Sports Roundup: Bair leads Olympic Peninsula girls at 2A state cross country meet

Cross Country’s state runs

Three Sequim runners made it to the 2A state track meet on Nov. 8 in Pasco with a fourth runner serving as an alternate.

Freshman Emily Bair led all Olympic Peninsula girl runners at the Sun Willows Golf Course to finish 60th in 20:57.9.

Port Angeles’ Leia Larson finished 81st (21:28.4) and Miriam Cobb was 124th (22:43.6).

Bair said she started running competitively in eighth grade, and joined her brother Brandon, who also ran with the boys team.

Her goal, along with fellow teammates, was to make it to state, and always run the best they could.

“It’s been a learning experience,” she said. “It became easier as the season went on.”

Bair ran her personal best (20:03.5) on Oct. 23 at the 2A Olympic League Championship at the Cedars at Dungeness in the 5,000 meters.

For the Sequim boys, juniors Adrian Osborne finished 81st (17:35.5) and Gavin Tupper 127th (18:14.8). Reid Randall, a junior, was also an alternate.

This was Tupper’s first year on the team, and he’s set a high mark for his senior year to surpass his brother Kyle Tupper, Port Angeles’ former boys 5K record holder in 15:48.11

Both Osborne and Tupper set their personal records at the Olympic League Championships with Osborne finishing in 17:15.7, and Tupper in 17:25.9.

All of Port Angeles’ boys runners finished among the top 87 in the 2A race. The best showing was by Andre Campbell, who came in 47th with a time of 17:04.9. Teammates Henry Wendel was 83rd (17:39.3), Easton Dempsey 85th (17:40.2) and Jay Lieberman 87th (17:42.8).

Photo courtesy Cherise Feser Sequim swimmers, from left, Ashlyn Sol, Madelyn Bower, Holland Sol, Annie Ellefson, Ava Shinkle, Naomi Beglyakov, Violet Phillips, and Emma Rhodes swam at the West Central District 2A meet last weekend. The 200-yard medley relay team of Beglyakov, Ellefson, Shinkle, and Holland Sol will compete at the WIAA State Championship this weekend, along with Ellefson in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Shinkle in the 200-yard individual medley.

Swim squad sends relay team, two individuals to state

Sequim’s girl swimmers set several personal records at the West Central District 3 Championships on Nov. 7-8 in the Curtis Aquatic Center in University Place.

The 200-yard medley relay team of Naomi Beglyakov, Annie Ellefson, Ava Shinkle, and Holland Sol dropped four seconds from their previous best in the prelims and another three seconds in the finals to post a PR of 2:09.07 to finish fifth overall, according to coach Cherise Feser.

In the 200-yard individual medley, Shinkle, a junior, impressed with a standout swim, cutting more than eight seconds from her best time to finish fifth overall (2:19.04), while Ellefson, a senior, also swam a PR of 1:12.84 in the 100-yard breaststroke for a third place finish.

The medley team, Shinkle, and Ellefson all earned qualifying times to compete at the 2A State meet at the King County Aquatic Center on Nov. 14-15.

Other highlights included Ellefson, Emma Rhodes, and Ashlyn Sol turning in strong performances in the 100-yard freestyle, Feser said.

Ellefson shaved two seconds off her best time to swim 1:00.15 for fifth overall, while Rhodes dropped two seconds to set a new PR (1:14.76) for 19th place, and Sol completed the event in 1:19.88, placing 24th.

In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Madelyn Bower, Ashlyn Sol, Violet Phillips, and Rhodes earned 11th place (5:08.19), and Phillips also placed 19th in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Rhodes also had a strong showing in the 200 IM, improving from 3:11.90 to 3:05.15 for 14th place overall.

Kate Brouillard served as an alternate, and the team was accompanied by coaches Sarah Thorson and Feser.

Photo courtesy Eric Ellefson/ Annie Ellefson competes for Sequim in the 100-yard freestyle race. She cut two seconds off her best time for fifth overall at the West Central District meet. She qualified for the 2A state meet this weekend in the 100-yard breastroke.

NK ends Wolves’ soccer postseason run

Sequim (7-11) saw its girls soccer season come to a conclusion in the district tournament on Nov. 6.

The Wolves fell 8-1 to Olympic League foe North Kitsap on the Vikings’ home field.

Sophomore Ruby Moxley-Horgan scored Sequim’s lone goal, coming off of a corner kick from senior Raimey Brewer. It was Moxley-Horgan’s team-high 11th goal of the season.

Brewer was one of three Wolves seniors, along with classmates Hailey Wagner and Kiley Winter.

Brewer ended her four-year varsity Wolves career with a team-leading 13 assists and five goals. Winter posted seven goals and six assists, and Wagner anchored the team’s defensive back line.

Two days earlier, Sequim fell 4-0 on the road against Bainbridge. On Nov. 1, Sequim won a loser-out playoff game over Franklin Pierce 3-2.

Junior midfielder Lily Sparks scored a pair of goals with her first in the fifth minute and in the 48th minutes. Brewer scored unassisted in the 13th minute.

Assistant coach Vianey Cadanes said, “it wasn’t a perfect game by any means, and after the Cardinals got their second goal, we knew we had to lock in defensively.”

“We made some adjustments and Olive Bridge was a tremendous help, stepping up in the back line,” she said.

Besides Moxley-Horgan, Sequim likely returns junior Bridge, who recorded six assists, and sophomore Kaiya Robinson, who had four goals this season. Sparks also totaled four goals and should return. The Wolves are set in goal with junior Lillian Anderson.

Port Angeles, North Kitsap and Bainbridge are all set to start the 2A State Soccer Tournament on Nov. 11-12.

Volleyball goes deep in districts

At the District 3 2A Volleyball Tournament on Nov. 7-8, Sequim came close to making the state tournament.

The Wolves, as the No. 4 seed, had an opening round bye, and then faced North Kitsap in the second round but lost three straight sets.

In the consolation, Sequim swept Kingston 3-0, but lost 3-1 to Orting, who advanced to state in third place.

Bainbridge went on to sweep North Kitsap 3-0 and win the district tournament three sets to one over Washington High School. Port Angeles won its opening round 3-2 over Steilacoom, but were swept by Washington and Fife.

Full results were unavailable by press time.

In the regular season, Sequim was 11-3 in the Olympic League and 13-6 overall.

Photo courtesy Eric Ellefson/ Naomi Beglyakov readies herself before the start of the 200-yard medley relay. She and Annie Ellefson, Ava Shinkle and Holland Sol earned a qualifying place at the 2A state meet this weekend.

Photo courtesy Eric Ellefson/ Ashlyn Sol swims the 100-yard freestyle at the West Central Districts meet. She also swam with the 400-yard freestyle relay team with Madelyn Bower, Violet Phillips and Emma Rhodes to earn an 11th place finish.

Photo courtesy Cherise Feser/ The 200-yard individual medley relay team, from left, Holland Sol, Naomi Beglyakov, Annie Ellefson and Ava Shinkle qualified for the state meet last week. Coach Cherise Feser said they dropped four seconds from their previous best in the prelims and another three seconds in the finals to post a PR of 2:09.07.