of Kate Jones, Maura Lenzi, Olson and Kimball ran the fastest 200m relay for Gig Harbor in the last 25 years, finishing fourth.
The Gig Harbor 4×100 team of Tia Berry, Addison Hering, Skyler Kimball and Sophia Olson. Photo courtesy of GHHS
Peninsula fastpitch loses two at state
The Peninsula fastpitch team had a disappointing end to their state tournament run as they lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to Bonney Lake. Peninsula had just beaten the Lions 5-2 the previous week to win the district championship.
The Seahawks then were eliminated by Auburn-Riverside, 12-2, in a consolation round game. Peninsula finished 22-3 and 14-0 in the SSC.
Coach Mike Paul’s team will have their eyes set on the 2023 state championship as they lose only one senior, Aislinn O’Reilly. O’Reilly will go on to play college ball after batting .375 with 24 RBI and five home runs during her senior year.
The Peninsula High fastpitch after winning the district championship. Photo courtesy of Alli Kimball
State tennis
The Gig Harbor tennis doubles team of Alexa Lavinder and Alexa Thoms dropped a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) decision to a team from Shorewood at the state tournament in Richland.
The Peninsula duo of Zach Lipsey and Ethan Sun lost to the talented Kim brothers from Bellevue who finished fifth in the state, in straight sets.
All-league golf
The all-South Sound Conference golf teams were announced this week, with several local representatives.
All-South Sound Conference golf
Girls first team
- Hallee Graf, Peninsula
- Carly Ikei, Gig Harbor
- Nyah Dayton, Peninsula
Girls second team
- Sydney Pifer, Peninsula
- Bridget Liberty, Gig Harbor
Boys first team
- Chet West, Gig Harbor
- Aiden McDougall, Gig Harbor
Boys second team
- Zavier Feasey Allen, Gig Harbor
- Colin Morkert, Gig Harbor
- Rylan Coovert, Gig Harbor
Boys honorable mention
- Elliott Siddall, Peninsula
- Liam Dalbec, Gig Harbor
In next week’s Sports Beat, we will take an in-depth look back at the year in sports from both local prep teams as well as the top individual performances from the 2021-22 sports season.