The final week of the spring sports season produced plenty of excitement, with the Enumclaw lacrosse team and White River High girls golf squad leading the way. While there were plenty of highlights from venues around the state, those two returned to the Plateau with state championships in hand.
Nearly adding to the No. 1 parade was the Enumclaw High baseball team, which battled to the Class 2A finals before falling a run short.
Athletes from Enumclaw and White River scattered for year-end competition. The following is a look at how the Hornets from both sides of the river closed out their seasons.
Photo by Todd Overdorff / sonscapeimages.com No. 12 Wyatt Neu driving Bellingham’s offense player off his mark.
LACROSSE
If winning a state championship is impressive, doing it in back-to-back seasons can be considered remarkable.
That’s exactly what the Enumclaw lacrosse squad pulled off the afternoon of Saturday, May 25. Playing on the turf at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Enumclaw defeated Bellingham 14-6 for its second straight 2A/1A title.
Enumclaw’s playoff run had included an 18-4 defeat of Anacortes, following by a 24-3 drubbing of Sedro-Woolley.
In the state finale, Enumclaw and Bellingham were tied 3-3 after one quarter of play. Enumclaw used five goals in the second period to build a lead, then clamped down defensively to secure a second championship.
Enumclaw received six goals from Kole Carnino, five from Jack Popke and one goal each from Kolby Richardson, Gunnar Trachte and Aidan Voorhees.
Courtesy photo The White River girls golf team, playing at MeadowWood in Spokane, took first in state this week. Pictured left to right is Alle Klemkow, Sophie Ross, Anna Rose, Lexie Mahler, Abby Rose.
GOLF
A dozen Plateau golfers headed east last week for the Class 2A golf tournaments, both boys and girls. The boys tackled Liberty Lake Golf Course while the 2A girls played not far away at MeadowWood. Both layouts are in Spokane Valley, tucked between the city of Spokane and the Idaho state line.
White River girls: White River raced to the team title behind the talented trio of Lexie Mahler, Alle Klemkow and Sophie Ross.
Mahler paced the group, shooting back-to-back rounds of 75. Her two-day total of 150 landed her in a tie for second place. Klemkow opened with a 75 and registered a round of 78 on Day 2, finishing at 153 and placing in a tie for fourth. Ross went 79-88-167 and landed in 11th place.
A fourth White River golfer had qualified for the Class 2A state tournament. After shooting a Day 1 round of 98, Abby Rose missed the cut by a single stroke.
The foursome racked up 109.5 team points, putting a comfortable distance between themselves and the second-place team from West Valley-Spokane (84 points).
White River boys: Kaden Ausen, who dominated the field during the fall medalist tournament, this time made an impression on a statewide stage.
The White River senior tied for No. 2 honors in a field that started with 80 hopefuls. His two-day score of 142 consisted of back-to-back rounds of 71 at the Liberty Lake course.
While Ausen played a full two-day, 36-hole tournament, two teammates were limited to just opening day after failing to make the 18-hole cut.
Playing the first day at Liberty Lake were Gavin Weber, who shot a round of 84, and Jonah Wright, who was just a step behind at 85. Both were very close to making it to Day 2; the cut-off point was 83.
Enumclaw boys: Senior Tanner Nichols and freshman Wyatt Webb survived the Day 1 cut and experienced a full 36 holes at Liberty Lake.
Nichols opened with a round of 82 and came back with an 83. His 165 total put him in a tie for 25th place. Webb was two strokes back at 167 after opening with an 81 and coming back with 86.
In addition, a pair of EHS golfers played their initial 18 holes but were limited to a single day of play, failing to make the cut. Sophomore Travis Leonard carded a round of 89 and fellow 10-grader Parker Cook came in at 102.
At the close of two days the EHS boys had compiled 26.5 points and finished seventh in the team standings.
Enumclaw girls: Emily Alicea, the lone EHS representative in the 2A girls field, placed 12th at the MeadowWood course.
The Hornet senior opened play with a round of 85, leaving her in a tie for 14th place. After adding a Day 2 score of 84, she bumped up two spots.
Photo by Todd Overdorff / sonscapeimages.com No. 11 Jack Popke powers through defenders for an Enumclaw Score.
BASEBALL
The Enumclaw Hornets came up a couple of runs short in their quest for a Class 2A state baseball championship.
Playing at Joe Martin Stadium in Bellingham the afternoon May 25, the EHS squad fell 3-2 to Columbia River High in the final game of the prep season.
The title tilt brought together the top-ranked teams in the state. Enumclaw was seeded No. 1 into the 16-team tournament and the Rapids entered at No. 2. Each won three tourney games to advance to the finals.
Enumclaw had defeated Kingston and Tumwater a week earlier, then dispatched Anacortes 3-0 in the May 24 semifinals. Columbia River had downed Lynden 2-0 in the other semifinal contest to set up the final pairing.
Two runs weren’t enough to get the job done against the Rapids and the Hornets returned home with second-place honors. Coach Eric Fiedler’s squad finished the season with an overall record of 24-2.
This is Drew Francis rounding third base sprinting for home to bring the score to 2-0 Enumclaw in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Drew was able to score after Landon wall hit a line drive to left field. Photo by Travis McQueen / travis-mcqueen.com
FASTPITCH
After joining the state’s Sweet 16 in the Class 2A fastpitch playoffs, the Enumclaw Hornets picked up a state victory before being ousted from tournament action.
Coach Quinn Haney’s crew made the trek east of the Cascades and to the city of Selah, where Carlon Park hosted the 2A festivities.
The Hornets played three times on Friday, May 24, opening with a 2-1 loss to Aberdeen. Dropping into loser-out territory, Enumclaw responded with a 10-7 victory over Ephrata. Moving on to an evening showdown with Othello, the Hornets were blanked 4-0 by the Huskies, bringing their season to a close.
Photo by Michael Dashiell / The Sequim Gazette WRHS Senior Emma Tomlinson placed third in the 800 meters at state with a time of 2:18:26.
TRACK & FIELD
Track and field athletes from Enumclaw and White River converged upon Mount Tahoma High School for the May 23-25 state championships. The Tacoma venue hosted the Class 2A, 3A and 4A finals.
White River girls: Trista Turgeon, 100-meter hurdles, second place, 300-meter hurdles prelims only; Emma Tomlinson, 800 meters, third place, 3,200 meters, third place, 1,600 meters, fourth place, high jump, 12th place; Paeton Poelman, 3,200 meters, eighth place, 1,600 meters, 10th place; ; Charlee Sproed, 400 meters, prelims only; Vivian Kingston, 800 meters and 1,600 meters, prelims only; 4×400 relay, prelims only (Vivian Kingston, Trista Turgeon, Charlee Sproed, Nativity Leddy).
White River boys: Dainton Neff, discus, sixth place, shot put, 18th place; Michael Marlow, 1,600 meters, 14th place, 400 meters and 800 meters, prelims only; 4×400 relay, prelims only (Hunter Maris, Canon Ross, Braden Eames, Michael Marlow).
Enumclaw girls: Natalie DeMarco, javelin, fifth place; Lillian Haas, 1,600 meters, 18th place; Ava Sawyer, 3,200 meters, 17th place; 4×400 relay, prelims only (Ashli Gowin, Avery Marecle, Natalie DeMarco, Mali Radamacher); Ashli Gowin, shot put, 11th place; Isabella Pohlman, 300-meter hurdles, prelims only; Senna Burt, high jump, prelims only.
Enumclaw boys: McCoy Brooks, 3,200 meters, third place, 1,600 meters, fourth place; Evan Cheney, 3,200 meters, sixth place, 1,600 meters, 15th place; Cole Olson, 200 meters, prelims only; Amos Hall, 300-meter hurdles and 110-meter hurdles, prelims only; 4×400 relay and 4×100 relay, prelims only (Michael Poleski, Clifford Cummings, Jack Heisi, Cole Olson).
TENNIS
Tennis players from both Enumclaw and White River traveled north for the Class 2A championships, staged at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
White River’s Cydnee Chapin found the most success, winning two of four matches to claim sixth-place honors in the singles tourney. She opened with a pair of tough, three-set matches to reach the tournament semifinals then dropped a pair of duels to take sixth.
Playing May 24, the EHS doubles team of Bella Firnkoess and Josie Schampera dropped their opening match 2-0, losing 6-1, 6-1. Falling into the loser-our category, the EHS pair again fell 2-0 (6-4, 6-3).
On the boys side of the competition, EHS was represented by the doubles duo of Caden Zuydhoek and Noah Nuttle. They opened with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to fall into a loser-out match; in that battle they dropped a tough 6-4, 7-6 decision.
Photo by Travis McQueen / travis-mcqueen.com EHS’ baseball team was finally bested by Columbia at Joe Martin Stadium in Bellingham last weekend, 3 – 2. Pictured is Garett Chavis hitting a ball to right field in the bottom of the 6th inning.
