community sports
Track and field season is here, with athletes from both local schools competing for league, district and state championships in May. The Tides, Seahawks and Central Kitsap Cougars held a three-team meeting on March 22 in Gig Harbor.
The Gig Harbor boys team, coached by Kevin Eager, dominated the sprint portion of the competition, winning with 77.5 points. Peninsula scored 45 points, followed by Central Kitsap with 38.5 points.
On the women's side, coach Dylan Hall's Seahawks dominated the field event, defeating a Tides team that rarely loses in South Sound Conference competition. The Peninsula Girls scored 83.5 points, the Tides scored 73.5 points and the Cougars scored 38.5 points.
peninsula jumps
The women's event featured some great racing between the state's heavyweights over two 800-meter laps around the Gig Harbor track. Tides sophomore Leila Carlson and Seahawks junior Electra Higgins strode toward the goal line. Carlson crossed first and took a thrilling victory by just 0.32 seconds, 2:17.49 for Carlson and 2:17.81 for Higgins. Gig Harbor junior Taylor Slettner was a close third in 2:19.43.
The biggest topic for the Peninsula women's team is the jumper. The Seahawks have five of SSC's top 10 high jumpers, including the top two in Emma Young and Ann Shipp.
Peninsula earned six of SSC's top 10 marks in the long jump, including Emma Kruger's top jump. Peninsula also has four of SSC's top 10 triple jumps, including the league-best by Young.
Peninsula jumps coach Jack Harry may be worth a big pay bump after his rivals picked up points against the Tides and Cougars that ultimately decided the match in their favor.
GH boys win the sprint
On the men's side, Tides has blazing speed. At last week's competition, he led both the 100m and 200m seven times. And that was without the services of Ben Stevens, the defending league champion in both competitions, who was a scratch in this match. Fourth-year speedster Aiden Fink ran a time of 11.26 seconds in the 100 meters, followed by sophomores DJ Darling's 11.38 seconds and Matthew Ehler's 11.81 seconds.
In the 200 meters, Fink won in 22.51 seconds and Ehlers in 23.61 seconds, with Ryland Gelderman third in 24.14 seconds.
Other event winners on the men's side:
• Jonathan Miles of Gig Harbor wins the 400 meters in 52.03 seconds.
• Preston Fradette of The Tides won the 800m in 1:58.97, just 0.08 seconds faster than Miles.
• Gig Harbor freshman Jack Grier won the 3,200 meters and the Seahawks dominated the top spots in the 1,600 meters. Cooper Levengood was first in 4:45, Joshua Cashion was second in 4:45.30 and Gavin Hendrickson was third in 4:55.84.
Peninsula senior Laura Sweet won the 1,600-meter race in a recent meet against Gig Harbor and Central Kitsap. Photo courtesy of Peninsula High Athletics.
Women win multiple times
In the women's competition, Gig Harbor sophomore Karin Heikkila won the 100-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles.
Peninsula's Sri Sardinia won the shot put with a throw of 26 feet, 8.5 inches, and the discus with a throw of 100 feet, 4 inches. Lydia Ward, the Tides' reigning javelin bronze medalist at the 2023 state tournament, won with an explosive throw of 108 feet, 4 seconds.
Gig Harbor and Peninsula will go head-to-head in a dual meet scheduled for April 4 at GHHS starting at 3:30 p.m.
Tides golf team is “on fire”
The Gig Harbor boys golf team looked like a state championship contender when it defeated Central Kitsap 5-0 on March 27 at Madrona Links.
Top-seeded golfer Theo Snyder of Gig Harbor was two strokes under as he approached the tee box on the 182-yard sixth hole. The elevated green has a deep bunker on the left and trees and grass bunkers on the right.
The hole required a straight tee shot, and Snyder's beauty landed 10 feet in front of the green. He casually pulled out a 60-degree wedge and hit a one-hop flop shot that bounced and landed in the hole from 35 feet for birdie. When Snyder pulled the ball out of the cup, a stunned Central Kitsap player said, “This guy is absolutely strong.”
Snyder, who starred in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this summer and qualified for the PGA Junior National event, was in good spirits all day. He shot a 2-under 34 on the tight front nine of Madrona Links to take the overall victory.
Gig Harbor's Chet West led his team to a fourth place finish in the state last year. Photo: Dennis Brown.
His playing partner, senior Chet West, could also go low. He took his second place after the first day at last year's Class 3A state tournament, leading the team to his fourth-place finish in the state.
West shot a 37 on a damp day against the Cougars with a pre-shot routine that was as impressive as his golf shot. He is a mechanical player who takes many practice swings, constantly tosses grass in the air to check the wind, and displays a focused approach to every shot. In Snyder and West, head coach Shane Henderson may have the best one-two punch in the state.
“We definitely have the ability to win a state title,” West said. “Our top five is perfect at the moment and we feel we have a solid chance to achieve it.”
West said of Snyder, “Yeah, he's a rock star. He's so robot-like that I love playing with him. Last year it was like we fought and I won, but he's been out all summer. He's been playing for a long time and now he's a better golfer.”
But when reminded that he's also a strong contender for an individual state title, the competitive West smiles and says:
Liam Dalbec, a junior and third seed, shot a 38. How good is Dalbec? He scored 33 for eagle against Hjelm in his last game. Fourth-seeded Davis Dancy, a smooth junior with plenty of power, shot 40 against Central Kitsap, and fifth-seeded Parker Baer shot a 4-over 39 for a total of 188 against the Cougars. Recorded.
The Tides' next big test will be against Bellarmine Prep. The Lions won the boys state team title 10 times. The game is scheduled for April 8 at 3 p.m. at Farcrest Country Club in Tacoma, and should be a dandy one.
Seahawks singles stop remains undefeated
Peninsula's No. 1 tennis singles player, McKenna Baurichter, continued her undefeated season despite the team's 3-2 loss to Yelm on March 26th.
Baurichter defeated his Tornado opponent 6-4, 6-2. The No. 3 doubles team of senior Audrey Bauml and junior McKinley Stoker led the Seahawks to a 7-5, 7-6 victory.
McKenna Baurichter remained undefeated on the season after defeating the Hjelm player.Photo by Bryce Carithers
Baurichter combined a steady serve with even groundstrokes to win the match in the stormy weather. The sophomore reached nearly every ball and returned the ball until opponents got impatient and made unforced errors.
Several rallies lasted more than 25 strikes combined, with the patient Baurichter winning most of them. She took deep shots into the backline, keeping opponents away from the net and frustrating them throughout the game.
Lindsay Kirkup returns serve for Peninsula's No. 1 doubles team.Photo by Bryce Carithers
The Seahawks certainly have one of the most inspiring players I've ever seen in senior Lindsay Kirkup, who plays tennis with a prosthetic right hand. Born with part of his hand missing, Kirkup overcame his handicap to become a great player on Peninsula's No. 1 doubles team.
Serving in tennis is difficult enough to put many talented athletes away from the sport forever, but Kirkup pulls it off one-handed with strength and proper placement. She hit speedy groundstrokes and was very effective at the net, using her quick feet and aggressiveness to break through the middle and end many rallies by hitting crosscourt winners.
Kirkup pairs with the dynamic Margaux Mayer to form one of the top doubles teams in the area.
“Lindsay is great,” Peninsula assistant coach Britt Meyer said. “She's very athletic, she's very positive, she's always been like sunshine and everyone loves her. We're so lucky to have her.”
The Seahawks will play Baurichter vs. Gig Harbor ace Lauren Pitts on April 3 at 3:30 p.m. in Gig Harbor.
Soccer team lurking in league play
The Gig Harbor men's soccer team (2-2 overall, South Sound Conference) lost 2-0 to Timberline on March 26 at Roy Anderson Field. The Tides had more shots on goal and had a few near misses at the net, but they controlled the ball for the majority of the game.
Timberline remains in first place in the South Sound Conference with a 4-0 record. Gig Harbor cannot afford another league loss if the Tides want to retain the SSC title they won in 2023.
Jack Larned was the Tides' leading scorer with nine goals and four assists, followed by Tyler Dull (five goals and five assists) and Caleb Gilbert (four goals and four assists).
Peninsula (2-3, 2-2 SSC) is also in the thick of SSC contention with recent wins over Capital (3-2) and Yelm (1-0). The Seahawks are adjusting with new coach Chia Neal, who was hired after Ozer Kokdemir left at the end of last season.
The Seahawks will face River Ridge on March 28th at 7 p.m., then travel to Lacey for a big matchup against Timberline on April 2nd. The Seahawks and Tides will face off on April 4 at 7 p.m.
Gig Harbor sophomore Henry Blake vs. Timberline.Photo by Bryce Carithers
PHS is popular in the lacrosse world
Peninsula won 10-7 in a men's lacrosse competition against Gig Harbor on March 22nd.
Seahawks leading scorer Robbie Akrutin scored six goals, and Peninsula had a good game from goaltender Tyler Zivot, who made 12 saves. Akrutin currently leads the Puget Pierce 3A League with 12 goals.
