Community Sports

Sports Beat | Gig Harbor golfers sweep at Gamble Sands Invitational

The Gig Harbor boys and girls golf team accomplished a rare feat on April 9, when both teams won titles at the competitive Gamble Sands High School Invitational, high above the Columbia River in the Central Washington town of Brewster.

The tournament is one of the best-attended during the high school golf season. It attracts many of the top teams and players from around the state.

Girls defeat Bellarmine

The Gig Harbor girls were fantastic at the Sands. But before we get to that it should be mentioned that they also  topped Bellarmine by 19 strokes at Gig Harbor Golf Club on April 8. Gig Harbor served up one clutch shot after another in the wind and rain, to pull away from the Lions, 205-224.

Bellarmine has won 10 girls golf state titles, including nine straight from 2010 to 2018 and definitely haven’t endured too many 19 stroke defeats along the way.

The Tides’ calm, cool and collected ace, senior Carly Ikei, has been consistently good for the Tides since first walking up to the tee box as a freshman. Ikei is currently the second-ranked golfer in the Puget Sound League with consistent nine hole scores of 37, 36, 38 and the 38 round that she shot against the Lions.

But the Tides are much more than just one player. Scores against Bellarmine included freshman phenom Myla Louch’s 36, Laila Douglas’s 40, Sofia Skogen’s 43, and Autumn Coovert’s 48.

The Gig Harbor girls golf team.

The Tides kept rolling at Gamble Sands on April 10 even without Ikei, who could not attend. The Tides still surpassed a talented field. Louch introduced herself with a surprising 5-over par 77, the third-best individual score of the girls event on a course she had never played before.

Douglas and Skogen shot 81 and 84 respectively, while Coovert carded a 90. Violet Novak, who filled in for Ikei, did enough to seal the deal with her 99.

Tides head coach Jeff Milbourn is quietly building a Tide power house after finishing fourth in the state in 2024 and tied for third in the state in 2023.

“The tournament was a lot of fun and Gamble Sands is an amazing course,” Milbourn said. “I told the girls to just go out and play for fun and enjoy the course and scenery. We’re headed into the more difficult half of the season and postseason soon, so I just wanted them to push reset and play without any pressure and they played really well.”

The Tides play the undefeated Silas Rams on April 22 at Allenmore Golf Course in Tacoma.

GH boys’ depth shows out

The Gig Harbor boys team is also undefeated and won convincingly at Gamble Sands. Junior Theo Snyder finished second overall with a five-under-par 67, two strokes behind overall winner Carson Clinton of Chelan.

Ten Tides finished in the top 35 at the tournament. Gig Harbor’s second team of five players was good enough to finish fifth overall.

Davis Dansie, a left hander with a textbook swing, shot a crisp 2-over-par 74. Liam Dalbec (76) and Timmy Quirk (77) remained consistent followed by Cooper Giovanini’s 78. Parker Bare shot a 79 while Henry Wilsie, Max Ferrier, and James Burleigh chipped in with 80s to contribute to the Tides’ first win at Gamble Sands.

Why so many good golfers in one town? One reason is that many quality courses are nearby, including Canterwood, Chambers Bay, Gold Mountain, Trophy Lake, McCormick Woods and Salish Cliffs.

Gig Harbors boys golf team and coach Shane Henderson (center). Photo courtesy of Shane Henderson

Getting kids on the course

Combine that with quality youth organizations to play in, such as the Washington Junior Golf Association, the First Tee Organization and the PGA Junior League. Young people have had increased access to courses with reduced greens fees through the PGA’s Youth on Course program.

Gig Harbor coach Shane Henderson has worked with both the PGA Junior League and First Tee.

“Both programs have been instrumental for our team as we had over 40 boys try out this year,” Henderson said. “With Youth on Course, players get the opportunity to master their skills on a variety of courses, challenging their ability to adapt to different layouts. The PGA Junior League has been instrumental in creating friendships on and off the course and players play a lot more golf because they enjoy competing with each other.”

Henderson’s Tides have benefited. They finished third and fourth in the state the last two years and want to keep the pedal down before the state tournament in late May.

“Winning this (Gamble Sands) really capped off a great trip for the team. Even though we got the win, we still have work to do. If we can clean up the short game, make better decisions by using the lob wedge less and concentrate a little more, we should be able to come out on top this year,” Henderson said.

The Tides face Bellarmine at 2:30 p.m. Monday, April 21, at Madrona Links.

Water polo avenges earlier loss to Kennedy

The Gig Harbor girls water polo team scored a big 6-4 rematch win over Kennedy on April 10 to remain in contention for a league championship with their 5-2 record. Kennedy won an earlier matchup, 9-6.

The Tides lost four standout seniors from last year’s team. Coach Mike Kelly said this year’s group is still trying to find the alpha players who are willing to risk failure with a missed shot instead of making the safe pass.

But the Tides are winning because of an excellent goalie and are starting to find those goal scorers now. Naomi Crosby scored twice in the first period on April 10 against Kennedy to take a 2-0 lead. Kennedy rallied to take a 3-2 lead into the fourth quarter, before Tides senior Delaney Moyer tied the game.

Gig Harbor’s Beau Ensminger put her team back in front before the Lancers tied it at four.

Eva Dahlin scored the eventual game-winner with a well-placed fastball to put the Tides a 5-4 with 47 seconds to go.

Then goalie Kiah Sawyer swatted away a Lancer shot from 10 feet out, her 12th blocked shot of the day to go along with five steals.

Moyer added an insurance goal on a half-pool shot with just nine seconds remaining.

Delaney Moyer scored two goals in Gig Harbor’s win over Kennedy. Photo by Dennis Browne

Sawyer, a captain and four-year starter, was the standout again.

“There is a lot of pressure being a goalie when it comes down to it and there’s a lot of communication needed on defense,” she said. “I can see all the players in the pool and sometimes they can’t, so knowing how to effectively communicate is key.

“This team has really stepped up after losing a lot of players last year but I think we are maybe even more of a team because everyone is needed for us to win.”

Moyer, a senior who has been playing since middle school, described her long half-pool shot to clinch the victory. “I’ve been working on taking quality shots all year and felt that even if I didn’t make it they would only have eight seconds to advance and score, so I trusted the work I’ve put in and let it go, I hoped it would go in and it did!”

Peninsula boys, Gig Harbor girls win track meets

The Peninsula boys track and field team defeated Gig Harbor 76-69 on April 11. The Gig Harbor girls won the dual meet over Peninsula, 77.5 to 67.5. The meet was at Gig Harbor.

Event winners included:

100 meters

Boys: Jacob Johnson, Peninsula sophomore, 11.13.

Girls: Isabelle Harruff, Gig Harbor sophomore, 12.99

200 meters

Boys: Johnson, PHS, 23.44.

Girls: Harruff, GH, 27.09

400 meters

Boys: Gavin Olson, Gig Harbor junior, 53.98

Girls: Sofia Simmonds, Gig Harbor senior, 1:03.77

800 meters

Boys: Jack Clark, Peninsula senior, 2:10.85

Girls: Lejla Carlsson, Gig Harbor junior, 2:17.65

1600 meters

Boys: Gavin McKeegan, Gig Harbor junior, 4:31.35

Girls: Jacquelyn Oelke, Gig Harbor senior, 5:55.51

3200 meters

Boys: Max Dower, Gig Harbor sophomore, 10:11.73

Girls: Ascher Lascheck, Peninsula freshman, 13:10.40

110 hurdles

Boys: Bernard Borson, Peninsula junior, 16.79

100 hurdles

Girls: Karin Heikkila, Gig Harbor junior, 16.08

300 hurdles

Boys: Borson, PHS, 42.57

Girls: Heikkila, GHHS, 47.50

Shot put

Boys: Hunter Paris, Gig Harbor junior, 41 feet, 3 inches

Girls: Suri Sardinia, Peninsula junior, 36 feet, 7.5 inches

Discus

Boys: Paris, GHHS, 105 feet, 4 inches

Girls: Sardinia, PHS, 121 feet, 3 inches

Javelin

Boys: Eli Hopkins, Gig Harbor senior, 143 feet, 6 inches

Girls: Meadow Mossberg, Peninsula freshman, 61 feet, 4 inches

High jump

Boys: Asher Finch, Gig Harbor junior, 5 feet, 11 inches

Girls: Emma Young, Peninsula junior, 5 feet

Pole vault

Boys: Kevin Foreman, Peninsula junior, 12 feet

Girls: Rylee Cox, Gig Harbor senior, 10 feet

Long jump

Boys: Trever Bingham, Peninsula junior, 19 feet, 5.75 inches

Girls: Harruff, GHHS, 16 feet, 7 inches

Triple jump

Boys: Trever Bingham, Peninsula junior, 38 feet, 5.25 inches

Girls: Emma Young, Peninsula junior, 33 feet, 4.75 inches

4×100 relay

Boys: Peninsula (Jack Robbins, Trever Bingham, Tristen Rodriguez, Jacob Johnson), 44.72

Girls: Gig Harbor (Eisley Herring, Heikkila, Aejanae Humphrey, Harruff), 50.50

4×400 relay

Boys: Peninsula (Robbins, Rodriquez, Borson, Joshua Cashion), 3:38.75

Girls: Peninsula (Elsie Leavengood, Annie Jensen, Ali Jacobson, Nora Sutherland), 1:52.89