Plateau athletes in three sports competed last weekend for postseason glory.
In football, the Enumclaw High squad advanced with a victory at the Expo Center. Volleyball teams from both Enumclaw and White River battled in the Class 2A state meet at the Yakima SunDome and competitors from both schools were found at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way for the state swim and dive championships.
During the course of three days, here’s how things stood for the local teams and individuals.
FOOTBALL
Under skies that started sunny but soon gave way to clouds and rain, the Enumclaw High football program advanced from the state’s Sweet 16 to the Elite Eight.
Playing Saturday at the Enumclaw Expo Center, the Hornets trounced the visiting Othello Huskies 49-12 in the opening round of the 16-team Class 2A championships.
The victory brings a quarterfinal contest against the Highline Pirates, a game slated for Friday, Nov. 17, with a 7 p.m. kickoff. Because Enumclaw is the higher-seeded team (No. 3) the Hornets will host the No. 6 Pirates from Burien.
Enumclaw will enter the game with a perfect 11-0 record, one of only three undefeated teams in the state’s 2A ranks (Anacortes and Tumwater are the others). Highline, a member of the KingCo Conference, boasts an impressive 9-1 mark with its only blemish being a Week 2 loss to Kennedy Catholic. The Pirates won their Class 2A tourney opener 34-6 over W.F. West.
The Enumclaw-Highline winner will take on either No. 7 Orting or No. 2 Anacortes in a Nov. 25 semifinal tussle.
On Nov. 11, Enumclaw allowed Othello to stick around for a half before burying the visitors in the final two quarters.
The Hornets jumped on top quick, scoring twice in the opening quarter. Quarterback Gunnar Trachte first connected with Colton Paulson on a 43-yard touchdown pass and, later in the period, found Paulson again, this time for a 15-yard score. Enumclaw added two more touchdowns in the second quarter, the first on an 8-yard run by Tristan Donovan and the second on another Trachte TD toss, this time to Landon Brauer from 38 yards out.
Othello’s first touchdown came as a result of two costly EHS penalties. The first was a personal foul on a fourth-and-14 play, the second a pass interference call on fourth-and-seven. In both cases, the Huskies had failed to convert but were kept alive by flying yellow flags.
Othello’s other touchdown came in quick fashion, just the number of seconds it takes to return a kickoff to the end zone.
The Hornet defense shut down Othello during the entire second half, while the EHS offense generated three touchdowns: Wyatt Neu raced to the end zone twice, from 11 and 32 yards out, and Karson Holt hauled in a 5-yard reception, Trachte’s fourth TD pass of the game.
Enumclaw dominated the statistical battle, rolling up 424 yards of total offense while the Huskies managed 151. The Hornets were highly productive on the ground, rushing for 244 yards on 27 carries (nine yards per attempt); Neu led the way with 101 yards on just seven carries and Donovan rushed 11 times for 85 yards. The aerial attack was also efficient with Trachte completing 12 of 16 passes for 180 yards.
VOLLEYBALL
White River: The White River High Squad won its state tournament opener, but then dropped two straight matches and was eliminated from the Class 2A tournament in Yakima.
White River, seeded No. 5 into the 16-team tourney, had opened play Friday afternoon with a match against the 12th-seeded team from Black Hills High. The Tumwater squad, which competes in the Evergreen League, was no match for the Hornets, who won in four sets. The final tally was 25-21, 16-25, 25-15, 25-20 in favor of the Buckley crew.
That set up a quarterfinal pairing against No. 4 Burlington-Edison and things did not go the Hornets’ way. The Tigers prevailed 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 25-13 and eventually went home with a fourth-place trophy.
Hoping to battle their way into a trophy round, White River instead dropped a tough match to the Pullman Greyhounds. Playing Saturday afternoon, the Hornets fell to the girls from the Palouse country in a contest that went the full five sets. After dropping the first two, White River rallied to win 25-20 and 25-18, forcing a deciding set that went 15-12 to the Greyhounds.
In their first year under coach Stephanie Pond, the Hornets finished their season with an overall record of 20-3. That included a 16-1 regular season slate, a 15-1 mark in South Puget Sound League 2A play and a share of the league championship, followed by three victories in district play before the 1-2 mark at state.
Enumclaw: The season came to a close Saturday afternoon for the Enumclaw High squad, which fell in four sets to the Tumwater-based squad from Black Hills High. Needing a victory to advance to a trophy round, EHS dropped a 3-1 decision to the Wolves (25-18, 25-14, 18-25, 25-13).
The loss marked the end of an impressive era for Enumclaw volleyball, as it concluded a 36-year career for coach Jackie Carel.
The Hornets had kept their tourney experience alive Friday evening, defeating a familiar foe. The victory over the Fife Trojans, a fellow member of the SPSL 2A and the lowest-seeded squad in the 16-team tourney, allowed the Hornets to play another day.
Enumclaw had started tourney play Friday afternoon by taking on the Pullman Greyhounds, the tournament’s No. 8 seed. The Hounds, from Whitman County and a member of the scattered, multi-classification Greater Spokane League, took the hard-fought affair in five sets. The final box score showed EHS winning the first set 25-22 and the third set 25-19; Pullman alternately took the second set 25-16 and the fourth set 25-20. In the shortened finale, it all went for the Greyhounds who wrapped up the victory with a 15-2 decision.
In Carel’s final campaign, the Hornets posted a season record of 18-4. That included a 15-1 record in South Puget Sound League 2A play, which gave the squad a share of the league title. The final tally included a 2-1 record during the district tourney and 1-2 record at state.
SWIM & DIVE
Enumclaw: Seven swimmers combined to land Enumclaw High in 10th place at the conclusion of the Class 2A state championships.
The event was staged Nov. 9-11 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Tops among the EHS contingent was sophomore Alexandra Levesh. She placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke and fourth in the 100-yard butterfly. Others swimming individual events were junior Tori Massey who placed 12th in both the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke; junior Scarlet Connelly, 20th in the 200-yard freestyle and 23rd in the 100-yard butterfly; and freshman Audrie Roddy, 21st in the 500-yard freestyle.
Enumclaw also had entries in all three relay events. The top showing was a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay by the foursome of Massey, Levesh, Connelly and sophomore Molly Michael. The same four teamed up to place 11th in the 200-yard freestyle relay and the combination of sophomore Addisyn Sawyer, junior Briella Marecle, Michael and Roddy finished 23rd in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
White River: With a trio of athletes competing, the White River squad placed 29th in the team standings at the conclusion of the Class 2A state swim and dive championships.
The meet was staged Nov. 9-11 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Diver Trista Turgeon registered the top performance for the Buckley team. The sophomore competed Thursday and was sitting in fourth place after the preliminary round of dives. She slipped to seventh place during the semifinal round and remained in the No. 7 spot following Thursday night’s finals.
Haley Weisheyer had qualified for the state meet in two events. She placed 12th in the 50-yard freestyle and 14th in the 100-yard freestyle.
White River’s Cheyenne Fessler had earned a state berth in the 50-yard freestyle, where she placed 21st.
