Sports Roundup — Positivity pays off for kickers/Boys, girls golfers finish with flourish/Bainbridge likely to stay in Metro/Come one, come all for BAMFEST

Published 11:00 am Saturday, October 15, 2005

Positivity pays off for kickers

The soul is back.

With their season at an impasse, the Bainbridge girls soccer team got down to business and defeated West Seattle 4-0 on Tuesday and Holy Names 3-1 on Thursday.

“They were a lot better games,” Spartan head coach Mark Grindrod said. “Even way up in the stands you could hear the players chattering on the field and talking and calling for (the ball).”

The wins followed an emotional pep talk by team leader Alana MacWhorter the previous week.

“It helps to be on the winning end of things to be positive, but in the circle after the game, I congratulated Alana on her talk and all of the team said ‘Yes, yes, yes,’” Grindrod said. “They are just being so positive with each other. It’s good to see.”

Allie Picha was the star, using her speed and aggressiveness to score just five minutes into Thursday’s contest when she stole the ball from a Holy Names player and put in a hard shot from 25 yards out that the Cougar goalkeeper couldn’t handle.

She also assisted on two other goals; in the 28th minute, a Picha shot went off the goalkeeper’s hands and Lucy Donahue was there to finish. In the 38th minute when she passed to Kelsey Deveraux who went horizontal for the header, but missed. Callan Cobb was in position and easily put the ball in.

On Tuesday against the Panthers, Zena Hemmen, who was out on Thursday with an illness, scored two goals and had an assist. Picha and Molly Oshin also scored, with Maureen Callahan assisting on two goals.

Grindrod said the team’s mental game has greatly improved and the girls are having fun again, which translates to strong play on the field. He also gave credit to the team for not taking early shots and spreading the field with good passing, praising Cobb for overcoming her injuries and making plays.

With just three games left, Bainbridge must keep winning to hold onto their fourth place standing and and stay ahead of Bishop Blanchet, who they play on the road next Tuesday.

“It’s a crucial game,” Grindrod said.

Boys, girls golfers finish with flourish

After a successful season, the Bainbridge boys and girls golf teams are ready to compete for a Metro League championship.

On Monday, the boys played their last home meet of the season with a victory over Nathan Hale and Ingraham.

Austin Hurt and Paul DeBarros, playing their last match as seniors, went out the right way, shooting 37s to co-medal with Raider golfer Andrew Von Lossow, who finished fourth at State last year.

Kyle Hurt shot a 39, while Ricky Ulloa shot a 40 and David Botefuhr shot a 42.

On Wednesday, Ulloa, in his last match, shot a two under 35 to win the medal at the West Seattle golf course.

His score, along with Kyle Hurt’s 38, DeBarros and Zack Cram’s 39’s and Botefuhr’s 40 was good enough for a 105 point Stableford score to defeat Bishop Blanchet and Lakeside.

Peter Leslie hit a hole-in-one yesterday at Wing Point during the JV match against Mercer Island, Spartan boys golf coach Bob Dwyer said.

Leslie recorded the ace on the third hole with a two iron, with a strong wind blowing from the south. It was Leslie’s first ace, and the first ever scored in a high school golf match at the course.

Sean Leonard was the co-medalist for the match with a 37.

Leslie finished with a 39 while David Herr shot a 40, Ross Olason had a 41, Cory Engstrom finished with a 42, Nico Papajani and Will De van der Schueren each shot 43 and Graham Schneider closed out the scoring with a 44.

The team score of 242 was good enough to defeat the Islanders by five.

On the girls side, the Spartans finished out their season at West Seattle on Thursday, as Nathan Hale, Ingraham and Rainier Beach were no-shows at the last home meet on Tuesday.

Katie Saucier was the co-medalist for the match as she and Lakeside golfer Flora Weeks each shot a 39 to score 43 Stableford points.

“Katie played well,” head coach Steve Nielsen said. “Being the medalist or co-medalist for every match this season is amazing.”

Saucier started off with three bogeys, but recovered with five pars and a birdie.

Melanie Trygg was second for the Spartans as she scored 33 points and had two pars. Rachel Frease finished her high school golf career with a score of 30 points and Annalise Herr rounded out the scoring with a 27.

Both teams will take place in the Metro League tournament this Tuesday. The boys will play at West Seattle, while the girls will start the first round at Jefferson Municipal in Beacon Hill.

Jamie Neill, DeBarros, Austin and Kyle Hurt, Ulloa and Botefuhr will represent for the boys while Saucier, Trygg, Frease, Herr, Marley Horne and Ryan Nottingham will play for the girls.

The tournament will switch courses on Thursday for the final rounds. Both sides will play 18 holes each day and will count strokes instead of going by the Stableford scoring system.

The top 29 Metro boy golfers will advance to the District 2 tournament at Washington National in Auburn on Oct. 24, while the top 24 Metro girl golfers will qualify for the District 2 tournament at Washington National in the spring.

Bainbridge likely to stay in Metro

Bainbridge High athletic director Neal White said it’s “95 percent” probable that the Spartans will remain in the Metro League.

“We’re no different right now than we were (three weeks ago),” he said.

The question of which league the Spartans will compete in follows recent reclassification of schools – with student populations determining whether a school is 4A, 3A and so on – by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. The changes will go into effect for the 2006-07 prep season.

Bainbridge will remain a 3A school, but White has been working with several Kitsap County school athletic directors on possibly reforming the old Olympic League.

Some schools were interested, save for Peninsula in Gig Harbor, which didn’t want to play in a 2A/3A multiclassification league, and the 2A schools such as Port Townsend, Chimacum and Klahowya, all of which wanted to stay in the Nisqually League.

Then Peninsula, which currently plays in the Seamount League, had its application to the South Puget Sound League denied. With the Seamount’s Pierce division expected to disband at the end of the school year, they wanted to try the Olympic League again.

“They had no other options. None,” said White. “So they become the big organizer and aggressive in saying ‘Listen, let’s talk about this.’

At a meeting last Thursday, White said, the other schools “pretty much said ‘If Bainbridge comes in, we’ll reform the Olympic League.’ All of a sudden they want to make it work. (But) it’s just hard to get a read on anybody.”

White said it still depends on whether Bremerton will move down to 3A, or the 2A schools want to stay where they are.

The urgency for a decision has gone down, though, and White says he’ll continue to gather info as he polls coaches and does a student survey. A survey of parents is also likely. He’ll make their recommendation to the superintendent in the next few weeks.

“I’d like to make a decision,” White said. “I’d like to get it done. I thought it was done because the other thing basically dissolved, but now it’s not dissolved.”

Come one, come all for BAMFEST

The fourth annual BAMFEST will take place today at the Bainbridge Aquatics Center. Hosted by the Bainbridge Aquatic Masters, the meet is open to all USMS or MSC registered swimmers ages 18 and up. Warm-ups start at 9 a.m. with the meet to start at 10 a.m. and it will follow a high school format, starting with the men’s and women’s 200 medley relay and ending with the 200 mixed fantasy relay.

More than 85 swimmers, with ages ranging from 18 to 80, are expected to attend, including 35 from BAM.

Swimmers must check in upon arrival. Those wishing to participate in the 500 freestyle should check in before the 15 minute break after the 50 freestyle.