Community Sports
Sports Beat: Locals collect medals at Star Track
Local athletes turned in impressive performances and capped off successful seasons at Star Track, the state high school track and field championship, May 25 through 27 at Mount Tahoma High School.
Gig Harbor finished seventh in the Class 3A boys team competition with 29 points. Leading the way for the Tides was the 1,600-meter relay team (Nic Grover, Michael Galeana, Ayden Fink and Ben Stevens), which finished second in 3:21.88.
“Grover was cramping before the race, Galeana turned disappointment into a 50.1 leg like a senior should, Fink was at 50.7 and desperate to get us ahead in the race and Stevens held off the state champ for 400 meters to clinch second. Epic,” Tides coach Kevin Eager said.
Emma Young and Anne Shipp of Peninsula finished second and fifth in the high jump at the Class 3A state track meet.
The Peninsula Seahawks got an unexpected second-place finish in the high jump from freshman Emma Young. She came into the event seeded 10th, but was at her best when it mattered most.
She exploded over the bar at 5 feet 2 inches and earned eight of her team’s 15 points, which helped the Seahawks to 17th as a team. As only a ninth grader, Young will be one of the favorites to win a future state title in the event.
Gig Harbor’s Reece Morkert finished third in the 3,200 meters with a time of 10:49.48. “Race Day Reece” finished her remarkable senior season on the podium after winning the Class 3A state cross country title during the fall.
Gig Harbor junior Lydia Ward finished third in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 127 feet, 7 inches on her fifth and final attempt. The effort was five feet further than she had ever thrown before and only three feet from winning the state title.
Gig Harbor senior Nic Grover finished fourth in the 400 meter race with a personal best time of 49.29 and junior Jonathon Miles took fourth in the 800 meters in 1:54.57.
Peninsula’s Nathan Kuhnau thought his high school track career had ended when he turned in a subpar performance in a preliminary heat for the 300-meter hurdles, finishing ninth. He went home dejected but was revived hours later with a call that he was in the finals after another runner disqualified. Kuhnau didn’t waste the second opportunity and turned in a school record of 38.31 to earn a fourth place medal in a “don’t wake me up if I’m dreaming” moment of redemption.
The Tides’ 400-meter relay team of Fink, Stevens, Josiah O’Neil and Grover also finished fourth with a time of 42.12.
Gig Harbor’s Ayden Fink chases a runner from Mount Spokane during the 400 meter relay. Photo courtesy Gig Harbor Track & Field
Stevens, who has a stack of medals from previous state events, finished fifth in the 200 in a time of 22.07. Other fifth-place finishes were turned in by Peninsula junior Anne Shipp, who cleared five feet in the high jump, and Tide senior Michael Johansen, who raced home in a fine time of 1:19.99 in the boys 400m ambulatory event.
Peninsula senior Hannah Lee solidified her place in Seahawk history with a sixth-place finish in the girls 3,200 meter (10:52.65) race while winning her fifth career state medal. Lee set multiple school records during her remarkable long distance career at Peninsula.
GH fifth, Peninsula 7th in water polo
The Gig Harbor water polo team placed fifth in the state tournament at Curtis High School.
Gig Harbor went 3-2 at state and beat Mercer Island 11-4 to earn fifth place. Alexis Tujo led the Tides with five goals, followed by Frances Benson with three goals and Delaney Moyer with two.
The Tides (24-6) lost their quarterfinal game to Bainbridge Island in overtime, 12-10. Before that, the Tides beat crosstown rival Peninsula 11-8.
The Gig Harbor-Peninsula state tournament game was a defensive battle.
Gig Harbor concentrated on limiting the Seahawks short shots from “the hole,” forcing their opponents to shoot from long distance. The Tides claimed a 3-1 first quarter lead using that strategy.
The Seahawks turned up the physical play with intense defense in the second quarter and were down just 5-3 at halftime. Gig Harbor extended the lead to 8-5 after the third quarter and the teams played evenly in the fourth.
The Seahawks ended up seventh at state. Senior Abigail Oliver was a scoring machine for the Seahawks this season with 80 goals, followed by senior Mia Stitt with 35. On the defensive side, senior goalie Olivia Eagle used timing and reach to block 108 shots during the season. The Seahawks’ top field defender was senior Alli Fredrickson, who had 40 steals on the year. Brogan Braaten and Grace Nesbit round out the departing seniors.
The Peninsula High water polo team
Tennis doubles teams beaten at state
The Tides girls tennis doubles team of Lindsey Muske and Alexa Lavinder got to the 3A state quarterfinals by way of a 6-3, 6-3 win over Shorewood High School. The Tides fought hard but were defeated by a duo from Mercer Island 6-2, 6-2 that eventually won the doubles championship.
“I was so grateful for the opportunity to be able to play at state with my best friend during my senior year,” Muske said. “We worked hard to be undefeated throughout our normal season and no matter what happened at state, I was excited that our season ended with us playing together, one last time.”
The Gig Harbor boys doubles team of sophomore Hugh Vicente and junior Rylan Coovert went 1-2 at the tournament. The Tides team gained valuable experience for next season.
“Before even going to state we knew that the level was going to be much higher and it surely was,” Vicente said. “The other teams from around the state were incredibly strong. We will have to really focus on our mentality and staying 100% confident in our ability, in order for our team to go further next season.”
Gig Harbor fastpitch 7th
Peninsula won the Class 3A state fastpitch title for the school’s first state championship since 1992. The Seahawks finished 30-2; read more about their championship here.
The state champion Peninsula High fastpitch team. Photo by Peninsula High fastpitch
The Gig Harbor fastpitch team had a fine season at state as well, winning twice in the tournament to finish seventh.
Gig Harbor’s explosive offense scored 35 runs in four games at state and they finished the season 19-11. Their losses at state came to eventual champion Peninsula and fourth-seeded Bonney Lake, 7-6 in extra innings. Against Bonney Lake, the Tides stormed back to tie after facing an early 6-0 deficit.
The Tides and coach Jim Peschek say goodbye to graduating seniors Riley Peschek, the South Sound Conference MVP; catcher Sarah Holland; first baseman Erin Peterson; second baseman Olivia Paul; and utility player Penelopi Harris, who suffered an early knee injury.
“The senior class was the rock of our team,” coach Peschek said. “We could fall behind by five or six runs and we knew we could come back and win. There was never any quit and never any panic, they believed in each other. It was a fantastic ending to a long journey and I told them how fun it was for me to coach them…it was quite a ride!”