The fall athletic season, which began with sunny-sky turnouts in August, is down to its final rainy days. On the Plateau, where plenty of success stories were written by both Enumclaw and White River sports programs, the fall calendar now includes only the state-bound White River volleyball team.
VOLLEYBALL
White River: The White River High girls team, one of the most highly-regarded programs in the Class 3A ranks, will begin state tournament play Friday afternoon.
The Hornets survived last week’s District 3/4 tourney and landed as the No. 10 seed into this week’s state festivities at the Yakima Valley SunDome. The state tournament opens Friday morning and concludes with Saturday evening’s championship finals.
In its state opener, White River will square off against No. 7 Central Valley High, a school situated between Spokane and the Idaho border.
The state tournament is a double-elimination affair so White River will play a second match on Friday, no matter the outcome against the Central Valley Bears.
The Hornets enter state play with an overall season record of 19-1 and carry a No. 4 statewide ranking according to the RPI system used by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Central Valley takes the floor against White River with an 18-6 record and No. 9 ranking.
White River qualified for the 3A state tourney by winning three of four matches at last week’s District 3/4 tournament in Tacoma.
Playing all four at Mount Tahoma High, the Hornets opened with a 3-1 victory over Heritage High (Vancouver), followed by a 3-2 loss to Bellarmine Prep. On Day 2 of the tournament, the Hornets knocked off neighboring Enumclaw High in a loser-out contest, then locked up a state berth with a 3-0 decision against Lincoln High.
Enumclaw: Enumclaw High experienced a three-match stay in the District 3/4 volleyball tournament, finally bowing out with a season-ending, Nov. 16 loss to neighboring White River.
The EHS Hornets split two matches at Foss High on Day 1 of the tourney, opening with a 3-1 loss to the Lakes Lancers. Facing elimination, coach Barbie Becker’s crew bounced back with a decisive 3-0 victory over Kent-Meridian. It was the third time this season EHS had faced the Royals, a fellow member of the 3A NPSL, and the third time the Hornets posted a 3-0 decision.
Advancing to Day 2 and moving to Mount Tahoma High, Enumclaw wound up paired against White River. The Buckley crew showed why they sit so high in the state’s RPI rankings, posting a 3-0 victory in the third Hornet-Hornet showdown of the fall season.
Enumclaw finished with an overall record of 14-5. In league play the squad went 13-3, good for second place.
PHOTO BY KEVIN HANSON The Plateau volleyball teams opened district competition Nov. 15 in Tacoma, with Enumclaw playing at Foss High and White River taking the court at Mount Tahoma. In this photos Enumclaw’s Haley Osborne goes low to handle a Lakes serve.
FOOTBALL
This year’s Enumclaw High football program continued its run of success by placing second in the 3A North Puget Sound League, blasting Southridge High 77-0 in a postseason contest and making its way into the state tournament.
The good times came to a halt the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 16, when the Hornets were ousted from state competition by Kennewick High. Playing on the Lions’ home turf at Lampson Stadium, EHS fell 40-20.
The Lions posted the first points of the afternoon courtesy of a first-and-goal running play during the opening seconds of the second quarter. Enumclaw was able to move the ball into Lion territory but an interception, followed by a long return, put Kennewick in position for a second touchdown. Four plays and an extra-point kick later, Kennewick enjoyed a 14-0 lead.
The Hornets sliced into the deficit after the Lions faced a fourth-and-17 situation on their own 10-yard line. Under pressure, the Kennewick punter opted to run and was quickly tackled, which gave EHS the ball on the 13. It took just one play for quarterback Gavin Trachte to connect with Seamus Twohey for a touchdown and Brodix John’s PAT made it 14-7 with 1:44 remaining in the opening half.
The Lions quickly had to punt and Enumclaw took possession at its own 45-yard line. That’s when disaster struck in the form of a strip-sack and fumble, which the Lions recovered and returned to the 2-yard line. With five seconds left in the half, Kennewick increased its lead to 20-7 courtesy of a short TD pass.
The hosts pushed their lead to 26-7 before Enumclaw scored with three minutes remaining in the third period. The Hornet tally came on a one-yard blast by Twohey. After the Lions pushed their advantage to 33-14 EHS posted its final touchdown of the 2024 campaign. The tally came on a 10-yard run by Louis Chevalier.
The final points of the night came on a 39-yard Kennewick run.
The Lions are now paired against the state’s No. 1 squad from Bellevue High. The two will meet Saturday afternoon in Bellevue.
Photo by Todd Overdorf / onscapeinages.com #35 Caleb Christian upended on a tackle following a kickoff to Kennewick.
SWIM & DIVE
Competitors from both Enumclaw and White River high schools participated in the Class 3A state swim and dive championships, staged Nov. 14-16 at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Diving was contested the first day and swimming events were on Friday and Saturday.
Here’s a look at how participants from each school finished.
Enumclaw: The EHS 200-yard medley relay team finished 17th in preliminary competition and did not advance to Saturday’s finals. The foursome included senior Jay Massey, juniors Alexandra Levesh and Addisyn Sawyer, and sophomore Audrie Roddy.
Enumclaw also qualified a team in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of senior Scarlet Connelly, Massey, Sawyer and Levesh placed 19th in preliminary competition.
Individually, Levesh had qualified for two events at the state meet. She wound up 13th in the 100-yard butterfly and 22nd in the 100-yard breaststroke.
White River: Trista Turgeon, a junior making a repeat performance in state diving competition – previously in the Class 2A ranks and now at the 3A level – worked her way up the ladder. She was 14th after prelims, moved up a notch to 13th in semifinal competition and jumped to eighth place during the finals.
Individually, White River’s Haley Weisheyer finished 17th in the 50-yard freestyle and 20th in the 50-yard freestyle.
In the final 3A team standings, White River landed at No. 26 and Enumclaw was No. 31.
GIRLS SOCCER
After splitting four postseason games to reach the Class 3A state tournament, the Enumclaw High soccer team suffered a tough, first-round exit.
Seeded No. 19 into the 20-team festivities, the Hornets were paired against No. 13 Bellarmine Prep. Playing the evening of Nov. 12 on the Lions’ home turf in Tacoma, Enumclaw fell 1-0. The contest was tied after 80 minutes of regulation play and B-Prep secured the victory in overtime.
With its win, Bellarmine Prep advanced into the 3A state round of 16 and challenged No. 3 Roosevelt High on Nov. 15. The Lions fell 1-0 and were eliminated.
The Hornet girls finished the season with an overall record of 14-4-4. That included a 12-1-3 mark in 3A North Puget Sound League, good for second place in the final standings.
Photo by Todd Overdorf / onscapeinages.com #44 Seamus Twohey dives for the end zone for an Enumclaw score.
