Community Sports

Sports Beat | Doubleheaders on tap in football, girls soccer

Are you ready for some football? Both local teams are in action Friday, Nov. 1, in the Puget Sound League playoffs at Mount Tahoma High School.

The Gig Harbor Tides (4-4, 3-2 Puget Sound League) of the Narrows Division play the Capital Cougars (4-4, 3-2) of the Nisqually Division at 5 p.m. The Peninsula Seahawks (4-4, 3-2) of the Nisqually Division play the Lincoln Abes (6-2, 5-0) of the Narrows Division at 8 p.m. Although it’s not official, both teams are probably in a “win and you’re in” situation for a state playoff berth.

Both local girls soccer teams will also be in postseason action Saturday, Nov. 2, at Roy Anderson Field.

The Peninsula Seahawks (12-2-1), the Nisqually Division champions and PSL runners-up, open up action on the pitch against White River Hornets at 1 p.m.  The Gig Harbor Tides (13-1-1), Narrows Division and the Puget Sound League champions, will look to boot the Kelso Highlanders at 4 p.m.

District meet up next for cross country

Top local runners will be in action at the district cross country championships on Saturday, Nov. 2, at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place. Top finishers will qualify for the Class 3A state meet the following weekend at Sun Willows golf course in Pasco.

Gig Harbor girls finished first and second in the league championships last week. Tides senior Taylor Sletner won the race in 17:54.9, with Lejla Carlsson second in 18:08.8. Ella and Ruby Savage were seventh and eighth, respectively, and Clarabelle Simmond was ninth to help Gig Harbor win the conference title with 27 points.

Peninsula finished fourth with 111 points. Hailey Howard finished 12th in 20:36.4 and Ascher Lascheck was 15th in 20:46.1.

On the boys side, the Tides were lead by the fourth-place finish of junior Gavin McKeegan, who finished in 16:05.2. Joey Campbell was sixth in 16:19.1 and Jack Greer 11th at 16:38.5, only a second faster than Peninsula’s top runner Tesfa Hoff who finished 12th in 16:39.8.

In the team standings, Gig Harbor finished second behind PSL champion Central Kitsap. Peninsula was sixth.

A conversation with Elektra Higgins

Peninsula star Elektra Higgins was a scratch at the league championships in part to rest her body and be in top form for the upcoming district and state meets.

Besides, she recently finished second in the Nike Hole in the Wall race, which brings together the most competitive field of Northwest high school cross country runners that will be assembled this season. The race, held Oct. 12 in Lakewood, included top runners from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado and even a few runners from California and British Columbia.

Higgins’ time of 16:58.4 put her ahead of Mercer Island’s Rodriquez sisters, (Victoria, third in 17:12.5, and Sophia, fourth in 17:28.5). They were the only two runners who finished in front of Higgins at last year’s Class 3A state cross country championships.

Elektra Higgins

Third place wasn’t what Higgins was aiming for so she put on her running shoes and went to work. She went up Peacock Hill more times last summer than the Gig Harbor trolley and has shaved enough seconds off of her times from last year to challenge the Islanders and anybody else in the 3A ranks for the state title.

Recently I caught up to Higgins … well not really. I would need to be in my car to do that. So let’s just say, recently I spoke to Higgins, a senior, and asked about her past and future before she goes for a state title and then departs this summer to run for Southern Methodist University in Texas next season.

GH Now: How did it feel to recently finish in front of the Rodriquez sisters, your main competition for last year’s state title, and to know that you can beat them now?

EH: The Rodriguez sisters are good competition, I’m really glad I have them to push me!

GH Now: What will you remember most fondly about your high school athletic experience?

EH: Some of my favorite memories from cross country are going to be Ultimook (a race in Tillamook, Oregon), team bondings, pasta feeds, weight room, and just being with my team through thick and thin.

GH Now: Where does your incredible drive and will power come from?

EH: My motivation comes from wanting to be the best. If running is the gift God chose for me then I want to do everything I can to glorify him through it.

GH Now: How good would it feel to bring back a state title to your school?

EH: I would be extremely proud to bring back a state title. My coaches, my team, and my family have all been so supportive and I know they would love to see all of our hard work pay off in accomplishing that goal.

GH Now: I see you have committed to SMU to continue your running career, why them?

EH: I committed to SMU, because I really like the school, the team, the coaches, the location and the community. It just seem like the perfect fit for me and I knew right away.

GH Now: What does your self talk sound like, when you need to run faster?

EH: My self talk is mostly just repeating phrases like, “if she can do it, so can I”,  “you’re stronger”, “just three miles then finish”, “gas pedal, gas pedal, gas pedal.”

The girls varsity district meet at Chambers Bay begins at 12:50 p.m. Nov. 2.

Qualifiers for district tennis tournament

Gig Harbor (10-4) finished third and Peninsula (10-5) fourth in the Puget Sound League tennis standings. Players from both teams advanced through the league championships to earn spots at districts.

District qualifiers for Gig Harbor included senior singles player Braden Smee, who has shown consistent improvement all year and qualified in seventh position. Smee was the Tides’ second singles player all season but advanced through a difficult PSL and got to districts.

Peninsula’s No. 2 singles player, Corey Wisner, got hot at the PSL league tournament to advance to districts. Wisner and Smee are familiar with each other as they had a thrilling match against each other on Sept. 22. Wisner won that back-and-forth match 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 thriller.

Two Gig Harbor doubles teams also advanced to districts. The first is the interesting doubles pairing of the 6-foot-7 Colin Nelson and Chase Horrocks, who isn’t that tall but is certainly the quicker of the two. Nelson has a big serve and is formidable at the net while Horrocks has dependable ground strokes and chases down everything that Nelson can’t reach.

The second Gig Harbor pairing is the duo of Jonah Eilers and Luke Jolibois, both fine athletes who can run for days. Not too many shots get past them and they use good communication and aggressive ground strokes to wear down their opponents.

From left, Chase Horracks, Braden Smee and Colin Nelson of Gig Harbor qualified for the district tennis meet. Photo by Gig Harbor tennis

Another league swimming title for Gig Harbor

Gig Harbor girls swimming winning another conference championship is about as dependable as the sunrise. Competitors try year after year, but Mike Kelly’s teams have racked up titles in the old Narrows League, the South Sound Conference and now the Puget Sound League.

Change the league and the competition all you want but the fact is the Tides will touch the wall first. And if you ask Kelly how many league titles his teams have won in his illustrious coaching career, he’ll have to go grab a calculator to figure it out.

Add another one to the Tides’ total. Gig Harbor finished first with 346 points and Peninsula finished second with 220 points.

PSL champions from the Tides team included: Kaitlyn LaTendresse in the 200 freestyle, Beau Ensminger in the 100 Butterfly and Brooklyn Learner in the 500 freestyle.

The Tides won a very exciting and competitive 200 freestyle relay, edging Silas by just .24 seconds. Jenna Nelson, Eva Dahlin, Ensminger and LaTendresse make up the Tides’ 200 freestyle team.

Top finishers for Peninsula included: Lee Gjertson, third in the 50 freestyle; Kate Henkel, fourth in the 100 yard butterfly; Reese Miller, fourth in the 500 yard freestyle; and the Seahawks 400 freestyle relay team (Henkel, Miller, Gjertson and Ryan Garrels) fourth in 4:03.41.

The Class 3A West Central District 3 meet is Nov. 1 and 2.

Volleyball teams hoping to rally

Both local volleyball teams are fighting to move up the division standings and earn a place in the upcoming Puget Sound League crossover games. If they can advance through a few of those games, they could still have a shot at the Class 3A state playoffs. But the competition in both divisions of the PSL has been stiff.

Four PSL teams rank in the top 30 of the state RPI rankings. North Thurston is No. 4 overall. There are virtually no easy games for either local team throughout their schedules, but the Tides showed improvement last week with 3-0 victories against Silas and Mount Tacoma to bring their conference record to 5-10.

The Tides host Narrows Division-leading Central Kitsap at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 5, before crossover games begin on Nov. 7.

Peninsula shares the same record with the Tides at 5-10 in the Nisqually Division after dropping matches this week to Lakes (3-0) and Capital (3-2). The Seahawks play River Ridge at 7:15 p.m. on Nov. 5 before crossover games on Nov. 7.

Payton Heim of Gig Harbor launches a jump serve. Photo by Bryce Carithers