Girls’ tennis wins district title
Bainbridge tennis head coach Mike Anderson hoped he’d get someone from the team into state with the extra allotment this year.
Instead, he got a whole lot more.
The Bainbridge girls’ tennis team came home with three qualifiers for state and a district team title, the first in Anderson’s tenure at Bainbridge.
“We weren’t expecting it,” he said. “It’s pretty cool. Molly was still playing, so she was the only one left (to receive the award) but she was really happy.”
Donohue and the girls doubles team of Jamie Slonaker and Brooke Shorett qualified for the 3A state tournament with their success at the 3A Sea-King District 2 tournament at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle Tuesday and Wednesday.
Donohue won her first two matches against Holy Names’ Oliva Derecat, the sixth seed from Metro, 6-4, 6-4, then defeated Bellevue’s Sara Ebrahimi, the number two seed from KingCo, 6-1, 6-2 to qualify for state.
The next day Donohue lost to Rachel Storz of Holy Names and Anissa Bryant-Swift of Sammamish, but the senior still gets to go in as the fourth seed.
“I had a good feeling she could make it,” Anderson said.
Shorett and Slonaker won their first three matches: over Alisa Tabiando and Michelle Pham of Newport 6-0, 6-4, then the number one seed from Kingco, Michele Miyauchi and Tomomi Matsushita of Newport 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
On Wednesday, they defeated Kerry Gugliotto and Stefanie Johnson of Skyline 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.
But in the district championship, they lost to Lauren Whatley and Catherine Phelps of Lakeside 6-2, 0-6, 2-6.
After winning the first set with no errors, the Lion duo forced Slonaker and Shorett into numerous errors as they won 12 of the next 14 games.
Anderson was still happy with how the duo did against some good competition.
“Our doubles team exceeded our expectations,” Anderson said. “Jamie and Brooke had an exceptional tournament. They raised their game and they played tough. Playing for a district title, that’s a great thing.”
Becky Gottlieb didn’t make it to the second day as she lost to Audrey Moto of Interlake.
For the boys, Nash Reijnen was eliminated by Mike Kung of Sammamish.
The doubles team of Taylor Lea and Erik Saksa were also eliminated by Chris Winterbauer and Trevor Fulp of Mercer Island.
“The boys competition was the toughest I’ve seen in two years,” Anderson said, noting that some top talent from Metro lost in the first round. “It’s a really deep, really tough competition.”
Donohue, Shorett and Slonaker will head to the 3A state tournament next weekend in the Tri-Cities.
The event will be split between the Tri-City Court Club and Kamiakin High School.
Girl golfers send four to state
The Bainbridge girls’ golf team didn’t come home with a district title, but they still qualified all four of their golfers for the 3A state tournament.
Katie Saucier, Anna Bourland, Melanie Trygg and Ryan Nottingham all finished in the top 22 at the 3A Sea-King District 2 meet at the Riverbend Golf Course in Kent.
Head coach Steve Nielsen was happy with the results.
“It was my personal goal to have that many players play for a state title,” he said.
Saucier finished fourth in the individual portion of the tournament with a five over 77 on the par 72 course.
Borland and Trygg tied for 14th with a score of 85 while Nottingham tied for 20th with Catelyn Webber of Bellevue and Jen Sanford of Mt. Si with a 87.
Nielsen noted that the foursome shot within one stroke of each other on the front and back nine and that all four classes are represented – Saucier a senior, Trygg a junior, Nottingham a sophomore and Borland a freshman.
“They’re very much into being a team,” Nielsen said.
Issaquah’s Brittany Tallmann shot an even 72 to win the individual title, while Interlake won the team title.
Bainbridge finished third to Issaquah with 28.33 points.
The Spartans travel to the Sudden Valley Golf Course in Bellingham next Tuesday and Wednesday for the 3A state tournament.
For the boys, they equaled the girls’ success at the Ellensburg Invitational in Roslyn May 1.
Senior Jamie Neill led the Spartans with a one over 73 to finish fifth in the individual competition.
Sean Leonard followed with a 74, Jack Seidl and Kyle Hurt each had a 78, and Peter Leslie caboosed with a 79.
Bainbridge tied Capitol of Olympia for second place, just seven strokes off the leaders.
Lakewood High School from Arlington took the team title.
Neill ends his high school career at Homestead Farms in Bellingham as the lone Spartan representative at the 3A state tournament May 22-23.
