PORT ANGELES — Athletes from all around the Olympic Peninsula will be off in Yakima, Spokane, Seattle and Tacoma competing in various state championships.
Softball
Leading the way are the Port Angeles and Forks softball teams, which will be playing 15 miles apart in the 2A and 2B state softball tournaments.
The Port Angeles girls (20-3), ranked No. 2 in ratings percentage index in the state, begin play at Carlon Park in Selah at 10 a.m. The Roughriders, who finished third at the bidistrict tournament, are a No. 4 seed at the state tourney and will play No. 13 seed Shadle Park (15-7, No. 17 RPI). If the Riders win, they play in the state semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday against the winner of No. 5 seed W.F. West (17-5, No. 7 RPI) and No. 12 seed Lynden (19-6, No. 12 RPI).
If the Riders end up in the consolation bracket after the Shadle Park game, they would play again at 1:30 p.m. Friday against the loser of W.F. West/Lynden and would possibly play a third game at 6 p.m. Friday.
Forks, the defending state runner-up, is nearby in Yakima in the 2B tournament. Forks (15-6, No. 7 RPI) is a No. 3 seed after finishing second in the District 4 tournament.
The Spartans get a first-round bye and play the winner of Lind-Ritzville-Sprague (15-9, No. 18 RPI) and Warden (18-6, No. 5 RPI) at 2 p.m. Friday.
Win or lose, Forks plays just one game Friday. The Spartans’ next game is at 10 a.m. Saturday either in the state semifinals or in the consolation bracket.
Track and field
Port Angeles, Sequim, East Jefferson, Forks, Crescent, Clallam Bay and Neah Bay are all in the various state track and field meets that begin Thursday.
Port Angeles and Sequim head to Mount Tahoma High School to compete in the 2A meet with preliminaries and some field events beginning Thursday. Most of the finals will be held Saturday.
Athletes to watch for Sequim include district champion high jumper Clare Turella, who has the second-highest high jump in the state at 5-3, and pole vaulter Ari Skov, who won this event at district at 12-9.
Port Angeles’ Teanna Clark, a sophomore, won the girls javelin at district with a throw of 125-6, which is No. 1 in the state and is the No. 2 distance ever in Port Angeles High School history.
Hurdler Parker Nickerson also placed last year at state while his Roughriders’ teammate Donovan Heins has one of the top long jumps in the state at 22-2¾. Sequim’s Ivy Barrett was second last year in the 400 while Kaitlyn Bloomenrader is a previous state champion in the 4×400 relay. The Sequim girls have some very strong relay teams again this year.
The 1A, 1B and 2B state track meets will all be held at Eisenhower High School in Yakima.
East Jefferson is at the 1A meet and is led by distance runners Aaliyah Cassidy Yearian and Fiona Fraser and javelin throwers Reid Martin and Ellise Gardner. Yearian, Martin and Gardner all finished second at state last year.
Forks at the 2B level is led by thrower Nate Dahlgren. Dahlgren had a shot put of 50-1½, one of the top distances in the state.
Crescent, Clallam Bay and Neah Bay all have a large contingent of athletes at the 1B meet. Crescent is led by sophomore Naomii Sprague, who won four district titles, while Neah Bay is led by Ryana Moss, who is in the top 10 in the middle distances at state.
Golf, tennis
The state golf tournaments began Tuesday with the opening round. Sequim and Port Angeles boys are golfing at Liberty Lake Golf Course while the Sequim and Port Angeles girls are nearby at the MeadowWood Golf Course.
At state are Port Angeles golfers Reid Schmidt, Nate Anderson, Sky Gelder and Max Gagnon.
For the girls, Port Angeles’ Autumn Wilson-Rowland and Claire Osterberg are at state while Sequim’s Emily Post, Raimey Brewer and Ava Johnson are at state.
The second round for golfers making the first-day cut begins today.
For results of Tuesday’s first round of state golf, you can go online at www.peninsuladailynews.com.
There are several local tennis players at the 2A state championships beginning Friday at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
The biggest name to watch in tennis is Sequim’s Garrett Little, who finished second at state last year. The player who beat Little in the championship last year, Zach Chai, has graduated.
Little will be joined on the girls’ side by teammate Calleigh Thompson.
The Port Angeles doubles team of Nate Basden and Matthew Miller is also at state as well as Martin, who is at the 1A meet for East Jefferson. With the state 1A track meet going on at the same time, Martin will have to choose which tournament to compete in.
Port Angeles’ Kennedy Rognlien, here hitting a double against Sequim, has been hot lately for the Roughriders. The Riders begin their run at the state tournament in Selah on Friday. (Michael Dashiell/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
