2015: The Year in Sports
Published 1:33 pm Tuesday, December 29, 2015
On land or at sea, on their own or in a group, young or young at heart, Sequim’s sports and recreation headliners were doing it all in 2015. And they generally were going at impressive speeds.
Perhaps no Sequim athlete flew higher in 2015 than Sequim High senior Alex Barry, who shot, rebounded, blocked and passed his way into the Wolves’ record books. He garnered the Olympic League’s boys basketball MVP in the winter and then won a pair of medals at the class 2A state track meet in the spring — one for javelin, the other helping teammates earn a surprise victory in the 4×400 relay.
Here’s a recap of the highlights from the year that was in Sequim sports and recreation:
Winter
In January, Sequim High’s wrestling squad started the year off well with a match win — three, actually — at Port Angeles’ Battle for the Axe tournament. It was the first win for the Wolves in three seasons and a harbinger of better things to come.
In February, SHS sent 11 Wolves to regional competitions and another four to the class 2A state meet. Alma Mendoza took seventh, Kiara Pierson placed eighth and teammates Kaylee Ditlefsen and Kevyn Ward each earned wins at the season finale.
SHS senior swimmer Eric Prosser and freshman diver Mathew Craig finished their respective seasons at the state 2A meet, both earning a top-15 finish — Prosser earning his in the 100 backstroke.
On the basketball court, both of Sequim’s squads earned tickets to the district tournament. Sequim’s girls earned a win at districts over Evergreen before River Ridge ended their campaign in the consolation quarterfinals. A trio of Lady Wolves — seniors Caitlin Stofferahn and Victoria Cummins and sophomore Adrienne Haggerty — were named to the Olympic League All-League second team. Stofferahn went on to sign a letter of intent to play basketball at Austin College.
On the boys’ side, Barry and a senior-laden Sequim squad fueled a strong campaign (9-3 in league and 16-8 overall), a season that ended just one game short of regionals with a loss to Olympic.
Barry wound up the league’s MVP after averaging 20.6 points per game — seventh-best all-time since coaches began keeping records in the mid-1970s. He also etched his name in the school record book in numerous categories, in large part thanks to his two spectacular final seasons. As a senior, Barry set school marks for steals and defensive rebounds, second in overall rebounding and third in blocks. He finishes as the leading rebounder in school history with 617 and No. 2 in steals, 3-pointers made and blocks, and third all-time in scoring.
SHS coach Greg Glasser took home Olympic League co-Coach of the Year honors.
At Peninsula College, the Pirates shocked the NWAC after the PC women won their first-ever conference title and the men battled to a third-place trophy.
Spring
In early March, Sequim High senior Elise Beuke became an international rowing champion, racing to a Junior A Women’s division win at the Elk Lake Spring Regatta in Victoria, B.C.
In May, Beuke — a member of the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association — took top honors in the Women’s Varsity Single division at the USRowing Northwest Youth Regional Championships in Vancouver, Wash., then raced to second place in the 2015 Youth National Rowing Championships in Florida in June. Two months later, Beuke, now a freshman at the University of Washington, joined partner Isabella Strickler to place seventh at the World Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Back in Sequim, the Wolves’ spring sports were making plenty of noise on the diamonds, on the track, on the course and on the courts.
In fastpitch, Sequim knocked off Steilacoom and Liberty at the West Central District Tournament to grab a spot in the 2A state tourney. The Wolves went 0-2 at state, 15-9 overall. They saw senior third baseman Olivia Kirsch, junior pitcher McKenzie Bentz, junior outfielder Allysen Montelius and sophomore first baseman Kaylee Gumm each named to the all-Olympic League first team; senior shortstop MaryLu Clift and senior outfielder Tia Bourm were named to the all-league second team.
On the baseball diamond, SHS won three of four games to snag the West Central District’s No. 3 seed to regionals, the first round of the state 2A tourney, before seeing their season end at the hands of Squalicum. Sequim senior pitcher Tanner Rhodefer and junior second baseman Evan Hurn were named to all-Olympic League’s baseball first team. Earning spots on the all-Olympic League second team were junior designated hitter Nigel Christian and senior outfielder Dusty Bates.
Rhodefer later was named to the Washington State Baseball Coaches Association’s All-State 2A second team after posting a 5-4 record and leading the Wolves with a 2.63 earned-run average (per seven innings) with 64 strikeouts.
In tennis, despite just a handful of matches played together, SHS junior Karen Chan and senior Cheyenne Sokkappa quickly became a state-level pairing. The duo took eighth in the doubles division at the class 2A state tournament in Seattle.
In boys soccer, senior midfielder Eli Berg was named an all-Olympic League first team player this spring. Berg tallied two goals and tied for the team lead with seven assists. Sequim teammate Cameron Chase, a junior midfielder/forward, was named to the second team with seven goals — tied for the team lead — and four assists. Berg and Chase helped the Wolves to an 8-4 league mark, a 9-6-2 overall mark and berth in the West Central District playoffs.
Sequim High golfers dominated on the golf courses as well. Jack Shea and Alex McMenamin both took home Olympic League MVP honors. Five athletes — including Shea, McMenamin, Travis Priest, Kailee Price and Brianna Kettel — earned berths to the state meet. There, McMenamin tied for ninth and Shea finished tied for 10th to lead the way. Sequim’s girls placed seventh.
On the track, Sequim sent three relay teams and a total of 14 athletes to the class 2A state finals in Tacoma. On the girls’ side, Waverly Shreffler led a strong contingent with a fourth-place finish in the 800-meter. She then helped Sequim’s 4×400 relay team — along with Gretchen Happe, Heidi Vereide and Mercedes Woods — take fifth a day later.
On the boys’ side, it was Alex Barry shining once again, but he had plenty of company at the class 2A state finals. Junior Jackson Oliver took second place in the high jump and Oscar Herrera placed in the top six in both 110- and 300-meter hurdles events. SHS senior Josh Cibene placed 10th in the pole vault.
Barry’s top effort in the javelin — 185 feet, 1 inch — was enough for a first-place medal. A leg injury earlier in the meet during Barry’s triple jump event — he placed ninth — put his status in question for the 4×400 relay final, but he was good to go … and what a final it was.
Sequim came in with the fourth-best time for the final but wound up knocking off favorites West Valley-Spokane, Sedro-Woolley and Lynden by a healthy margin. Sequim’s team — Barry, Herrera, senior Miguel Moroles and junior Jason Springer — blistered the track for a state title-winning finish in three minutes, 22.53 seconds. In the process, the Wolves broke a 28-year-old school record and launched their squad to a fourth-place placing in the team standings, the best-ever finish for Sequim’s boys and equaling SHS’s 2010 girls team, which tied for fourth.
Summer
In June, Sequim once again played part host to the North Olympic Discovery Marathon. A storm-damaged Railroad Bridge Park trestle forced race organizers to reroute runners along the Olympic Discovery Trail. Still, with more than 1,500 runners racing under sunny skies, Yusheng Ni of Beijing, China, won the men’s marathon and Taia Sean Wu of Bellingham won the women’s division.
Sequim High saw some coaching changes as well in June, with Justine Wagner taking over the SHS girls’ varsity basketball head coach job and Brittany Murdach taking over the girls’ varsity soccer spot.
In late June, Sequim’s The Cedars at Dungeness golf course hosted the 22nd Washington State Women’s Amateur Championship. Washington State University freshman Alivia Brown took top honors. Ginny Burkey of Eugene, Ore., won her second title in the Washington State Senior Women’s Amateur title while Mary Ryan of Renton won the Washington State Super Senior Women’s Amateur, edging out
Sequim’s own Witta Priester by two shots. McMenamin, the Sequim High School sophomore prep star, competed in the tourney.
Later that summer, The Cedars once again hosted the Sonny Sixkiller Celebrity Golf Classic, bringing University of Washington sports legends to Sequim for some fundraising fun, an event that featured a who’s who list of more than 30 Husky legends.
In summer baseball action, a quintet of Sequim High baseball players geared up for play with Wilder Baseball, including Dusty Bates, Evan Hurn, James Grubb, Ian Quast and Tanner Rhodefer.
The Olympic Crosscutters, a newly constructed team with players from Sequim, Port Angeles and Jefferson County, finished their first season a few strokes off the bat from a state berth.
Local Seahawks football fans saw a new club grow in Sequim this summer; the Dungeness Bay Sea Hawkers threw a 12th Man party in July and helped bring Seahawk star running back Marshawn Lynch’s enigmatic mom to the peninsula for …
Sprint boat racing was back on the Olympic Peninsula in 2015. The American Sprint Boat racing series once again splashed down at Port Angeles’ Extreme Sports Park, on July 25 and Aug. 22. Local teams included Sequim’s TNT Live Wire (Paul Gahr Jr./Taylor Gahr), TNT Jeepers Creepers (Dillon Cummings/Teri Cummings) and Port Angeles’ Wicked Racing (Dan Morrison/Cara McGuire, Doug Hendrickson/Cassie Beaudry).
Local soccer fans got their fill in the summer, with a classic Sequim-Port Angeles recreational rivalry game held on Aug. 9. Pablo Salazar scored the lone goal to give Sequim a 1-0 win at Peninsula College’s Wally Sigmar Field.
Sequim hosted the fourth-annual Dungeness Cup, seeing 54 teams from across the Northwest regions take part in 13 divisions of play over three days. Local squads made their mark on the Cup, as Storm King FC earned three division championships and three runner-up finishes.
Several Sequim-area athletes earned spots at the Special Olympics’ Summer Sports Classic, held in Everett from Aug. 14-16. Amanda L. Forbes and Scott Aughtry joined fellow golf duo Michael and Tom Rief, and softball player Alix Rosenbalm in representing Sequim at the event.
Fall
Peninsula College’s soccer programs continued their strong showings. The PC men won their fourth title in six seasons behind NWAC tourney MVP Keo Ponce and Most Inspirational Player Johnny Martinez. The Pirate women earned another spot in the Final Four but fell in the semi-finals to Highline.
Sequim High’s volleyball team rebounded from a slow start to get hot at the right time, winning three in a row at districts to earn a berth in the state 2A tournament. Senior Megan Breckenridge was named to the all-Olympic League first team. The outside hitter led Sequim with 9.4 kills and 16.3 digs per game in the regular season.
Despite a rough season in terms of wins and losses, SHS’s girls soccer squad saw sophomore Claire Henninger picked for the all-Olympic League first team. Henninger posted three shutouts and gave up two goals or less in 12 of the Wolves’ 15 games. Senior defender Mattie Clark was named to the second team.
Sequim High saw its football squad get back on track. After back-to-back, sub-.500 seasons, Sequim High went 5-3 — including a 49-6 beatdown of rival Port Angeles — before falling to Bremerton in the season finale, falling short of the playoffs by one game. Freshman Riley Cowan was named to the all-Olympic League first team while Gavin Velarde earned two spots on the first team: one for kick returning, one for receiving. Others named to the first team included seniors Zach Hebert, Kane Stoddard and Chris Whitaker.
SHS sophomore Sydnee Linnane returned to compete at the 2A state swimming championships, placing 18th in the 100-yard backstroke.
SHS senior Matthew Richards continued his streak as one of Sequim’s ace tennis players. After earning his fourth trip to districts, Richards took fifth overall in the 2A boys’ singles and qualified for a state 2A tournament berth, to be played in May of 2016.
The big story from Sequim High in the fall, however, was big strides made by its cross country squads. Behind ace Waverly Shreffler, Sequim’s girls captured their first Olympic League title since 2007 and their first state meet berth since 2008. At state, Shreffler placed sixth and the Lady Wolves placed 12th overall.
Not to be outdone, Sequim’s boys once again dominated. The Wolves went undefeated in league meets, won the league final, took the West Central District crown and placed third overall at the class 2A meet in Pasco. SHS senior Brendon Despain raced to a ninth place finish to lead the Wolves.
