Golfer Katja Trygg was the lone Bainbridge qualifier for next week’s state tournament in Yakima, as she fired an 86 to finish third in Monday’s District 2 girls golf tournament in Snohomish.
“It was cold, but not wet,” said coach Marnie Snyder. “The course played long and difficult. The top score was 84, which is high.”
It was the girls’ first competition since late October’s Metro championships, in which Trygg had taken second after being the first-day leader.
She achieved a measure of revenge here, becoming the top Metro finisher behind two Kingco golfers.
“I was straight off the tee but I had no short game,” she said. “I had three three-putt greens.”
Trygg, who was ninth at state last year, has her work cut out for her as all but one of the girls who finished ahead of her return. But she is confident.
“I think I’ll do as well or better than I did last year (when she shot 87-84),” she said. “My goal is to break 80 both days, though that’ll be rough.”
Tiffany Johnson was the second Bainbridge finisher with 112, four strokes from making the cut. Malerie Romero shot 120.
“Maggie Pettit and Callie Carver were both eligible to play in districts, but because of lacrosse and crew respectively they could not find time to practice,” Snyder said. “It is a problem having districts then state in the spring because it conflicts with all spring sports.
“The girls from other schools who play spring golf are at a tremendous advantage.”
The boys’ district tournament was held last fall. James Toepel, the long Spartan to qualify, will join Trygg in Yakima. Play begins with 18 holes on Monday and concludes with another 18 on Tuesday.
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Racqeteer takes fourth trip to top
Senior tennis player Elliot Beam qualified for his fourth straight state tournament by finishing third in this week’s district tournament, held Tuesday and Wednesday at Seattle’s Lower Woodland Park.
Beam easily defeated Sean Dolan of O’Dea – last year’s district champion and state runner-up – 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday after dropping his semi-final match 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 earlier in the day.
“Elliot played a great match against Dolan,” said coach Mike Anderson. “He had a high percentage of first serves and a low percentage of unforced errors.”
Beam earned his spot in the semis by winning a pair of matches on Tuesday, the first one 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 and the second – against Peter Kung, the Metro No. 2 seed – 6-1, 6-4.
“Basically we saw the state tournament in boys’ singles this week,” said Anderson. “All five boys from district who qualified for state are from Metro, which shows how tough our league was. This is the highest level of boys’ tennis competition in the state.”
The girls doubles team of seniors Amanda Allender and Sara Suffis assured themselves of a state berth by winning their opening match on Tuesday, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. But on Wednesday they first played the #1 Kingco seed, then the No. 1 Metro team and lost both matches, 6-1, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-2 respectively.
“It’s just great for those two to go to state,” Anderson said. “They were competitive with the girls they played, just a notch below. So we’ll work with them and see if we can step their game up a bit at state.”
Freshman Whitney Cheng won her opening match in girls singles on Tuesday 7-5, 6-1, but lost in the quarter-final round 6-1, 6-3. She won her third match that day 6-1, 6-1 and needed to win twice on Wednesday to advance to state. But she lost 6-4, 6-2 in the consolation semis.
Senior Kristen Carmel lost twice on Tuesday, 6-0, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-0 and was eliminated at that point.
The draw for the state tournament, held at the Nordstrom Tennis Center at the University of Washington next Friday and Saturday, will be conducted tomorrow.
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Prick up your ears: Cobb’s on a roll
The Cobb Baseball U15 team jumped out to a 4-1 record in its first two weeks of play. The squad opened the season with a 6-3 win over Boys of Summer on May 3, with Barrett Kanyer pitching a complete game and allowing one earned run. Jeremy Ellison and Doug Franz each had two hits to power the offense.
Cobb swept the Knights 11-3 in five innings and 5-4 on May 4. Ellison went the distance in the opener, while Kris Patterson drove in four runs and Kevin Roach had three hits. The team jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the nightcap and held on for the win, with Matt Frazee getting the save. Roach and Doug Franz both drove in two runs.
Last Saturday, the team came from a 3-0 deficit with four runs in the final two innings for a 4-3 win over the Seattle Rainiers. Roach had a big hand in the win, not only pitching a scoreless seventh inning but also driving in Jeff Coulon with the winning run in the bottom half of the frame. Frazee, Franz and Coulon all had two hits.
But the team managed only three hits and committed three errors later that day to drop their first decision, 5-2, to the Eagles. The team plays two away games tomorrow.