PHOTO: Port Angeles Roughrider Faerin Tait has been Olympic League track girls “Athlete of the Year”.
PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles High School athletes brought home several top honors at the Olympic League track and field championships, highlighted by Faerin Tait being named the league’s Girls Athlete of the Year.
Tait claimed the league title in the 100-meter hurdles, placed second in the 300-meter hurdles, and finished third in the 400 meters. She also anchored the girls 4×400 meter relay team—joined by Leia Larson, Brooke Pierce, and Storey Schmidt—that won the league title with a time of 4:08.30, currently the third-fastest in the 2A classification statewide.
Leia Larson runs at the Olympic League track championships
Teanna Clark earned a league title in the javelin with a throw of 123 feet, 7 inches, while Larson won the 3200 meters and placed sixth in both the 1600 and 800. Brooke Pierce placed fourth in the high jump.
Teanna Clark
On the boys’ side, Brody Pierce was runner-up in the triple jump with a leap of 43 feet, 7.5 inches, and Jude Wallace took third in the pole vault. Easton Dempsey and Finn Thompson placed third and fifth in the 800 and 300 hurdles, respectively. The boys 4×400 relay team—Dempsey, Thompson, Ashton Gedelman, and Liam Wilson—finished fifth in 3:36.36.
Overall, Port Angeles boys and girls teams each finished fifth in the Olympic League standings.
Sequim Wolves Clare Turella placed 1st in the high jump and 4th in the long jump at the Olympic league track and field finals.
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In girls tennis at Poulsbo, Sequim will send two singles players to the district tournament. Tiffany Lam finished 5th and Amara Gonzales placed 6th, both earning district berths. Bridget Weed and Emma Murray went 0-2 in their matches.
In doubles, neither Sequim nor Port Angeles advanced to districts. Roughriders Cayleigh Alward and Abby Riffle had a strong showing, winning two matches on Friday against Olympic and Bainbridge to reach Saturday’s action. Sequim’s Kristina Prorok and Sasha Yada also advanced to Saturday, going 2-1 on the first day. A young Port Angeles team—sophomore Audrey Rudd and first-year player Pyper Alton—went 0-2.
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In district soccer, Port Angeles goalkeeper Gus Hallberg was the hero in a dramatic overtime win, stopping Olympic’s 10th penalty kick and then scoring the game-winner himself. The Roughriders face a tough challenge Tuesday, traveling to North Kitsap for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff.
Sequim also advanced with a 2-1 win over Steilacoom. The Wolves hit the road Tuesday to take on Bainbridge at 6:30 p.m.
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Baseball district playoffs begin today. Sequim (8-12) travels to face Olympic (11-9) in a loser-out game. The winner advances to play Bainbridge tomorrow. First pitch today is at 4:15.
Port Angeles (10-9) will host Eatonville (8-10), the fifth-place team from the South Puget Sound League. The Roughriders are on a five-game winning streak. The winner moves on to face Steilacoom in Tacoma tomorrow.
Today’s Roughrider game will be broadcast live on KONP Newsradio and streamed at myclallamcounty.com. Pregame begins at 3:45 with Oly Archibald and Joe Gladfelter on the call. First pitch is at 4:00.
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In fastpitch softball, Port Angeles hosts Kingston at 4:00, while Sequim hosts Bremerton at 4:15.