Both teams struggle in quest for Metro titles.
BEACON HILL, SEATTLE – It was a day that quickly turned into a “sisyphistic challenge” as Bob Dwyer put it.
For the Bainbridge boys’ and girls’ golf teams, they couldn’t have had a harder time if they spent the day rolling golf balls uphill with their hands as they struggled with horrible weather conditions at the Metro League championship tournament at Jefferson Golf Course on Beacon Hill in Seattle Thursday.
With gusts of 30 to 40 miles per hour blowing leaves and other debris onto the putting greens and pulling balls into the trees, both teams said they had difficulty on the course with the wind.
“It was tough,” Kyle Hurt said. “Everything was in your line. You couldn’t putt.”
“It was difficult,” Melanie Trygg said. “It was very blustery to say the least.”
For the girls, they qualified all five golfers for the district meet.
Anna Bourland was the Spartans’ top finisher as she shot a two-day total of 169 to finish tied for fifth with Kimmie Koehler of Eastside Catholic.
“I did good (on the second day) until the last two holes (when she double bogied both),” Bourland said. “(I just) didn’t think (out there).”
Trygg shot a two-day total of 181 to place tenth overall.
“I didn’t play very well,” she said. “I wasn’t focusing on my own game. The weather was a factor but I could have focused more.”
Ryan Nottingham shot a two-day total of 183 to finish 12th, while Peyton Lunzer shot a two-day total of 184 to finish tied for 13th with Olivia Komen of Bishop Blanchet.
Annalise Herr shot a two-day total of 189 to finish 16th.
Bainbridge placed second overall with 714 strokes to Holy Names’ 670.
Despite a loss to the Cougars for the second straight year, both Trygg and Bourland said they’ll look at the positives.
“We won one title and that’s good,” Bourland said. “Our goal is to win state.”
“We’re pretty happy with the way we’ve played all season,” Trygg said.
Head coach Steve Nielsen said they’ll stay focused on the big picture.
“They fell short of their goal, but in striving for it they all qualified for the district tournament,” he said. “They will keep playing during the winter and spring and believe that they can attain the high goals they have set for the district and state tournaments.”
The boys sent four to districts, but they felt their performance was poor.
Hurt was the top finisher for the Spartans, shooting a two-day total of 149 to finish seventh.
He shot a 70 on the first day, but struggled on the second day, shooting a 79.
“We could have done better, but we’re sending four to districts,” he said. “(But) we didn’t do that good.”
“We kinda fell apart,” Hurt continued. “We were doing okay (the first day) but gave it away (the second day). It was pretty brutal.”
Sean Leonard and Carl Jonson shot two-day totals of 154 and 155 to finish 13th and 14th respectively.
Will de van der Schueren shot a two-day total of 163 to finish 21st.
Peter Leslie shot a two-day total of 170 to finish in a three-way tie for the 25th and final spot to districts, but lost on a playoff hole when his putt for par came up inches short from the cup.
“It’s golf,” he said. “It’s tough, but life goes on.”
Kyle Schneider shot a two-day total of 171 to finish 28th.
Dwyer said they’ll rebound for next week.
“O’Dea’s a good team but we did a good job too,” he said. “Good scores out there. To manage below 90 on that (course) today was pretty good.
“We’re taking four solid players.”
O’Dea’s Sandy Vaughan won the individual title while the Fighting Irish won the team title.
The boys play the district 2 tournament Monday at the Riverbend Golf Course in Kent.
The girls play in their district tournament next May.
Harriers off to district meet
WEST SEATTLE – Despite some Spartans who were dissatisfied with their performance, both the boys and girls did well enough at the Metro League championship meet at Lincoln Park in West Seattle Wednesday to move onto the district meet next week.
For the girls, Emily Farrar was the top finisher for Bainbridge, taking fifth place with a time of 19:08.
She kept up with the top runners – Lakeside’s Margo Cramer, Seattle Prep’s Laura Sauvage, Holy Names’ Chelsea Burns and Lakeside’s Clarkie Hussey for much of the meet, but the senior co-captain wasn’t looking for any moral victories afterward.
“I wasn’t happy with it (her run),” she said. “I can do better.”
Hayley Trageser placed 11th overall with a time of 19:48.
“It’s a definitely different atmosphere than the league meets,” she said.
Annie Taylor finished 17th with a time of 20:20 while Jamie Huggler was 37th with a time of 22:16 and Zoe Worthington was 38th with a time of 22:17.
Molly O’Keefe was 41st with a time of 22:37 while Kristin Cox was 42nd with a time of 22:48.
The Spartans placed fourth with 105 points.
Cramer won the individual title while the Lions won the team title.
For the boys, Max Welch was the top finisher for Bainbridge with a time of 16:49, good enough for 12th.
“It was a pretty tough race,” he said. “There were some very good people out there.”
Ian Shiach finished 19th with a time of 17:17.
“I was feeling pretty good but something happened out there,” he said. “I didn’t have it today.”
Willy Wenzlau was 31st with a time of 17:53 while Josh Larkin was 37th with a time of 18:21.
Ryan Vogel was 40th with a time of 18:32 while Dan Thacker was 41st with a time of 18:33.
Matt Tetlow was 54th with a time of 20:11.
The team placed sixth with 139 points.
Head coach Anne Howard-Lindquist said that Tetlow had been under the weather as of late, hence his recent struggles.
The boys and girls race next Thursday at the 3A Sea-King district meet at Lake Sammamish State Park.
The girls run at 2:30 p.m. while the boys run at 3:15 p.m.
The 3A state meet is Nov. 3.
Spikers finish season strong
The Bainbridge volleyball team said goodbye to the regular season with two wins this week.
The Spartans beat Lakeside 25-17, 18-25, 25-23 and 25-18 on Tuesday, then beat Eastside Catholic 15-25, 25-18, 25-13 and 27-25 on Thursday.
Becky Gottlieb – one of six seniors playing their last home game – said they had some motivation aside from the obvious.
“We went to five (games) last time we played them and we didn’t want it to happen (this time),” she said.
After working through a tough first game, the Spartans put it together to win the next two.
In the fourth game, both teams battled through the early points until the Crusaders took a 10-7 lead.
Bainbridge kept it close and tied it at two separate points before going ahead at 19-17 on three aces by Kelcey Dunaway.
Eastside Catholic came back and went ahead on two kills and a Bainbridge error, but Dunaway scored a kill, Janna Russell notched an ace as they caught the Crusaders out of position and Eastside committed an error on match point.
Bainbridge hosts a Metro tournament game next Thursday against opponents to be determined.
Game time is 7:30 p.m.
Kickers still alive for spot
The Bainbridge girls’ soccer team kept their playoff hopes alive with a win over Eastside Catholic Tuesday 3-0 but lost to Bishop Blanchet and Holy Names in 1-0 defeats.
Mariko Wolf, Lucy Donahue and Haylee Baker all scored against the Crusaders, with Maddie Ginder assisting on the first two.
The Spartans play Lakeside and Seattle Prep next week.
They need to win out and have the Braves lose to Holy Names and Eastside Catholic to tie for the last spot.
