Fall 2009 All Peninsula Sports Tab

Fall 2009

Peninsula Daily News Friday, December 4, 2009

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Friday, December 4, 2009

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Peninsula Daily News

Matt Schubert/Peninsula Daily News

Port Townsend’s Bereket Piatt did one better than his runner-up finish in the Class 1A state cross country meet last season, winning it all this fall.

Going the distance for PT Piatt’s journey takes him to 1A state title

By Matt Schubert

Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — Bereket Piatt prefers to wear sandals, even in the chill of a late November afternoon.

“It doesn’t bother me,” the soft-spoken junior said. “I don’t feel the cold.”

Perhaps it is because those feet have traveled such a long distance to get where they are now.

It’s a journey that started with a hard-luck childhood in Ethiopia, where he and his sister, Freya, lived in an orphanage for a couple of years after their biological parents’ deaths, and eventually brought him to the United States, first to Anchorage, Alaska, then Port Townsend.

During that time he adopted a new family,

learned a second language and discovered a passion that fits almost perfectly with his life’s narrative: distance running.

“He’s probably run every trail there is to run in Port Townsend,” said John Piatt, Bereket and Freya’s adopted father. “He knows all the back trails.

“When you run five or six miles every time you go out, it doesn’t take long.”

Piatt’s talent for long distance running was discovered in eighth grade by, of all people, his basketball coach at Blue Heron Middle School, Roger Risley.

He joined the track team that spring and broke the school record in the mile a few months later.

“He wasn’t a very good basketball player, but Roger worked with him on the track,” said Port Townsend cross country coach Jeni Little, who started as his middle school track coach.

“He didn’t start winning until about halfway through the season, and then we all kind of realized the possibilities.”

Piatt was an immediate success at the high school level, pairing with lead runner Quinton Decker to give

Boys Cross Country MVP the Redskins a one-two punch as good as any in the Olympic League.

The duo finished 1-2 at the Class 1A state meet in Pasco in Decker’s senior year in 2008.

And after Decker left to attend the University of Montana this fall, Piatt had little trouble taking over lead dog status, winning the prestigious Salt Creek Invitational in September and the 1A state championship a few weeks ago at Sun Willows Golf Course.

Now, it is his teammate, Habtamu Rubio — second to Piatt at state — who pushes him in practice and at meets. “[Having Rubio train with him] helps a lot,” Little said.

“Obviously he has natural ability. He’s very focused at practice, and he just loves to run.”

Colleges are already starting to take an interest in Piatt. But he isn’t sure what he wants to do next.

It appears that wherever he goes, running will be what takes him there.

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Peninsula Daily News

All-Peninsula Boys Cross Country

Bereket Piatt

Habtamu Rubio John Christian

Alex Jenkins

Colby Robb

Jeni Little

Port Townsend Junior — MVP

Port Townsend Junior

Sequim Junior

Sequim Senior

Port Townsend Coach of the Year

The Redskins’ lead runner claimed his rightful place atop Class 1A, winning the state title a year after finishing second.

PT’s No. 2 would have been the top dog on most teams, with a second-place finish at 1A state and a third at the Olympic League meet.

Port Angeles Senior

Despite battling injuries, Christian managed to take seventh in the Olympic League meet and reach 3A state for the third straight year.

The Wolves’ leader of the pack finished 10th in the Olympic League meet on the way to his second straight appearance at 2A state.

Reached the 2A state competition for the third year in a row and posted a top-20 finish at the Olympic League meet.

Guided the Redskins to a 1A Tri-District title and a second-place finish at the 1A state meet.

Her top two runners finished 1-2 there.

Runners were selected by area coaches and the sports staff of the Peninsula Daily News.

All-Peninsula Girls Cross Country

Chanda Romney Allison Cutting

Alison Maxwell

Audrey Lichten

Kristen Larson

Pat Durr

Port Angeles Senior — MVP

Port Angeles Junior

Sequim Junior

Forks Sophomore

Port Angeles Coach of the Year

Finished off her high school cross country career with her fourth straight state trip and a top-10 mark in the Olympic League meet.

Sequim Senior

Illness kept the defending 2A state champion from truly defending her crown, but Cutting still managed her third top-30 finish in 2A.

After taking sixth at the Olympic League meet, Maxwell qualified for her third 3A state trip, where she finished in the top 50.

Came on after missing half of the season due to injury, taking 10th at the Olympic League meet before her third 2A state appearance.

Reached the 1A state meet for the second year in a row.

She was the lone Spartan to make it to Pasco this fall.

His Riders were one spot away from qualifying for 3A state, with two individuals going on to finish in the top 50 at Sun Willows.

Runners were selected by area coaches and the sports staff of the Peninsula Daily News.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Peninsula Daily News

Chris Tucker/Peninsula Daily News

Chanda Romney came from Forks to Port Angeles and didn’t miss a beat, qualifying for her fourth straight trip to the state meet in Pasco.

Stepping up to the challenge Romney makes most of move to Class 3A

By Matt Schubert

Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — Chanda Romney relishes a good challenge.

It’s part of the reason she enjoys long-distance running so much. It requires her to push herself in a way no other sport does.

So naturally, the move from Class 1A Forks to 3A Port Angeles was exactly the sort of thing that would

appeal to the senior cross country standout’s competitive sensibilities.

“The old saying is if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life,” Port Angeles girls cross country coach Pat Durr said. “In her hardest workouts you never saw her grinding away.

“She just loved it. She loved working hard and always had a smile on her face.”

Romney’s coaches have always characterized her as a happy go-lucky kind of person, not to mention a talented one.

The oldest of nine siblings, she’s often been the one in the front of the pack.

That didn’t change when she took up cross country as a freshman in Forks.

She finished eighth in her first 1A state meet that season, then second as a sophomore the next fall and third her junior year.

This fall, after moving to Port Angeles to avoid the daily one-hour commute from Forks to Port Angeles for Running Start classes at

Peninsula College, Romney faced the prospect of facing a large group of runners just as talented as her.

Finally, she wasn’t running alone.

In fact, teammate Alison Maxwell pushed her in practice more than almost any other 1A challenger did in her three years in Forks.

“Her work ethic just really kicked into overdrive,” Durr said. “This year she was much smarter in attacking different races.

“Normally when she was younger she’d just go out strong and take the lead and basically be running in outer space by herself.

Girls Cross Country MVP “This year at the 3A level there was plenty of competition.”

As a result, Romney turned in her best state time of her career (19 minutes, 13 seconds) and the third-best in Port Angeles history on her way to a Peninsula-best 21st-place finish.

Only Turi Widsteen’s times in 1990 (18:49) and 1991 (19:06) trumped hers, and only Robin Mather’s 12th-place finish in 1985 was higher than Romney’s.

“It’s a lot easier when there are people to run with,”

said Romney, who battled a bout of the swine flu during the last third of the season.

“I enjoyed not having so many eyes on me. When you’re running 21st, it’s not as [pressure-packed] as when you’re second or third.”

Romney said she would like to run competitively in college, but academics come first. As a possible pre-med major, she would certainly have her work cut out for her.

And that’s just fine by her.

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Peninsula Daily News

All-Peninsula Volleyball Players were selected by area volleyball coaches and the sports staff of the Peninsula Daily News.

Sierra Clark Sequim (Senior) Hitter/Back row (MVP)

Rebecca Thompson Neah Bay (Soph.)

Hitter

Kiah Jones

Paige Kennedy

Tara Peters

Caitlin Pallai

Port Angeles (Soph.)

Hitter

Forks (Senior) Hitter

Chimacum (Senior) Hitter

Sequim (Senior) Hitter

Sequim’s most dependable player was a first team All-Olympic Leaguer with 264 digs, 71 kills and just 23 hitting errors on 263 balls.

PA’s lone first team All-Olympic The Red Devils’ League player led the top net player was Riders in kills (124) named a first team All-NOL hitter for the and aces (34) while second straight year. adding 170 digs and 26 blocks.

Kennedy earned second team All-SWL Evergreen Division recognition as the Spartans’ leading player up front.

The Cowboys’ top hitter averaged 15 kills per game and had a 78 percent serving percentage as the team MVP.

Maddy Zbaraschuk

Rachel Poats

Sarah Reeves

Sam Manwell

Alisha Kallappa Alex Baker

Crescent (Senior) Hitter

Clallam Bay (Senior) Hitter/Back row

Port Angeles (Senior) Defensive specialist

Neah Bay (Senior) Setter

Sequim (Junior) Hitter

The Wolves’ leading hitter (168 kills) also had 191 digs and 31 aces as a second team All-Olympic League player.

Named the NOL’s top blocker with 70 on the season, Poats came on at the end of the year to also total 83 kills, 41 aces and 20 tips.

The Bruins’ short-handed squad, which had zero subs, counted on Reeves heavily up front. She delivered as a first team All-NOL player.

Manwell was given Olympic League honorable mention honors after totaling 105 digs, 62 perfect passes and 19 aces on the season.

The senior was named a first team All-NOL setter as the ring leader of the league-champion Red Devils attack.

The first team All-Olympic League hitter led the Wolves with 39 stuff blocks while adding 141 kills, 50 digs and 35 aces.

Crescent Coach of the Year

His Loggers may not have won an 8th straight NOL crown, but they still managed to reach the 1B state tourney for the 4th year in a row.

Honorable Mention: Cecily Evans, OH (Quilcene); Katy Pollack, MB (Port Townsend); Kirsten Erickson, OH (Clallam Bay); Natasha Kiesel, L (Chimacum); Sarah Hankins, S (Sequim); Rachel Bowen, OH (Crescent); Lauren Coventon, BR (Port Angeles); Emily Cook, MB (Port Angeles); Chelsea Vliet, BR (Quilcene); Sarah Donahue, L (Sequim); Dani Kaminski, OH (Chimacum); Cailey Snyder, S (Chimacum); Bella Daubenberger, OH (Port Townsend), Cherish Moss, BR (Neah Bay); Emily Drake, S (Port Angeles).

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Friday, December 4, 2009

Peninsula Daily News

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Volleyball MVP

Digging in for Sequim Clark’s dependability, defense carry Wolves

By Brad LaBrie

Peninsula Daily News

SEQUIM — Sierra Clark plays much bigger than her size.

The 5-foot-6 (in shoes) senior played outside hitter for Sequim High School’s volleyball team, surprising opponents with her leaping ability.

“I have some hops,” the three-year long jumper for the track team said about her jumping skills.

She also has some outstanding defensive moves, according to Sequim volleyball coach Jennie WebberHeilman.

For those reasons Clark was voted Sequim’s most valuable player by her teammates and also was picked as the top volleyball player on the North Olympic Peninsula by area coaches and the Peninsula Daily News sports staff.

“Sierra is an all-around nice girl who always works hard at practice and in games,” Webber-Heilman said.

“She’s one of those kids who always does the right thing.”

Clark also is one of those players who rarely lets any balls hit the floor anywhere near her.

“She makes some saves where we all just go ‘Wow,’” Webber-Heilman said. “She runs and gets the ball up.

“A lot of times you say, ‘How did she do that?’”

The opposing team is shocked to see the ball still in play, Webber-Heilman added.

“I just hate to see the ball drop,” Clark said.

But the senior standout isn’t all defense.

“She’s the most consistent hitter on our team,” Webber-Heilman said. “She has hang time at the net. A lot of times she is hitting over the block.”

Clark knows where her strength on the court is, though.

“I’m better on defense than on offense,” she said.

That leaping ability has helped her in her second sport, track and field in spring.

Clark has participated in long jump, javelin in field events and the 4-by-100 relay team on the track.

“Javelin was fun because it was a little more difficult,” she said. “I had to really work at it more. Long jumping was a little bit easier for me.”

Clark plans to attend Peninsula College next year and to play club or recreational volleyball because the Pirates don’t have a volleyball program.

She plans to some day work in the medical field.

Matt Schubert/Peninsula Daily News “I’m not really quite sure exactly where in the medi- Sequim’s Sierra Clark rarely took a rest this season. “We had to have her out there,” Wolves coach Jennie Webber-Heilman said. cal field,” Clark said.

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Peninsula Daily News

Friday, December 4, 2009

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Matt Schubert/Peninsula Daily News

Port Townsend’s Cameron Robinson made plays on both sides of the ball for the Redskins, helping them reach the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

Robinson gives PT some hands Two-way threat finds way to get to football

By Matt Schubert

Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — Some football players just have a nose for the ball.

Port Townsend’s Cameron Robinson certainly has one of those . . . and a pair of hands that have little trouble hauling it in.

“If the ball is up, no matter where it is, he has a way of figuring out how to get

there and make the catch,” Port Townsend coach Brian O’Hara said.

Be it on offense (82 receptions, 1,042 yards) or defense (eight interceptions, 13 pass deflections), Robinson was always at his best when the ball was in the air this fall.

Whether it was his “immaculate reception” against Vashon Island in the regular season or his two big grabs in the Redskins’ mini-

playoff victories against Orting and Vashon, the rangy pass catcher (6-foot-2, 165 pounds) just had a knack for being in the right spot at the right time.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that he and Redskins quarterback Eric Thomas had a special connection as well.

The two have been friends since they were 2 years old, having lived on the same street throughout childhood.

They played sports in each other’s back yard for years.

They continued to work together as high school rolled around as well, even attending the Manning Skills Camp in Louisiana last summer.

“The two of them worked hard together, and I think you can tell that they have been together for a while,” O’Hara said.

“I think as [a quarterback and receiver] get to know each other, they know how they are going to run their routes and when to release the ball. Obviously [Thomas and Robinson] were on the same wavelength as far as that’s concerned.”

The way Robinson tells it, the entire thing was a product of everyone else’s work.

“I thought as a team we had a great year, and we couldn’t have done it without everybody’s help,” he said,

dipping into the sports cliché handbook. “The coaching was great and everybody just worked together to make it all happen.

“Without the line playing as good as they did this year, we never would have gone anywhere. I give all the credit to the line.”

A lot of credit should go Robinson’s way as well.

After all, he was the one who had to fight through constant double teams on offense. And he was the one who had to cover the other team’s top receiver on the other side of the ball.

Rarely did he get to take a play off on the sidelines,

Football MVP and rarely did he fail to make one when called upon.

Other coaches noticed, making him a first team AllNisqually League player on both sides of the ball.

Pacific Lutheran University has also contacted him about possibly coming to its school to play football next fall.

He’s got the basketball and baseball seasons to think of before that, though.

No doubt, he’ll be tracking down balls for both teams.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Peninsula Daily News

All-Peninsula Offense Players were selected by area football coaches and the sports staff of the Peninsula Daily News.

Thomas Gallagher Sequim (Senior) Offensive line

Jake Dethlefsen Colby Gagnon

Taran Bowlby

Tanner House

John Textor

Sequim (Senior) Offensive line

Clallam Bay (Senior) Offensive line

Forks (Senior) Offensive line

Sequim (Senior) Wide receiver

Forks (Senior) Offensive line

The other half of Sequim’s dominant Sequim’s left tackle left side (6-2, 215) was (6-foot-5, 310 pounds) is sure to play on Sat- named a first team urdays after his third All-Nisqually/Olympic straight first team all- League player for a second time. league selection.

The Spartans’ center (6-foot, 230 pounds) opened many a running lane as a first team All-SWL Evergreen Division selection.

Bowlby anchored Clallam Bay’s offensive line for four straight seasons, earning all-league recognition several times in the process.

The Spartans’ lead pulling guard (5-foot8, 230 pounds) was an honorable mention SWL-Evergreen selection on both sides of the ball.

The Wolves’ top pass catcher reeled in 41 balls for 709 yards and 8 TDs as a first team All-Olympic/Nisqually League receiver.

Cameron Robinson

Travis Decker

Dylen Heaward

Titus Pascua

Eric Thomas

Drew Rickerson

Sequim (Senior) Running back

Crescent (Senior) Running back

Neah Bay (Soph.)

Running back

Port Townsend (Senior) Quarterback

Sequim (Junior) Quarterback

Port Townsend (Senior) Wide receiver

The best hands on the Peninsula belonged to Robinson, who had an area-best 82 catches for 1,042 yards and 28 TDs.

The Nisqually/ Olympic League offensive MVP ran for 1,464 yards and 25 TDs on 181 carries. He also had 14 catches for 148 yards.

The Loggers’ workhorse runner broke numerous records on his way to 2,086 yards rushing, 212 yards receiving and 46 total TDs.

The Red Devils’ top back was the team’s total yardage leader* with 1,187 yards rushing and 71 receiving to go along with 11 touchdowns.

PT’s four-year starter at quarterback was a unanimous All-Nisqually League selection after throwing for 2,299 yards and 28 touchdowns.

Handed the keys to Sequim’s highpowered spread attack, Rickerson threw for 1,811 yards, 22 TDs and just 5 interceptions

Honorable Mention: Austin McConnell, RB (Chimacum); Andy Pascua, WR (Neah Bay); Josh Anderson, OL (Crescent); Nathan Cristion, RB (Port Angeles); Dylan Christie, RB (Crescent); Daniel Wonderly, RB (Clallam Bay); Trevor Richardson, WR (Chimacum); Joe Modispacher, OL (Chimacum); Dillon Dukek, TE (Chimacum); Ryan Unbedacht, WR (Port Townsend); Gonzo Albendea, K (Crescent); Brandon Vaught, OL (Port Angeles); Colton Waters, OL (Port Angeles); Ian Ward, WR (Port Angeles). * Excludes one game against Clallam Bay.

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Peninsula Daily News

All-Peninsula Defense Players were selected by area football coaches and the sports staff of the Peninsula Daily News.

Noah Bryant

Anthony Rascon Nick Reynolds

Kenneth Hurn

Clancy Catelli

Issac Yamamoto

Port Townsend (Senior) Defensive line

Neah Bay (Senior) Defensive line

Forks (Senior) Defensive line

Sequim (Senior) Linebacker

Sequim (Junior) Linebacker

Chimacum (Senior) Defensive line

PT’s big man in the middle clogged up running lanes often, registering 76 tackles (10 coming for a loss) as a first team AllNisqually tackle.

Rascon (6-foot, 255 pounds) spearheaded a dominant Red Devils run defense, leading the team in tackles (106*) as a defensive lineman.

Chimacum’s muchimproved defense got a lot out of Reynolds, who had 42 tackles, 4 sacks and 2 defensive TDs as a second team All-Nisqually end.

Forks’ sacks leader (6) also had the teams’ third-most tackles (54) as an honorable mention end in the SWL-Evergreen Division.

Catelli had the Wolves’ second most tackles (84) and interceptions (4) as a first team AllNisqually/Olympic League linebacker.

Yamamoto was the Nisqually/Olympic League leader in tackles (103), earning himself first team all-league recognition.

Cameron Johnson

Taylor Handly

Cameron Moon

Drexler Doherty

Alex Gillis

Erik Wiker

Chimacum (Senior) Linebacker

Port Angeles (Senior) Defensive back/Returner

Neah Bay (Junior) Defensive back

Sequim (Senior) Defensive back

Sequim Coach of the Year

Port Townsend (Senior) Linebacker

PT’s biggest defensive playmaker had a team-high 91 tackles and 7 sacks as a first team All-Nisqually League selection.

The Cowboys’ lone first team AllNisqually League selection was third in the league in tackles with 78 on the season.

Moon led the Riders in tackles (76) for the second straight season from the safety position and had a kickoff return for a TD.

Doherty intercepted 8 passes this season for the Red Devils, putting him at 18 for his career.That ties the state record for 8-man football

Sequim’s top cover corner was named a first team All-Nisqually/ Olympic League player for the second year in a row, with 5 interceptions and 8 deflections.

His Wolves matched the school record for wins (10) and finally got over the hump in the 2A state playoffs with their first victory.

Honorable Mention: Fernando Hernandez, LB (Forks); Roman Turner, DL (Sequim); Travis Bohannon, DL (Crescent); Evan Bowechop, LB (Neah Bay); Frank Catelli, DL (Sequim); Alexis Ayala, DB (Forks); Derek Toeper, DB (Chimacum); Marcus Decker, LB (Crescent); Tyler McCaulley, DL (Neah Bay); Troy Martin, LB (Port Angeles); Ryan Plouse, DB (Port Townsend). * Excludes one game against Clallam Bay.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Peninsula Daily News

Girls Swimming MVP

Matt Schubert/Peninsula Daily News

All-Peninsula Swimming

Julia Griffiths

Rachel Hughes

Tracie Macias

Port Townsend (Fr.) Freestyle — MVP

Sequim (Junior) Backstroke

Port Angeles (Freshman) Butterfly

Won every 50 free race she competed in before taking 8th in Class 2A.

Reached 2A districts in both the backstroke and butterfly.

Qualified for 3A districts in 4 individual events and was part of 2 state relays.

Kelsey Macias

Jenna Moore

Rachel Hardy

Port Angeles (Soph.)

Backstroke

Port Angeles (Junior) Breaststroke

Sequim (Junior) Freestyle

Port Townsend freshman Julia Griffiths dominated the 50-yard freestyle this season and placed in two events at Class 2A state.

PT’s fresh face Griffiths leads young Redskins’ charge to state Peninsula Daily News

PORT TOWNSEND — Freshmen rule.

At least for the Port Townsend High School girls swimming team, which was dominated by freshmen this year.

This group of young athletes propelled the Class 1A Redskins to the top performance at state for all North Olympic Peninsula schools.

Port Townsend earned two top-eight finishes — including an individual eighth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle for freshman Julia Griffiths — against mostly 2A schools at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way. Griffiths, who was named the top swimmer on the Peninsula for 2009 by coaches and the Peninsula Daily News, was the anchor on the team’s 200

freestyle relay that captured seventh place in state with a personal best time of 1:49.35.

That relay team had three freshmen and a sophomore.

Griffiths wasn’t entirely happy with her state finish in the 50 free because she didn’t end up with her best time of the year. She set a personal best in the preliminaries but couldn’t match it in the finals.

“I have three more years to do better at state,” she said.

Griffiths said she wants to win a state championship before she graduates.

Her disappointment in the 50 free time encouraged her to push the relay team to the seventh-place finish, coach Anji Scalf said.

“Julia wanted to redeem herself in the relay,” Scalf

said. “She passionately wanted to move up, and they beat a team seeded ahead of them.”

Griffiths’ split time on the anchor leg beat her personal-best time in the 50 preliminaries.

This drive and passion should keep Griffiths ahead of the competition the next three years, Scalf said. She is one of the most competitive swimmers Scalf has coached.

“Julia has an incredible amount of talent, and she is quite possibly the most competitive female athlete I’ve been around in all my years of athletics,” Scalf said. “She wants to be the best, and is willing to work hard to get this.”

Griffiths and the other freshmen have been training together since they were on a club team as eighth-graders.

“We’re best friends,” she said.

Those best friends should be making a lot of noise in girls swimming the next three years.

Qualified for 3A districts in 5 individual events and was part of 2 state relays.

Qualified for 3A districts in 6 individual events and was part of 1 state relay.

Reached the 2A state meet in both the 50 and 100 freestyle races.

Serena Vilage

Allison Hodgin

Rich Butler

Port Townsend (Fr.) Individual medley

Port Angeles (Soph.)

Diving

Port Angeles Coach of the Year

Reached 2A state in both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke.

Reached 3A districts in the onemeter diving event.

Led an undefeated PA team to a league title, with two relays reaching 3A state.

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Friday, December 4, 2009

Peninsula Daily News

All-Peninsula Girls Soccer

Chris Tucker/Peninsula Daily News

Port Angeles’ Abbie Moseley led a girls soccer revival this season with 19 goals and nine assists.

Getting her turn PA soccer revived behind Moseley’s offensive output

By Matt Schubert

Peninsula Daily News

PORT ANGELES — It got to the point where the losing deflected off Abbie Moseley.

A three-year starter for a Port Angeles girls soccer program that went a combined 1-39-3, stepping onto the pitch often meant enduring 80 minutes of pain, or, as the losses began to pile up, nothing at all.

“It was like we were desensitized,” Moseley said of her freshman through junior seasons. “You kind of get used to it after all those losses.

“We were obviously the worst team in the [Olympic] League in the past couple of years, and it was like there wasn’t even any hope.”

That all changed this summer.

Her father, Scott Moseley, was brought in to coach.

Abbie also had a newfound confidence after putting in a 1½ season with West Sound FC, a club team based out of Silverdale.

A tremendous athlete — Abbie was arguably the basketball team’s best defender when she played — she decided to focus almost exclusively on developing her talents on the pitch after her sophomore year.

By the time preseason practices rolled around this fall, she had developed into a premier playmaker in the midfield.

Soccer MVP Not only could she finish around the net, but she could set up her teammates as well.

As a result, an offense that had been stagnant scored more goals (41) than the last three years combined.

Abbie netted a North Olympic Peninsula-best 19 of those goals while dishing out nine assists.

In other words, she had a part in 68 percent of the Roughriders’ offense.

“I think it would be fair to call her the engine of the team,” said Scott Moseley, whose family has a rich soccer background with two siblings having played in college.

“She just worked so hard during the game and had very high expectations and just sort of pushed the team to get better.

“Even if you take away Abbie’s goals, as a team we still doubled our scoring. I think that speaks to Abbie’s playmaking ability and helping everybody else get better.”

Those qualities have helped garner interest from a few college coaches, although she declined to say which schools. (“I don’t want to jinx it,” she said.)

And they were just the right mix to help vault the Riders (6-8-1 overall) to their first postseason appearance in nine years.

“I’m just very glad that I was there to witness it and be a part of it,” Abbie said of the turnaround.

“It definitely made my high school soccer experience worth it.”

Abbie Moseley Port Angeles (Senior) Midfield (MVP)

The area’s top scorer (19 goals) was first team AllOlympic League.

Khloe Frank Port Townsend (Sr.) Midfield

Irina Lyons Port Townsend (Fr.) Forward

Made an immediate impact in her first season with 9 goals and 5 assists.

Samantha Benner Chimacum (Senior) Forward

Kyla Hall Sequim (Senior) Midfield

Had 17 goals and 4 assists as a first team AllNisqually player.

Named to AllOlympic second team as one of the Wolves’ top players in the middle.

Kathryn Moseley

Elena Akins

Kylea Jo Allen

Port Townsend (Jr.) Defender

Forks (Senior) Midfield

Selected to AllOlympic League first team after netting 7 goals and 2 assists.

Port Angeles (Soph.)

Midfield

Second in the Olympic League with 10 assists, and added 5 goals.

Named a second-team AllOlympic League player as PT’s defensive leader.

Led the Spartans with 3 goals and 1 assist as a second-team AllSWL selection.

Anna LaBeaume

Paxton Rodocker

Elise Reid

Scott Moseley

Sequim (Senior) Midfield/Defender

Port Angeles (Soph.)

Defender

Port Angeles (Senior) Goalkeeper

Cut PA’s goals allowed nearly in half as a second team All-Olympic League keeper.

Port Angeles Coach of the Year

Named a first team All-Olympic League player for 2nd straight year.

Given Olympic League honorable mention honors for defensive play.

Led PA to first playoff trip in 9 years and more wins (6) than last 3 years combined.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

Peninsula Daily News

Bereket Piatt Port Townsend Boys Cross Country MVP

Abbie Moseley Port Angeles Grils Soccer MVP

Sierra Clark

Julia Griffiths

Sequim Volleyball MVP

Port Townsend Girls Swimming MVP

Chanda Romney Port Angeles Girls Cross Country MVP

All-Peninsula Fall 2009

Cameron Robinson Port Townsend Football MVP