Postseason hopes fall as Plateau teams eliminated from state
Published 2:00 pm Tuesday, May 26, 2026
Just a few days of competition remain for Washington’s spring season, high school athletes.
Everything has wrapped up except track and field, baseball and boys soccer. On the Plateau, interest in those last two waned when Enumclaw and White River were ousted during the opening round of the 3A state tournament.
With the state track and field meet kicking off Thursday, here’s where things stand – and how the postseason played out – for Enumclaw and White River.
TRACK & FIELD
A handful of Plateau track and field athletes will join the best the state’s Class 3A world has to offer, all competing May 28-30 in the state championships.
The season-ending meet will again take place at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
The Hornets – from both Enumclaw High and White River – earned their state trip with a Top 6 placing in last week’s District 3/4 meet at French Field, on the campus of Kent-Meridian High.
The following local athletes will be competing in Tacoma.
Enumclaw boys: Cole Olson, 100 meters and 400 meters; John (JT) Elliott, pole vault; 4×400 relay (Kaden Kranz, Jack Blair, Brody Hardersen, Olson).
Enumclaw girls: Lillian Haas, 800 meters and 1600 meters; Zoey Roth, javelin; Senna Burt, high jump; Julia Michael, pole vault.
White River boys: Kaden Pierce, discus; Jorden Goethels, high jump; Marcus Marlow, pole vault.
White River girls: Paeton Poelman, 1600 meters and 3200 meters; Maddi Larson, 3200 meters.
BOYS GOLF
Class 3A golfers from around the state gathered in Spokane last week for their state tournament, staged at Indian Canyon Golf Course.
Taking part in the May 19-20 state finale was an Enumclaw High quintet (having qualified as a team), along with two White River golfers who qualified individually.
Enumclaw: Day 1 at Indian Canyon saw junior Wyatt Webb and senior Parker Cook each finish with a round of 75. They tied for 43rd, surviving the cut and advancing to the tourney’s second day.
On Day 2, Webb carded a 77 and his two-day total of 152 left him tied for 46th place. Cook posted a second-day round of 80 and his 155 total left him in 53rd place.
Also playing for EHS were a trio of seniors who were limited to a single day of state action after missing the cut. Travis Leonard carded a 77; Henry Bort, 88; and Taelon Van Dam, 89.
White River: Junior Gavin Weber opened with a round of 73, made the cut and added a Day 2 round of 80. His 153 total left him in 50th place.
Senior Jonah Wright finished with a 77 and was limited to a single day of state play.
GIRLS GOLF
Deer Park Golf Club, not too far north of Spokane, hosted the state’s top 3A female golfers from all corners of Washington.
Included in the May 19-20 mix were a trio from the Plateau, two from White River and one from Enumclaw High.
White River: Included in the state field were the Hornets’ Kailey Jensen and Noelle Wright.
Jensen, a sophomore, registered a Day 1 round of 79 and advanced to the second day of competition, where she posted another round of 79. Her 158, two-day total left her tied for 22nd place.
Wright, a freshman, shot a 95 for the opening 18 holes and did not qualify for a second day of play.
Enumclaw: Senior Taylor Puryear shot an opening round of 80, made the cut and returned on Day 2 to register an identical, 18-hole score.
Her 160 total for two rounds left her tied for 25th place.
FASTPITCH SOFTBALL
The 20-team state festivities began May 21 with four games, all of those being the loser-out variety, and wrapped up the afternoon of May 23 with No. 2 seed Mount Spokane hoisting the championship trophy after knocking off top-seeded Sedro-Woolley.
White River: The White River girls won their state tourney opener in dramatic, walk-off fashion, defeating Seattle Prep with three runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning.
From there, it wasn’t nearly as exciting. The Hornets came out the following day (May 22), dropped a pair of games and were eliminated from the tournament.
Losses for the No. 13-seeded Hornets included a 6-1 setback against No. 4 Roosevelt High and a season-ending, 14-4 loss to No. 5 Timberline.
During their May 21 tourney opener, the Hornets trailed Seattle Prep 4-0 at one point but refused to go down quietly. Still, the team trailed 5-3 when stepping to the plate for their final at-bats. A furious rally ended with a McKenna Charlton single that pushed two runs across the plate.
Timberline 14, White River 4
May 22 at Regional Athletic Complex
White River: 0-0-1-0-3-0 – 4-9-3
Timberline: 1-8-2-0-2-1 – 14-16-0
White River: Alexa Hansen 2-4, 2B, R; Abby Akins 1-4, R; Laken Elvig 2-2, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Natalie Harris 2B, RBI; McKenna Charlton RBI.
White River pitching: Natalie Harris 3 IP, 10 H, 11 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K; Laken Elvig 2.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Roosevelt 6, White River 1
May 22 at Regional Athletic Complex
White River: 0-0-1-0-0-0-0 – 14141
Roosevelt: 0-2-0-0-4-0-x – 6-6-0
White River: Alexa Hansen 1-3, R; Abby Akins 1-3; McKenna Charlton RBI; Emmery Thompson 1-2, Kairi Smith-Bernetskie 1-3.
White River pitching: Laken Elvig 5 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K; Natalie Harris 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
White River 6, Seattle Prep 5
May 21 at Regional Athletic Complex
Seattle Prep: 0-4-0-0-1-0-0 – 5-8-2
White River: 0-0-2-1-0-0-3 – 6-7-1
White River: Laken Elvig 2-3, 2B, 2 R; McKenna Charlton 2-4, 3 RBI; Alexa Hansen 1-3, R; Abby Akins 1-3, 2 R, RBI; Grace Wolff R.
White River pitching: Laken Elvig 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K; Natalie Harris 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Enumclaw: The Enumclaw High girls fell behind early and could not catch up, eventually falling 10-4 to Shorewood in the opening round of the Class 3A state fastpitch softball tournament.
The EHS squad was part of that initial, loser-out round of contests, meaning the Hornet season came to a close in Lacey.
Shorewood 10, Enumclaw 4
May 22 at Regional Athletic Complex
Enumclaw: 1-0-0-0-0-3-0 – 4-4-4
Shorewood: 1-1-3-0-2-3-x – 10-12-1
Enumclaw: Brynn Findley 1-3, R; Braelynn Schliep 1-3, 2B, R; Ava Lim 1-3, 2B, R; Lila Schmidt R, 2 RBI.
Enumclaw pitching: Adelyn Price 4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Delandy Saw 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
BASEBALL
Both Plateau ball clubs, Enumclaw High and White River, found themselves among the 20 teams that qualified for the Class 3A state tournament.
That’s the good news.
The bad? Both opened with loser-out games and both fell short, bringing their seasons to a quick close.
Enumclaw entered state play as the No. 19 seed and traveled May 19 to Monroe High, where they dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to the host Bearcats.
Also on the 19th, White River traveled to Liberty High and fell by a 7-2 score.
Monroe 1, Enumclaw 0
Enumclaw: 0-0-0-0-0-0-0 – 0-3-1
Monroe: 0-0-0-0-0-0-1 – 1-3-1
Enumclaw: Cole Chiechi 1-3, 3B; Thade Highfill 1-3; Oliver Potts 1-2, BB.
Enumclaw pitching: Russell Zimmer 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Nicholas Harris 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K; Thade Highfill 0.2 IP 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
Liberty 7, White River 2
White River: 0-0-0-0-0-0-2 – 2-4-1
Liberty: 2-0-2-3-0-0-x – 7-6-2
White River: Jackson Rock 2-3, 2B, R; Kolton Jensen 1-3, R; Eric Garrison RBI; Dayton Nash 1-3, RBI.
White River pitching: Lucas Brazier 3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Gavin Mills 3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K.
GIRLS TENNIS
A trio of Plateau players made their way to Clark County for an appearance in the Class 3A state tournament, staged at the Vancouver Tennis Center.
State qualifiers included White River’s Cydnee Chapin in singles and the Enumclaw High duo of Audrey Firnkoess and Haley Dumontet in doubles.
Chapin opened tourney play with a loser-out match against Shorewood’s Micah Crose. After winning the first set 6-3, the match turned in favor of the Shorewood senior. Crose won the next two, 6-4 and 7-5, advancing to the tournament’s Round 2.
For Chapin, a junior, this year’s state appearance is the third in her high school career.
On the 3A doubles scene, 20 teams took to the Vancouver courts beginning May 22.
The Enumclaw duo of Dumontet and Firnkoess was among the first to see action, placed in the opening round of loser-out matches.
The EHS seniors got off to a rough start, losing the first set 6-0. Things turned mighty competitive in the second set where the Hornet entry eventually fell 7-6, ending their tourney experience.
BOYS TENNIS
Enumclaw High’s doubles pair of William Stuenkel and King Gisa avoided an opening round of loser-out matches, jumped right into double-elimination play and immediately made the most of their opportunity.
At the Vancouver tennis venue, the Hornets opened with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Mountain View pair and advanced to the tourney’s quarterfinal round. Things quickly became more difficult and the Enumclaw pair suffered a 6-4, 6-2 loss to a Mercer Island entry.
On the second day of the tournament Gisa and Stuenkel stayed alive with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the pair from Tacoma’s Silas High and became one of just eight doubles teams playing in the final round of the state tourney. It didn’t end as the Hornets had hoped as they dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to the Bellevue High entry of Andrew Chu and Keane Qu.
The Gisa/Stuenkel tandem had months to think about their state appearance. The boys tennis season is in the fall, with qualifiers then waiting until spring for the state tournament.
