THEY’VE BEEN CLASSMATES since preschool.

Why not college, too?

Port Angeles seniors Kiah Jones and Easton Napiontek will share the same campus once again when each enrolls at Central Washington University in Ellensburg next fall.

Both signed letters of intent Monday morning to attend the Division II school, with the former set to play volleyball for the Wildcats and the latter baseball.

According to Jones, it was something the childhood friends knew was a possibility as early as a year ago when each was approached by Central coaches as juniors.

“We were like, ‘Would that be cool or what?’” Jones said. “But we never really thought that would happen.”

The way Kiah’s mother, Sherri, tells it, Easton was a shy boy when the two were toddlers and didn’t want to go to preschool.

Jones protects friend

His mom, Susan, put him in Kiah’s class and the two parents told her that if anyone bothered Easton, she needed to take care of him.

“I used to be taller than him,” said Kiah, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter. “I think it was fourth or fifth grade he passed me and he did not look back, not even a little bit.”

Indeed, Easton now towers over just about everyone at 6-8.

He has a strong arm, powerful bat and enough range in the field to play at shortstop, although he played more at first base as a junior.

Obviously, it was hard for him to slip under the radar.

“I found out about the offer about a week before I signed,” said Napiontek, a .393 hitter last spring with 20 RBIs.

“She knew before I knew [that Kiah would be going to Central], but then sort of last minute it all came together and it was really exciting.

“It’s rare to go to college with your best friend when you’re playing athletics, because the chances aren’t there.

“It was fun to have that whole opportunity to sign with her.”

Napiontek will actually attend the same school as his sister, Shelby, as well.

The former Port Angeles three-sport star will finish up her final year with the Central track and field team this spring.

Having visited her many times in Ellensburg, Easton said he grew to love the area.

After Central’s baseball coaches said he would be able to play at first and pitch, he was sold.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to do, and I was lucky enough that they were going to let me try both,” Easton said.

Partial scholarship

Easton received a partial athletic scholarship from the school, as is often the case with baseball.

Kiah received a partial athletic scholarship as well — about 70 percent — and will have the rest paid for through academic scholarships. (She is currently the top-ranked student in her class.)

She verbally committed to playing volleyball for Central in September and said she never had any second thoughts about going somewhere else, even after receiving more interest.

Kiah led the Roughriders to their second straight Class 2A state tournament appearance — a program first — this fall and was named Olympic League MVP.

The Riders’ state trip ended last weekend, with the team falling one win shy of its first trophy.

Without any time to rest, she’s back on the court with the Port Angeles girls basketball team, which began practicing Monday.

Napiontek is doing the same for the boys team, answering the prayers of many a Rider basketball fan who has seen him standing on the sideline the past three years.

“Finally they talked me into it,” said Napiontek. “It should be fun. I’m really excited, it should be a blast.”

Playoff struggles

The carnage from this fall’s football postseason was not pretty for the Olympic League.

As was the case last season, the North Olympic Peninsula’s biggest league finds itself without a single representative as the state playoffs reach the quarterfinals.

The league champion, Sequim, was knocked out of the Class 2A tournament in the round of 16 for the second year in a row.

The second-, third- and fourth-place teams were all eliminated prior to that, each losing their play-in game the week before.

In fact, the only teams to win a single playoff game from the Olympic League, including the crossovers, were Port Angeles and Sequim.

“Better leagues breed better teams,” Sequim head coach Erik Wiker said after his team’s 52-21 loss to W.F. West of Chehalis last Friday.

“These guys are better because they have to play a North Thurston, a Tumwater, a Centralia every year. So even if you are a medium-good team you’re a pretty damn good team.”

Certainly, there were other factors in the Olympic League’s playoff struggles this fall.

Injuries played a key role in the declines of both Port Angeles and Sequim at the end of the season.

But it’s hard to argue that either would’ve been able to advance much farther even if completely healthy.

It seems clear that the league as a whole was a few steps behind its competitors across the water.

After all, the league as a whole was 2-8 in postseason games while getting outscored 363-164.

The coaches know, if the league is to get any better, it’s going to be because each of the schools inside it push the others to get better.

“I try to do everything to help the league grow and get better too. We have a passing league now and all that kind of stuff,” Wiker said. “We know what our league is like.

“We only have the players we have and we’re going to do the best we can with them, but that’s why we’ll go out deliberately and get the Cascade Christian and the Meridian games, because they are top level teams and that helps us test to go to that next level.”

Another MVP

The Peninsula can add one more football MVP to its list.

Sequim defensive back Tyler Forshaw was named Olympic League defensive MVP last week for an exceptional senior season.

The 5-foot-9, 165-pounder was a first-team all-league defensive back as a junior and became a weapon in all three phases of the game this year.

He had a team-best nine interceptions as well as 76 tackles while also leading the Wolves receivers with 52 receptions for 774 yards and three touchdowns.

His 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Kingston sealed a critical 27-13 win for the Wolves.

Not surprisingly, he was named the league’s first-team returner as well.

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Matt Schubert is the outdoors and sports columnist for the Peninsula Daily News. His column regularly appears on Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.