Sports Roundup: Postseason play around the corner for Wolves

Cross Country boys team, two girls set for districts

The Sequim boys team and two girls will run at the Westside Classic Class 2A District meet on Nov. 1 at Chamber Bay near Tacoma after strong performances at the Olympic League Championship.

Freshman Emily Bair posted a personal record for an impressive top-five finish at The Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course on Oct. 23. She sprinted along the course’s first hole to overtake Olympic’s Abigail Thatcher by 0.37 of a second for fifth place.

She led the Wolves in the girls race with Birdie Pyeatt placing 25th (23:18.16), who will also run for the Wolves at districts. Sequim’s Shaylee Furbee also placed 45th in 26:37.52, Kylie Peters 46th in 26:38.95, and Kaylee Lawson 47th in 26:44.53.

Port Angeles’ Leia Larson posted the top individual performance for any North Olympic Peninsula athlete, finishing the 3.1-mile course in fourth in 20 minutes, 1.86 seconds.

For the boys, Sequim’s top seven runners will go to districts along with two alternates.

Juniors Adrian Osborne (17:15.64) and Reid Randall (17:15.86) came in 12th and 13th, and Gavin Tupper in 15th (17:25.85). Those were all personal records for them.

Josh Wakefield also PR’d (29th in 17:57.69) and so did Jonathan Tipton (37th in 18:24.39) and Jackson Hines (41st in 18:32.50). Westley French (18:17.4) also placed 36th and will run at districts. Alternates will be Brandon Bair (19:17.88, a PR) and Billy Struve (19:37.19, a PR).

Photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Port Angeles senior Leia Larson, front, eyes the finish line while Sequim freshman Emily Bair (back) overtakes Olympic’s Abigail Thatcher to earn a top-5 finish at the Olympic League Cross Country Championships at The Cedars at Dungeness Golf Course on Thursday.

Football loses shootout

The Wolves found themselves in a wild offensive shootout away from Sequim on Friday night, combining with 11 touchdowns with Bainbridge. However, the Spartans came out on top 42-32.

Down 12-0, the Wolves got right back in the game on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kaden Miller to Andrew Keeler with 4:35 left in the first quarter.

The Spartans scored a quick touchdown to make it 18-6, but tried an onside kick that Sequim recovered at midfield. With a short field, the Wolves scored in just three plays, beginning with a 24-yard pass from Miller to Zeke Schmadeke, followed by a 10-yard pass to Keeler and a 12-yard touchdown pass to Keeler to make it 18-13.

Bainbridge took a 21-13 lead into the half. The Wolves got the first score of the second half on a 4-yard run by Liam Wiker to make it 21-19.

Bainbridge bounced back with a touchdown to make it 27-19 and the turning point of the game came on a Sequim fumble midway through the third quarter right at the sideline. The ball somehow stayed inbounds and the Spartans recovered, scoring after a quick drive to make it 35-19.

Sequim still had a chance with a big drive, capped off by a Wiker 10-yard touchdown run to make it 35-25 with 5:59 left in the game. Bainbridge was able to hold the ball for more than four minutes and scored on an 18-yard reverse to salt the game away at 42-25.

Sequim scored a late touchdown on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Malachi Hampton. Hampton also had a 56-yard catch and run in the game.

Sequim (0-5, 3-5) hosts North Mason (3-2, 6-2) in the Wolves’ regular-season finale Thursday.

Volleyball: Wolves sweep PA

Strong service runs by Sequim earned a Rainshadow Rumble rivalry sweep of Port Angeles but the Wolves had to work for their 3-1 (22-25, 25-9, 25-15, 25-16) Olympic League volleyball victory on Oct. 21.

“There were some really long rallies during the match,” Sequim coach Jennie Webber Heilman said. “Some pretty good play going on back and forth. Our serving has improved, and we had some really long service runs.”

The Wolves seized momentum via a 13-point run with freshman Teagan Nethery at the service line in the second game.

Nethery finished 21-for-21 on serves with two aces, five kills, a stuff block and 10 digs.

“She was playing defense, she was only in the back row while serving, so lots of digs for the amount of time she was there,” Webber Heilman said.

Rose Gibson added a five-serve run with two aces in the fourth game and finished 18-for-20 with four aces, three kills, a block and six digs for the Wolves.

Ashton Reichner went 22-for-23 on serves with two aces, two perfect passes, a kill and six digs.

Freshman Jordyn Julmist led the Wolves with nine kills, seven digs and an ace.

On Thursday, the Wolves defeated North Kitsap three sets to one. Full results were unavailable at press time.

Sequim was set to finish its regular season in Bremerton (0-12, 0-13) on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Sequim Gazette photos by Matthew Nash Port Angeles’ Mariah Traband (4) and Sequim’s Harper Moore (16) chase down a ball that went off the goal post early in the first half on Oct. 21 in the Roughriders’ 3-1 win.

Soccer: Roughriders rally for win over Wolves

The Port Angeles girls soccer team bounced back with three goals in the second half, two of them in the waning minutes, to get past a spirited Sequim team 3-1 on Oct. 21.

Sequim coach Vianey Cadenas said the Wolves knew Port Angeles was going to be tough.

“It was everything you’d want in a soccer game,” she said.

Cadenas said she felt the team’s backline followed their gameplan well, and Sequim controlled most of the game’s tempo until the last 15 minutes of gameplay, when the Riders scored two of their three goals.

“I’m not disappointed in the girls at all,” she said. “They’re always gritty.”

Sequim dictated the tempo through the first half and Riders’ goalkeeper Kennedy Rognlien was instrumental in keeping the game close early as the Wolves could have gotten up big if not for her. The Wolves struck first on a great through pass to Kaiya Robinson, who converted the play into a goal 14 minutes into the game.

Sequim had three more golden chances to score when one long, high shot went off the crossbar, followed quickly by Rognilen making back-to-back diving saves on two point-blank shots.

It appeared Port Angeles perhaps tied the game late in the half when Traband scored, but the play was quickly nullified by offsides and the Riders’ celebration was short-lived.

Kaiya Robinson (10) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Port Angeles on Oct. 21.

Port Angeles had another golden opportunity to score late in the half with four or five Roughriders getting off shots deep in the Sequim penalty box in a flurry of activity that lasted half a minute. But Sequim had the box packed with defenders and they effectively blocked every shot to keep the Riders off the scoreboard.

Port Angeles coach Daniel Horton said the Riders were a different team in the second half.

“Our team looked totally different,” Horton said. “That was all the players. It was all them.

“We told them go out there and play soccer and you’ll be fine,” Horton said.

The Riders tied the game in the 50th minute on a goal from Becca Manson after a fantastic long crossing pass from the left sideline by Emma Desjardins.

The game remained tied 1-1 through most of the second half when Lily Anne Lancaster scored in the 74th minute after a spectacular play from Teanna Clark, who stole the ball from Sequim, slipped and fell to the ground, and then sitting on the ground, made a perfect pass to Lancaster, who beat a defender and booted a long shot from 25 yards out for a go-ahead score.

In stoppage time, Lancaster scored again with an insurance goal on a nice crossing pass again from Desjardins.

With the win, the Roughriders cemented their third-place position in the Olympic League with a chance to finish second as second-place North Kitsap has to play undefeated Bainbridge next week.

Sequim hosted North Kitsap in a 3-2 loss on Thursday with full results unavailable.

This week, the Wolves (5-8, 5-9) are set to finish the regular season in Bremerton on Oct. 28.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Sequim’s Ruby Moxley-Horgan advances the ball against Port Angeles’ Emma Deshardins (20) on Tuesday in Sequim. The Roughriders scored three goals in the second half to win 3-1.

Tennis sends one team to districts

Sequim’s No. 1 doubles team Mason Rapelje and Bjorn Henrikson earned a spot at districts this week at the Kitsap Tennis and Athletic Club in Bremerton.

The pair, along with other Wolves, competed on Oct. 22-23 at the Olympic League boys tennis tournament Oct. 22-23 at North Kitsap High School.

Rapelje and Henrikson seek a spot at the 2A state tournament set for spring 2026.

Sequim Gazette file photo by Matthew Nash Sequim’s No. 1 doubles team Mason Rapelje, left, and Bjorn Henrikson, pictured at a meet earlier this month, will compete as the only Wolves at the Kitsap Tennis and Athletic Club in Bremerton this week.

Swim squad wins last meet

The Wolves finished their regular season with a 93-68 win at home against Bremerton on Oct. 22.

Sequim celebrated five seniors at their final home competition, including Naomi Beglyakov, Kate Brouillard, Annie Ellefson, Violet Phillips, and Holland Sol.

Coach Cherise Feser said some of the standout performances included Emma Rhodes, who cut two seconds from her 100-yard freestyle for a new personal record (1:16.14) and Phillips, who achieved a two-second improvement in the 100 breaststroke for a PR (1:35.09) and first place finish.

First-year swimmer Brooklyn Sorensen also impressed, dropping five seconds for a new personal best in the 100 backstroke (1:50.20).

The 200 medley team of Beglyakov, Ava Shinkle, Ellefson and Sol won (2:19.56) the event, while Ellefson won the 200 freestyle (2:19.71). Shinkle won the 50 free (27.41) and 100 butterfly (1:07.97).

Sol finished first in the 500 free (7:18.81) with Beglyakov second (7:31.06).

The 200 freestyle team of Ellefson, Sol, Beglyakov and Shinkle finished first too (2:01.68), and so did the 400 freestyle team of Ashlyn Sol, Madelyn Bower, Rhodes, and Phillips in 5:35.54.

To cap the week, the Wolves competed in the Olympic League Divisional Championship meet on Oct. 25 serving as an opportunity for swimmers to qualify for districts.

Feser said athletes who had already secured their district times were ineligible to place, so others could earn medals and recognition.

Sequim had several standout performances, Feser said, including the 200 medley relay team of Madelyn Bower, Tilly Woods, Rhodes, and Ashlyn Sol earning a fifth-place ribbon, and the 200 freestyle relay team of Ellefson, Holland Sol, Phillips, and Shinkle placing fourth overall.

Three swimmers achieved personal records including Phillips in the 100 breaststroke, Rhodes in the 100 freestyle, and Holland Sol in the 50 freestyle.

Eight swimmers will compete at the district meet Nov. 14-15.

Photo courtesy Cherise Feser/ Sequim’s girls swim team recognized its seniors, from left, Holland Sol, Naomi Beglyakov, Annie Ellefson, Kate Brouillard, and Violet Phillips at their final home meet on Oct. 22.