How good is the Sequim boys’ track team?
The Wolves went to the Tacoma Invitational this weekend. There were 16 other boys’ teams at this meet, including 14 3A and 4A schools. And most of those schools were from the Seattle/Tacoma area, where there is a huge pool of track talent.
And against that level of competition, the Sequim boys simply dominated, beating the second-place team by 38 points.
The Wolves are good at the distances, with Murray Bingham a machine at the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 distances (seven first-place finishes so far this season). They’re good at the sprints with Darren Salazar a force at the 100- and 200-meter sprints. They’re good in the field with Riley Cowan dominant at the shot put and javelin.
And they have Fischer Jensen shining in the hurdles with Riley Martin, a stud last year in the hurdles, also returning to the team.
As a team, the Sequim boys have won every single meet they’ve entered this year. And lately, it’s not even close. With Martin certainly adding team points to every meet he’s in, they may not lose a meet until they get to the 2A meet.
And based on what they just did to the bunch of 3A and 4A teams at the Tacoma Invite, the sky is the limit as far as how much noise the Wolves are going to make at state.
Soccer-mania
Not to be outdone by the exploits of the Sequim boys’ track team, let’s look at a remarkable soccer team.
The Port Angeles soccer boys are having a fantastic season. They went more than 400 straight minutes without giving up a goal. They have six shutouts on the season. Since March 15, they have outscored their opponents 18-2. They are a very, very good high school soccer team.
And as good as that team is, they’re in second place. To Sequim.
Simply put, the Wolves are a beast. They haven’t lost a match all season. Their only mild blemishes are two non-league ties and they didn’t give up a goal in either match. They have five shutouts themselves.
Sequim has a defense that can rival Port Angeles’, having given up just eight goals all year (four in one match with Port Angeles). They also have a frightening offense with Ryan Tolberd, Adrian Funston and Belgian exchange student Mathys Tanche.
I won’t predict the Wolves go undefeated through league, because I’m afraid I would jinx them if I did. But, they are well on their way to a league championship, with two wins over the Roughriders, the only team that seems to be able to stay with the Wolves.
How fortunate to have two powerhouse teams in our area. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up playing for the district championship. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up playing each other at the 2A state tournament.
These two teams are largely joined at the hip with several kids playing together on Storm King teams and two Peninsula College coaches (Andrew Cooper, Port Angeles and Jake Hughes, Sequim), helping out as assistants.
And not to be outdone, what a great job Joe Morton is doing out on the west side with his Forks team, which is tied for first place in the Evergreen 1A League at 5-1.
Combine Forks, Port Angeles and Sequim and they have a won-loss record of 21-4-2.
Streak snapped
Kudos need to go out to the Port Angeles softball team. This remarkable program won 50 straight games in league, a win streak that began way back in 2015.
That’s four full seasons, plus the first three league games this year without a loss.
That streak finally got snapped last week, when the Roughriders lost to Olympic 14-12. Simply put, they had a bad game. To go 50 straight league games without one single, solitary “bad game” is amazing.
Coach Randy Steinman deserves a lot of credit for the feat.
The Riders bounced right back from their loss, starting another winning streak by crushing previously undefeated in league North Kitsap to get back in a tie for first place.
The winning streak is broken, but a league title and a trip to the 2A state tournament are still the team’s goals.
Another fantastic streak
Speaking of streaks, the Sequim girls’ tennis team is also putting together an impressive streak.
The Wolves have not lost a single meet all year (they are 9-0) and in fact, have won 57 matches while losing only six matches. And even that is misleading. Some of those lost matches were actually forfeits.
The Wolves have five meets this year in which they’ve won 7-0. That’s amazing.
The Wolves are led by the duo of Jessica Dietzman and Kalli Wiker, who won district last year and finished second in the state. Clearly, a state title is not out of the question for their pair.
