Sequim Gazette sports

Sports history comes alive

SEQUIM GAZETTE

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 • B-1

On the mark

Class act

SHS teacher earns distinction

MAC exhibit lauds local athletes.

B-2

Wapiti group shoot all set.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

B

SECTION

B-5

B-2

SEQUIM GAZETTE

Western Washington’s best weekly sportswriting

Stress relievers and seasonal sports

A DRY RUN

FITNESS MATTERS Jay and Heidi Bryan Expert answers to your health and wellness questions Note from Jay and Heidi: Always see your physician prior to beginning a new exercise routine.

Question: I am extremely stressed out this year and my sister says I need daily exercise.

With my busy schedule, exercise is the last thing I have time to do.

Can it really help?

Jay’s answer: We get done what we make time to get done.

It’s a matter of priority. Let me give you some perspective. A recent report published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services stated that between 1995 and 2008, more than 30 studies involving more than 175,000 participants were conducted in the area of stress. The results consistently showed that exercise decreases stress levels, depression and anxiety, while increasing feelings of well-being.

Most of the studies used bouts of moderate to more intense “cardio” exercise performed for 30-45 minutes per session.

The research exclaims it loud and clear! Exercise is the best medicine for stress! If you could take just 30 minutes out of your day to help yourself deal with stress and feel better, isn’t that worth fitting into your busy schedule?

Take one thing that stresses you out OFF your schedule, to make room for this one GOOD thing that makes you feel better and “deal” better! It’s a nobrainer.

Question: This time of year I usually transition to biking and hiking for my exercise and typically don’t go to the gym until fall.

My trainer disagrees with my seasonal lack of commitment to structured exercise. Is she right?

Heidi’s answer: Yes, and no ...

On one hand, some seasonal changing of your routine, or “periodization” is a good thing.

It’s how athletes train in order to peak for their competitive season and playoffs.

Just like an athlete, your body needs variety and needs to be constantly challenged in new and different ways in order to stay sharp.

On the other hand, some basic and important aspects of fitness need to be addressed no matter the season. Too much variety without any structure is no good.

Are you stimulating your muscle mass adequately and consistently in the summer (minus your trainer) or are you losing strength?

Is your routine in summer regular and intense enough to maintain your cardiovascular

See STRESS, page B-3

Last weekend saw the first of three weekends of downhill bike racing at Dry Hill just outside of Port Angeles, part of the Northwest Cup. Now in its fifth year, the Northwest Cup sees bikers challenge each other and the course at Dry Hill for Round Two (April 26-29) and Round Three (May 11-13.)

The competition continues at Mount Hood’s SkiBowl four Rounds Four (June 15-17) and Five (July 20-22) before capping the series at Stevens Pass Aug. 3-5.

Sequim Gazette photo by Jay Cline

Echoes from the press box

BASEBALL

Wolves’ arms bust Bucs Campbell hits 2-run single in key league victory

by MICHAEL DASHIELL Sequim Gazette

Lee and Elaine Desilet take a break from reminiscing to enjoy some sunshine in their Sequim-area home last Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell week.

Years removed from his time with the Seattle Rainiers, Lee Desilet finds a home in Sequim

by MICHAEL DASHIELL Sequim Gazette

It didn’t take long for Lee Desilet to meet his critics.

At a weekly get-together at a Seattle restaurant back in the early 1960s, the newest broadcaster for the Pacific Coast League’s Seattle Rainiers got up in front of the crowd of 50 sportswriters and sportscasters to ask for an explanation.

“You guys have been panning the hell out of me,” Desilet said. “But you’ve never heard me. What’s the criteria?”

Now in his 80s, Desilet lets free a grin. Apparently, the column jockeys from the Seattle Times, the P-I, Tacoma News Tribune and the like

soon after forgave him for not being Leo Lassen, the Rainiers’ beloved voice.

“That turned it around,” Desilet recalls. “We started to get along pretty good.”

A Sequim resident now for more than two decades, the longtime broadcasting veteran says he still has fond memories of those days, even if he did get off to a rough start among his peers.

“At that time, (Lassen) was about the only guy you could get on the radio here,” he remembers. “People never heard anyone but Lassen — not (greats like) Red Barber, Mel Allen.”

That Pacific Northwest exclusivity helped Lassen, a 30-year veteran

with the then Seattle Indians and Rainiers, pick up a loyal fan base and even a couple of grandiose nicknames, “The Great Gabbo” and “The Voice.”

Lassen left the Rainiers in 1960 and it opened up a job for Desilet, who was broadcasting out of Yakima.

Though those days with the Rainiers are five decades back, Desilet holds several fond memories cultivated at the press box at Seattle’s Sick’s Stadium.

There was chatting it up with manager Johnny Pesky, who’d eventually go on to coach the big league Red Sox. Or watching future major-league all-star Dick Radatz work the mound. Or working with broadcasting-legend-in-the-making Keith Jackson. Or catching glimpses of future baseball stars from other teams play through.

And the best part: traveling with

See ANNOUNCER, page B-2

Sequim’s 2012 squad is proving a team doesn’t have to pile up big offensive numbers to win.

Not when you have a stable of good arms and some great gloves behind them.

The Wolves improved to 5-1 in Olympic League play with a 2-1 win against Kingston on April 2, giving Sequim the league lead for the remainder of spring break and distancing them a bit from contenders North Kitsap and Port Angeles (both 3-1).

And the Wolves needed just four hits to do it.

“Last year, the team could light up the scoreboard. This team isn’t like that,” Sequim coach Dave

See BASEBALL, page B-3

Sequim third baseman Kyler Johnston throws out a Kingston batter.

Sequim Gazette photo

by Michael Dashiell

SEQUIM GAZETTE

B-2 • Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Get ready to pitch, hit and run The Port Angeles Recreation Department hosts the 2012 Aquafina Pitch, Hit and Run skills competition, starting at noon on Sunday, April 15, at Volunteer Field.

The program is a baseball/softball skills competition for youth ages 7-14 (age as of July 18). Each participant throws six pitches at a strike zone target, does a timed run from second base to home plate and hits the

ball off a tee for distance.

Metal cleats are not allowed for the competition.

There is no charge to participate and the winners advance to the sectional competition in May. Participants are asked to bring a copy of their birth certificate.

Boys compete at noon; girls compete at 2 p.m.

For more information, call Dan Estes at 417-4557 or e-mail destes@cityofpa.us.

Archery club goes 3-D The 1908 Sequim girls’ basketball team pose for a picture near the main intersection downtown.

Photo from the Genevieve Schmuck Collection, Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley

MAC celebrates sporting life

by RENEE MIZAR

Skeet shooting Olympic hopeful Jaiden Grinnell, along with her coach, 1984 Olympic gold medalist Matt Dryke (not pictured), are among the local athletes featured in “Sports Stars: Past & Present,” a new history exhibit now on display at the Museum & Arts Center in Sequim.

Communications Coordinator, Museum & Arts Center in the SequimDungeness Valley

The Museum & Arts Center in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley is celebrating more than a century of local athletes and memorable athletic feats in a new history exhibit opening in April.

T he exhibit, “Spor ts Stars: Past & Present,” is now on display at the MAC Exhibit Center, 175 W. Cedar St. in Sequim, and showcases local athletes of all ages and across athletic disciplines.

From a high school wakesurfing world champion and collegiate skeet-shooting Olympic hopeful to a recordsetting strongman and an Olympic gold medalist, MAC history exhibits coordinator Lyn Fiveash said the SequimDungeness Valley is teeming

Announcer From page B-1 the club from city to city, playing other squads in the Pacific Coast League.

“I met an awful lot of wonderful people,” Desilet says.

“I learned how to take care of myself.”

It’s a career that almost didn’t happen, if not for a freak injury.

Learning the trade Desilet grew up in Lewiston, Idaho, and following a harrowing time in the U.S. Navy — he was a gunner on dive-bombers and fought in World War II, surviving combat and five plane crashes — he went on to school at nearby Washington State College (now a university).

The plan, he says, was to study for a career in law, with his spare time going to fighting as a 155-pounder on the school boxing team.

One bad punch, and possibly a lingering injury from

Photo courtesy of Jaiden Grinnell

with area sports heroes both past and present.

“I’m impressed with the variety of sports that are represented in the athletes that have come out of our area,” Fiveash said. “The scope of achievements is amazing.”

In addition to photographs of professional, amateur and

high school sports teams and athletes, the exhibit also features vintage and current sporting equipment, including a wake board, as well as trophies and sports memorabilia.

The exhibit will remain on display through the summer.

The MAC Exhibit Center, which features rotating local history exhibits and monthly changing art exhibits, is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Tuesday through Saturday.

For more information, visit the MAC website at www.macsequim.org or call 683-8110.

one of those plane crashes, put Desilet out of boxing for good.

But staff at the campus radio station, KWSC (now KWSU), bugged him to do broadcasts of fights. Never mind the inexperience in doing play-by-play commentary, they said: you know the sport, and it pays $75 per month. Not long after that, campus newspaper editors asked Desilet to write three columns per week, for $30 a month.

“I realized I could not practice law with all this going on, so I changed my major to communications,” Desilet says.

Soon he was covering all sports at Washington State, by print or over the airwaves, from football, basketball and baseball to track and skiing.

After graduation, Desilet went back to Lewiston before getting a call to cover the Yakima Bears, a minor league baseball squad in the Western International league.

There, Desilet learned to become his own engineer.

That meant writing and

performing his own commercials, setting up travel itineraries, carrying equipment from town to town and the like.

Along the way, Desilet picked up several impressive assignments and stories, from writing a Sunday feature for Spokane’s Spokesman Review each week to covering a Little League World Series and doing stories for The Sporting News, interviewing Warren Spahn and Ted Williams. “(Williams) wanted you to know how great he was,” Desilet recalls. “I became aware of that before we were done.”

It was in Yakima that Desilet pulled a rare exclusive, securing an interview with manager Leo Durocher that earned a front-page byline with The Sporting News.

By the time the Seattle Rainiers decided to replace Lassen, their three-decadelong commentator, Desilet was the choice.

started out as the Seattle Indians in 1903, along with a host of charter clubs in the Pacific Coast League. The Indians enjoyed success in the early 1920s, earning their first pennant in 1924.

In 1938, Emil Sick bought the club. Owner of Seattle’s Rainier Brewing Company, Sick promptly changed the team name to the Rainiers and constructed a 15,000-seat stadium.

Sick invested in the team and it bore him plenty of wins, earning first place in 1939, 1940 and 1941, plus pennants in 1942 and 1943.

The Rainiers became a farm club for the Cincinnati Reds from 1956-1960 before the Red Sox bought the club.

Desilet remembers that Sick’s Stadium had a good baseball vibe in the early 1960s, a precursor to the 1970s movement that landed Seattle the Mariners.

“It was a baseball atmosphere, because everybody appears to love baseball,” he says. “We drew pretty well for a triple-A club. The field was in perfect condition (and) the seats and fences were painted.”

Desilet also remembers a hill and apartments beyond

Seattle days The Rainiers actually

• AUTO • HOME & RENTERS • COMMERCIAL • LIFE & HEALTH Scan with a smart phone for website, quotes and contact information.

369 W. Washington St. | Sequim | 360-683-3355 | www.jimcarl.com Parking available in front and rear of building.

The Wapiti Bowmen Archery Club hosts its annual Spring 3-D Extravaganza archery tournament, set for April 14-15, at 374 E. Arnett Road in Port Angeles.

The event, one that draws archery enthusiasts from throughout Western Washington, features life-sized, 3-D animals throughout Wapiti’s wooded 20-acre walk-around course.

The 30-target course is set in realistic hunting scenarios offering shooters a challenging but rewarding archery experience, say event organizers.

Shoots offered by the club are an opportunity to learn about the sport of archery from local and state champion archers, while enjoying a family oriented experience.

Prizes for each class of shooters are presented on Sunday. Also scheduled for Sunday is an auction of 3-D targets from the club, with the proceeds going to future target purchases for upcoming shoots.

Raffle tickets will be sold the left field fence where people watched the game for free, listening to the Rainiers’ broadcaster on the radio.

Desilet says he tried to bring a no-nonsense style to the broadcast game. That meant telling listeners about the game’s particulars — a right-handed hitter up, outfield shading toward left, runner at first with a small lead — and then adding the anecdotes later.

“You want to be as fair as you can possibly be,” he says.

“That’s hard, when you know a guy out there isn’t giving his best.”

A key was talking it up with the managers, like the Red Sox great Johnny Pesky, Desilet says.

“You got a lot of good information if you made those guys your friends,” he says.

It certainly didn’t hurt when a club official helped set up an interview with the great Ty Cobb, too.

Out of the booth Alas, the broadcasting life had its downsides.

“Being away from my wife and kids so much of the time,” Desilet says, was difficult. Oftentimes he’d tell his children good night over the airwaves.

Wapiti Bowmen Archery Club’s “Spring 3-D Extravaganza” Dates: April 14-15 Location: 374 E. Arnett Road, Port Angeles Contact: Tournament director Mark Jackson, 683-7787. for a compound bow donated

by Swain’s General Store.

Additional raffle items include a Rinehart 18-to-1 portable target and a Rinehart Broadhead Buck 3-D target.

Breakfast and lunch will be served for a nominal fee on Saturday and Sunday, with the kitchen opening at 7 a.m. each day.

Shooter registration opens at 8 a.m. and closes at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Shotgun start on Sunday is 9 a.m. (if necessary).

Adult fees are $12/day or $20/both days, youth (ages 10-16) $8/day or $12/both days, and pee-wee (younger than 10) shoot for free.

When the Rainiers morphed into the Seattle Pilots, a one-year blip on the Major League radar, and then moved to Milwaukee, Desilet moved on. For one year he made movies for Boeing, creating 12- to 15-minute films about specific models of planes that the company used in-house.

For a while he was executive director of the Washington Optometric Association, then did public relations at Shoreline College and then sold real estate before finally retiring in the early 1990s.

“We kind of liked the looks of Sequim,” his wife, Elaine, recalls.

The list for a good place to settle, Lee Desilet recalls, was short but significant: Where are the golf courses? The doctors? The grocery store? The library? The gas station?

“Every time we looked, we kept coming back to Sequim,” he says.

Yes, but does he still watch baseball?

Lee Desilet turns to his wife and they both smile.

“I watch (baseball) quite a bit,” he says.

“I can be very critical.

After 25 years of broadcasting, you become somewhat knowledgeable.”

SEQUIM GAZETTE SEQUIM GAZETTE

Closing numbers

Net lessons

Wednesday, June 13, 2012 • B-1

Husky pride

Chalk Talk: SHS bands, choirs honor their own.

Summer tennis academy set.

B-2

Sixkiller brings back golf tourney.

B-2

B4-5

B SPORTS/SCHOOLS Wednesday, June 13, 2012

SECTION

Western Washington’s best weekly sportswriting

SEQUIM GAZETTE

Baseball

Slow and steady wins

Growing up

Five-year-old Mariah Stringer gets a good-luck smooch from mom Bobbi in betweeen innings of a t-ball game last week.

T-ball player Mariah Stringer hits the field for the first time

FITNESS MATTERS Jay and Heidi Bryan Expert answers to your health and wellness questions

by MICHAEL DASHIELL Sequim Gazette

On a chilly, wind-swept Tuesday evening at Sequim’s Little League baseball fields, a beautiful, chaotic performance is taking place.

Clad in bright purples and oranges and reds and blues, dozens of 5- and 6-year-olds are frenetically running and jumping and cheering and wandering on and off the field.

It’s a beautiful mess because as many as 11 players litter the makeshift field instead of the standard nine. There are as many batters as players on the team; everyone hits and everyone seems to get a hit. No one is out and no one is left out. Throws to first base are perfunctory. The most important person on the field is everyone at the same time. Games are three innings and no one keeps score. Post-game high fives accompanied by “good game, good game” are mandatory and welcomed.

In the middle of this fray stands 5-year-old Mariah Stringer. It’s her first season of organized baseball.

Well, it’s her first season, but mom Bobbi notes that Mariah is hardly a stranger here. Mariah’s big sister Kylynn, a 10-year-old on a Girls Majors division team, has been playing here for five years and Bobbi’s been bringing Mariah to watch from the start.

“They’ve been at the fields, basically, their whole lives,” Bobbi says.

Bobbi and husband Michael are no strangers here either. The pair are

Note from Jay and Heidi: Always see your physician prior to beginning a new exercise routine.

It’s a learning process: Sequim t-ball player Mariah Stringer, 5, preps a swing. At right, she listens as assistant coach David Schmidlkofer gets her ready to race for second base. Below, she helps an opponent with his helmet. Sequim Gazette photos by Michael Dashiell

heavily involved in Little League, with Michael helping out as one of the lead umpires and Bobbi assuming treasurer duties and often working the concessions stand on game

Keller, former Mariner GM, dies in Sequim Hal Keller, a major league baseball player in the 1940s and 1950s who became general manager and vice president of the Seattle Mariners in the mid-1980s, died at his home in Sequim last week at age 85.

He and his wife, Carol, lived in Sequim for more than 10 years.

Keller played three seasons for the Washington Senators. A left-handed hitting catcher, he played at the University of Maryland before serving with the U.S. Army in Korea.

In 1948, after being discharged from the KELLER Army, Keller signed with the Washington (D.C.) Senators as a free agent.

His brother Charlie played for the Yankees, teaming with Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Henrich to form one of the most potent outfields assembled.

Hal Keller became the Washington Senators’ assistant farm team director in the spring of 1959 and remained in

See KELLER, B-2

The deadline for items appearing in this section is 5 p.m. Wednesday one week before publication.

News releases, photos and sports-related ideas may be mailed to P.O. Box 1750, Sequim 98382, delivered to the Sequim Gazette office at 147 W. Washington St. or e-mailed to miked@ sequimgazette.com.

nights. The family of four often hits the fields on Sundays for practice.

When Bobbi and Michael are busy on game days, Mariah’s grandparents make sure they’re in the stands

TNT

cheering.

“If we don’t have volunteers, we don’t have a league,” says Bobbi, a

See First time, B-2

HITS THE ROAD

The Sequim-based TNT U18 fastpitch plays at the Valley Invitational tournament June 15-17 in Beaverton and Hillsboro, Ore., a college exposure tourney with reportedly 150 coaches in attendance. The TNT team played in two tourneys in April, finishing second in both, Pictured are, back row from left, coach Sean Clift, MaryLu Clift, Amariah Clift, Amber Robb, Alexas Besand, Melissa Lewis, Cindy Miller, Bailey Rhodefer and coach Dean Rhodefer, with front row from left, coach Dave Bentz, Olivia Kirsch, Makayla Bentz, Tia Bourm, Shelby Lott, Hannah Grubb and Mariah Frazier. Submitted photo

Question: It seems every time I start training for a 10k I get injured. Should I give up? Is my body just not made to run?

Heidi’s answer: It’s a fact that some bodies are better structured for running than others. Running is a high-impact activity and comes with an increased risk of injury, even when you are doing everything correctly.

However, there are several things that can contribute to success or lack thereof: 1) Shoes! The wrong shoes will lead to injury almost every time.

2) Warm-up, Stretching, Cool Down. All of these are crucial to avoiding injury. Never stretch cold muscles. Warm up first!

Use proper cool down and selfmyofascial release or massage to help your body recover from each run.

3) Nutrition. The right nutrition to help with inflammation and also to properly fuel recovery and hydrate your body is essential.

And last, 4) Training progression. The most common cause of injury is overtraining. You really have to ease into your training and progress slowly, especially if you are 35 or older. Give yourself plenty of time to train for the event and give your body time to adjust to any increase in distance or pace.

I recommend you get some help from a personal trainer or a running coach, along with support from a nutrition expert. The human body is truly miraculous and adapts well to new stresses, like running. However, you need to give your body all the tools it needs to succeed!

See you at the finish line!

Question: I recently started exercising and went on a diet. I achieved my goal and I lost 30 pounds in only three months, but somehow got off track and have gained it all back. I have done this several times in my life and I am very discouraged.

How can I avoid this frustrating pattern?

Jay’s answer: Focus more on the process and less on the results. Setting goals is awesome but setting the right goals is the difference between short-term results and a

See FITNESS, B-3

FREE WI-FI ABOARD Complimentary home-made chocolate chip cookies from “Oven Spoonful”!

Who was the best dancer at the monster dance?

�e “boogie man”

B-2 • Wednesday, June 13, 2012

SEQUIM GAZETTE

TEACHING ON THE WATER

Sixkiller to bring back UW greats The Second Annual Sonny Sixkiller Celebrity Golf Classic, presented by Wilder Auto Center, features 40 former University of Washington coaches and players Friday, July 27, at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s The Cedars at Dungeness golf course.

There still are a few spots open for the tournament; interested golfers should call the Olympic Medical Center Foundation, the charitable beneficiary of the tournament, at 417-7144.

“We think it’s the premier sporting event on the peninsula,” said Jerry Allen, CEO of 7 Cedars Casino.

Sixkiller was a dynamic quarterback who turned around the Husky football program and led the nation in passing in 1970.

In a recent poll he was named one of the top 10 Pac-10 quarterbacks of all time.

Sixkiller has lined up a “who’s who” list of more than 30 Husky legends to play in the tournament, including

Sequim’s Dave Mittmann coaches newcomers on rowing techniques while other rowers look on and balance the eight-person sweep shell during the Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association’s third annual Learn to Row Day on Saturday, June 2.

The Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association offers competitive and recreational rowing for youth and adults. For information on the youth program, call coach Deana Volker at 360-797-1624. For more information about adult rowing, call Colleen Brastad at 452-3493. Photo by Cheryl Baumann/Olympic Peninsula Rowing

Tennis academy set for July “Tennis Academy, 2012,” a summer tennis program for area youths aged 5-16, is scheduled for July 2-13 and hosted by instructor Don Thomas.

Classes run from 9 a.m.noon daily (except for July 4) at Sequim High School’s tennis courts, 601 N. Sequim Ave.; classes are designed for youth who are non-beginners.

The program is structured to include some “classroom” time as well as dynamic and static stretching, strength conditioning, agility training, stroke analysis and practice, advanced techniques, strategy and match playing time.

Classroom time includes such subjects as history of tennis, rules of tennis, tennis safety, health/injury issues, and strategy, followed by written exams. The academy is limited to 30 youth considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

Thomas said he does not plan to charge for the academy.

For more information, call Thomas at 582-3033.

Also, an exploratory meeting to discuss establishing a USTA Juniors’ tennis club for Sequim area youth (ages 18 and younger) is being considered. Call Thomas for more information.

Former University of Washington football great Sonny Sixkiller gets ready to cruise The Cedars at Dungeness golf course at his own classic tourney in 2011.

Sequim Gazette staff

Sequim Gazette file photo by Michael Dashiell

former coaches Don James and Jim Lambright, Bob Schloredt, Greg Lewis, Michael Jackson, Nesby Glasgow, Marques Tuiasosopo and Al Worley.

Also participating is former Port Angeles High School player Scott Jones, the only Roughrider to have played in the NFL — that coming after a successful career as a tight end and offensive tackle at Washington.

Joining Jones are Sequim resident Don McKeta and Chuck Allen of Port

Townsend, both of whom starred for the 1960 and 1961 Husky Rose Bowl teams.

“I had always wanted to set up a tournament to showcase the legacy of University of Washington sports, especially football,” Sixkiller said. “I am extremely pleased to be able to work with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe once again and am happy that it will benefit the Olympic Medical Center Foundation.”

First time From page B-1

customer service manager at First Federal during the day.

Good thing for Mariah that Sequim does have a league. She runs and hits and fields and catches and throws at an exhaustive pace with the rest of her orange-clad teammates on her Olympic Game Farm-sponsored team.

It wasn’t always that way.

Even though she’d seen her sister play dozens of games, Mariah showed some reluctance to leave Mom and Dad when her turn came around.

“We started out with a rough season; she was a little attached,” Bobbi recalls.

Shawna Rigg, Sequim Little League president, says t-ball helps the youths get comfortable playing on a team — away from Mom and Dad. “(Newcomers) have to be pretty outgoing; they can’t stand behind momma’s leg,” Rigg says. “That’s a tough

CenturyLink Internet Basics

Get the Internet you need to connect.

Throwing the ball isn’t a problem for t-ball player Mariah Stringer, who hurls the ball to the catcher with authority. Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell

one.”

Assistant coach David Schmidlkofer saw that from Mariah from day one. Not uncommon, he noted.

“We try to challenge them when necessary and give them a little expectation,” he says. “They seem to perform.”

Schmidlkofer works at the Boys & Girls Club and seeing 300 youths a day prepared him well for helping out with a t-ball team — particularly

Today, the internet is necessary for success at work and at school. Now it’s more affordable than ever with CenturyLink Internet Basics.

later in the season, when the youths like Mariah have more confidence.

“A lot of them want action, but baseball is a game of patience,” Schmidlkofer says. “I think all of the kids have improved, especially hitting.”

For Mariah, the best part of the game seems to be a little bit of everything. Thinking hard, she picks out her favorite aspects of t-ball: “(I like to) run the bases and hit

the ball.”

Tony Anderson coaches Mariah and 10 others on the Olympic Game Farm team.

He says the toughest part of coaching is keeping the youngsters’ attention span.

“It’s keeping them focused, and teaching them a sport they’ve never played before,” he says.

“They’re all a little bit competitive. They love hitting … and they all want to get the ball.”

Rigg says there were about 65 t-ball players in Sequim the season that ended last weekend.

Not long after her t-ball game Tuesday night, Mariah treks a few yards to the field where her big sister is playing. She can’t help but mimic the softball pitcher wind-up.

Looks like this one’s ready to follow in her sister’s cleatsteps.

“She knows the cheers the (older) kids do,” Bobbi says.

Even if Mariah may not see it, Bobbi notes a number of benefits from being involved with t-ball: helping build a team and learning to work her teammates, keeping active, etc.

Mariah and her teammates see perhaps a more alluring benefit after they finish games: crackers and juice.

Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette. com.

Keller

From page B-1

Qualifying low-income households can get:

the nation’s capital when the franchise was moved to Minnesota and a new Senators team was established.

In 1979, he joined the Mariners as Director of Player Development. As a scout and farm club director, Hal Keller gave countless players their shot at the big leagues, mostly in Texas and Seattle. Mariner fans can thank Keller for his work in getting signed mid1980 Seattle stars like Mark Langston, Harold Reynolds, Mike Moore and “Mr. Mariner,” Alvin Davis.

As vice president and GM, Keller saw the Mariners record back-to-back 74-88 marks.

Keller died on June 5.

The Sequim Gazette profiled Keller in the Aug. 29, 2007, edition. See that story online at www.sequimgazette.com.

RELIABLE HOME INTERNET UP TO 1.5 MBPS

*

with 12-month term commitment + taxes + fees

Get connected.

Call 1-866-541-3330 today.

For more information, visit centurylink.com/internetbasics.

*Residential customers only. Listed High-Speed Internet rate of $9.95/mo. applies for first 12 months of service (after which the rate reverts to $14.95/mo. for the next 48 months of service), and requires a 12-month term agreement or 24-month term agreement (if purchasing Netbook).

Listed rate applies to up to 1.5 Mbps High-Speed Internet service. Customer must either lease a modem/router from CenturyLink for an additional monthly charge or purchase a modem/router from CenturyLink for a one-time charge, and a one-time High-Speed Internet activation fee applies.

A one-time professional installation charge (if selected by customer) and a one-time shipping and handling fee applies to customer’s modem/ router. General – Services and offers not available everywhere. CenturyLink may change or cancel services or substitute similar services at its sole discretion without notice. Offer, plans, and stated rates are subject to change and may vary by service area. Requires credit approval and deposit may be required. Additional restrictions apply. Terms and Conditions– All products and services listed are governed by tariffs, terms of service, or terms and conditions posted at www.centurylink.com. Taxes, Fees, and Surcharges – Applicable taxes, fees, and surcharges include a carrier Universal Service charge, carrier cost recovery surcharges, state and local fees that vary by area and certain in-state surcharges.

Cost recovery fees are not taxes or government-required charges for use. Taxes, fees, and surcharges apply based on standard monthly, not promotional, rates. CenturyLink Internet Basics Program– Available to individuals who qualify based on meeting income level eligibility requirements, and requires remaining eligible for the entire offer period. The first bill will include charges for the first full month of service billed in advance, prorated charges for service from the date of installation to bill date, and one-time charges and fees described above. Qualifying customers may keep the Internet Basics Program for a maximum of 60 months after service activation provided customer still qualifies during that time. High-Speed Internet–An early termination fee will apply based on the applicable monthly recurring service fee multiplied by the number of months remaining in the minimum service period, up to $200. Connection speeds are based on sync rates. Download speeds will be up to 15% lower due to network requirements and may vary for reasons such as customer location, websites accessed, Internet congestion and customer equipment. © 2011 CenturyLink, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. QDD.000.ROPQWEN.1011

3.38x8 SYK_VAS.indd 2

5/17/12 2:53 PM

B-6 • Wednesday, July 18, 2012

SEQUIM GAZETTE

This little guy was moving nearly as fast as our hiking duo. Hey, he’s got more legs than we do. Sequim Gazette photos by Michael Dashiell

The World’s largest Sitka spruce stands at 191 feet tall and is 58 feet, 11 inches in diameter.

According to the American Forest Association, this Sitka is about 1,000 years old.

Return

Above, moss covers almost everything here near Lake Quinault. In photo at left, Willaby Creek rushes toward Lake Quinault.

Quinault to the

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK Michael Dashiell

When considering a hike or hikes at Lake Quinault for your next hiking adventure, keep in mind a couple of things. One, it will be wet, one way or another. Two, it will not be a simple day hike.

And that’s a good thing.

The last time my wife/ hiking partner Patsene and I made our way to the Quinault Valley, it was March of last year. I thought this time we’d mix it up and go in late May, hoping the slight change in calendar would mean it would be drier.

To put things in a bit of perspective, the last time we were here, we passed Noah and family, who were headed

the other way.

My guess? He’d be think- reporter called a “hike from Nestled about 18 miles ing, “Why on earth would hell.” Already a steep hike with inland from the Pacific and they name this trail after me? several switchbacks and about about an hour south of Forks, Did Walt Whitman put you 30 blowdowns, the trail has been getting a makeover from the Quinault Valley already up to this?” was getting splashed with a We’d seen a sign that there the trails group since then.

They hope to have it done moderately heavy storm by was some construction on our arrival on a Friday after- good old Colonel Bob’s trail soon … and by soon, I mean next summer. noon.

No matter. The (One of the hoHiking Lake Quinault Colonel Bob, or tel employees told • How hard: Easy to difficult as far as you can me, “Yes, we do get get on it now, • How to get there: From downtown sunshine here.” A is a swell hike wistful look spread Sequim, take U.S. Highway 101 west — once you get across his face. “A toward Port Angeles and Forks. About past the jagged, couple of weeks ago 65 miles south of Forks, turn left onto broken rock that it was beautiful,” Shore Road. In 2.3 miles, turn left into covers the first he said. “Now this. the Lake Quinault Lodge parking area. quarter-mile.

Again.”)

Trailheads are accessible from here.

It’s a nice alAfter a restful stay No park passes necessary. beit workmanlike in one of the lakeside jaunt through boat cabins at the Lake Quinault Lodge (highly that might make it impass- old-growth conifer forest, recommended, as they are able just a couple of miles in, past deep beds of ferns, the cheaper and quieter than the but we’re intrepid hikers and occasional carnivorous beetle main lodge rooms), we set out decided to check out what (True! I saw one going to for the Colonel Bob Trail on was deemed “impassable” for town.) and all the trappings of a great Western Washington the lake’s south side. Colonel ourselves. forest hike.

Bob, it turns out, was Colonel Only later did I find there’s Robert G. Ingersol, a Civil Step it up Apparently, since a 2007 actually another way to the War veteran, politician, orator windstorm, the Colonel Bob top of the Colonel Bob, by way and “free thinker.”

He also never set foot on the has been what one Washing- of The Pete’s Creek Trail. Apton Trails Association trip parently we needed to look at trail that bears his name.

(360) 683-1312

www.danforshawconstruction.com

H2O 360-681-0379

214 Center Park Way Downtown Sequim

Replace that old expensive heating equipment with a new efficient electric heat source.

email: h2oplumbing@olypen.com Cont Lic#H20PLCI992NH

Systems

Kailash Yoga Therapy

PO Box 2049 • Sequim

542 N. 5th Ave., Sequim | www.kailashyoga.org • 360.460.6774

AvAilAble for: Remodeling Custom Homes • Design Projects

Treating pain & flexibility issues with a gentle and supportive approach that works.

the map a little closer. Intrepid hikers my (blistered) foot.

If you are brave/energetic enough to go the seven-plus miles to the top, I hear there’s a great view at the 4,492-foot summit.

From the top, assuming it’s a clear day — and that’s never really a guarantee here, but possible — you can get neck-bending, jaw-dropping views of Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, the Pacific and, of course, good old Lake Quinault.

About two miles into the hike, we hit several blowdown areas and signs warning us the

“hike from hell” was going to turn up the heat. So we bailed.

On the way back to the lodge, we hit a sure-fire tourist trap, particularly for the lazy hiker. Maybe a fourth of a mile from the main South Shore Road is the world’s largest Sitka spruce. No joke. An easy 10-minute saunter brings you to a clearing and, well, there she is. All 191 feet of her. This beats the world’s largest ball of twine, right? (That’s in Darwin, Minn. Or Cawker City, Kan., or Lake Nebagamon,

See QUINAULT, B-7

South Shore Road

Graphic by Michael Dashiell

You can help us protect America!

Call 1-866-247-2878 to report suspicious activity on the water and along our coastline.

1-866-247-2878

The mission of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Air and Marine (OAM), the world’s largest aviation and maritime law enforcement organization, is to protect the American people and the nation’s critical infrastructure through the coordinated use of integrated air and marine forces to detect, interdict and prevent acts of terrorism and the unlawful movement of people, illegal drugs and other contraband toward or across U.S. borders

Wednesday, July 18, 2012 • B-7

SEQUIM GAZETTE

SPORTS CALENDAR

Fitness

From page B-5

School sports schedule Aug. 15 Deadline for Sequim High School fall sports paperwork.

Aug. 20 TBA — Sequim High School fall sports turnout.

Area sports/rec schedule July 18 8 a.m. — Dungeness Men’s Club: Two-man best ball. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

July 18-21 9 a.m. — Sequim High School volleyball camp (for girls in grades 7-12). At high school gym, 601 N. Sequim Ave. Call 461-6152.

July 19 TBA — Dungeness Lady Niners Invitational. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

6:45 p.m. — Puget Sound Anglers, North Olympic Chapter meeting. At Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 Blake Ave. Call 5820836.

July 22 Noon — Community tennis. At high school courts, 601 N. Sequim Ave. Call 460-2588.

July 25 8 a.m. — Dungeness Men’s Club: Four-man scramble. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

July 26 8 a.m. — Dungeness Lady Niners. Play at 9 a.m. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

July 29 Noon — Community tennis. At high school courts, 601 N. Sequim Ave. Call 460-2588.

Aug. 1 8 a.m. — Dungeness Men’s Club: Ace Day. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

5 p.m. — Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center board agenda-setting meeting. At The Fifth Avenue, 500 W. Hendrickson Road.

Aug. 5 Noon — Community tennis. At high school courts, 601 N. Sequim Ave. Call 460-2588.

Aug. 8 8 a.m. — Dungeness Men’s Club: Two-man best ball. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

5 p.m. — Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center board meeting. At The Fifth Avenue, 500 W. Hendrickson Road.

7-9 p.m. — Greywolf Flyfishing Club. At Gardiner Community Center, 980 Old Gardiner Road.

Aug. 9 8 a.m. — Dungeness Lady Niners. Play at 9 a.m. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

Aug. 10 8:30 a.m. — Peninsula Pirate Annual Golf Scramble.

At The Cedars at Dungeness golf course, 1965 Woodcock Road. Call 417-6467.

Aug. 11 TBA — Sprint boat races.

At Extreme Sports Park, 2917 W. Edgewood Drive, Port Angeles.

Aug. 12 Noon — Community tennis. At high school courts, 601 N. Sequim Ave. Call 460-2588.

Aug. 13, 15, 17 9:03 a.m. — Dungeness Men’s Club Championship.

At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

Aug. 13-16 TBA — Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s Junior Girls Amateur tournament.

At Sunland Golf & Country Club, 109 Hilltop Drive.

Aug. 16 8 a.m. — Dungeness Lady Niners. Play at 9 a.m. At The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.

6:45 p.m. — Puget Sound Anglers, North Olympic Chapter meeting. At Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 Blake Ave. Call 582-0836.

Patsene hikes past work by trail-clearing volunteers on the Colonel Bob Trail. Sequim Gazette photos

by Michael Dashiell

Quinault

Lake Quinault-area trails

• 14.5-mile (round trip) hike to top of Colonel Bob Peak (4,492 feet) to get a glimpse of the whole lake; trail to be repaired by summer 2013 • Six-mile (round trip) to Pony Bridge that extends another 10 miles into the Enchanted Valley area • 4.8-mile (round trip) Fletcher Canyon trail • 3.9-mile Lakeshore Trail/Cedar Bog/Falls Creek Trail, with Rain Forest Nature Trail loop • 1.3-mile Kestner Homestead Trail loop on the lake’s north shore • 1.1-mile (one way) Irely Lake trail finds a small lake that’s a haven for waterfowl and amphibians • 0.2 mile off the main road is the world’s largest Sitka spruce Or, don’t get out of the car and take the 31-mile Quinault Loop Drive around the lake

From page B-6

Wis. Or Branson, Mo. All depending on your parameters, i.e. weight, by single person or community — I digress).

South side, north side

The Quinault offers more than a few great hikes, which we still are finding about with each visit. Our favorite is the Rain Forest Nature Trail.

Start out at the lodge and skirt the lake’s south shore, and in nine-tenths of a mile the trail meanders into the Willaby Campground. Just south of the campground, turn off the main trail and onto the Rain Forest Nature Trail loop. Here is when the lake view drops away and the real fun begins. Surrounded by lush maidenhair ferns, Douglas-firs, western hemlocks, Sitka spruces and western

red cedars, one steps into a tropical rain forest minus the heat. Everything drips life, from the yellow chanterelles, skunk

cabbage and Oregon lungwort to the banana slugs underfoot.

The trail eventually crosses Willaby Creek, revealing stunning views of small- to medium-sized waterfalls, and loops back to the lodge.

It’s a beautiful, easy hike. Of course, bring a raincoat or three.

On the north side, there are several other fine hikes I’ve heard of but haven’t explored yet, including the Irely Lake and Three Lakes trails, Big Cedar Trail and trails along the North Fork Quinault.

Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@ sequimgazette.com.

At left, Lake Quinault simply shines at sunset.

Sequim Doubles Tennis Tournament results (July 6-8) Mixed 8.0 division

Winner: Allison Hastings/ Stu Sherman Runners-up: Kali McKenzie/Kyle McKenzie • First round — Jeff Brown/ Karen Chrisman def. Chuck Matheney/Tricia Stratton 6-4, 6-0; Kali McKenzie/ Kyle McKenzie def. Doug Wolf/Gloria Wolf 6-0, 6-3; Allison Hastings/Stu Sherman def. Greg Gronowick/ Brenda Landstrom 6-0, 6-2; Scott Jamieson/Audrey Wakefield def. Julien Berg/ Beverly Hoffman 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) • Semifinals — Ka. McKen-

zie/Ky. McKenzie def. Brown/ Chrisman 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; Hastings/Sherman def. Jamieson/ Wakefield 6-2, 6-1 • Finals — Hastings/Sherman def. Ka. McKenzie/Ky. McKenzie 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 • Consolation — D. Wolf/G. Wolf def. Matheney/ Stratton 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3); Berg/Hoffman def. Gronowick/Landstrom 6-4, 6-4

Pemberton/Leslie Wake def.

Casey Allen/Matthew Richards 6-1, 6-2; Allen/Richards def. Casi Fors/Chuck Matheney 5-7, 6-2, 6-3; Allen/ Richards def. Val Allard/John Erskine 6-1, 6-1; Pemberton/ Wake def. Fors/Matheney 6-1, 6-0; Fors/Matheney def.

Allard/Erskine 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Pemberton/Wake def. Allard/Erskine 6-1, 6-1

Mixed 7.0 division

Men’s 7.0 division

Winner: Dave Pemberton/ Leslie Wake Runners-up: Casey Allen/ Matthew Richards • Round Robin — Dave

Salmon,Halibut & Bottom Fishing Charters Captain Eric Hodgson

360-460-2237

Winner: Greg Gronowick/ Greg Robinson • Round Robin — Keoke Staab/Kline Wilson def. John

Erskine/Dan Killins 6-2, 6-2; Greg Gronowick/Greg Robinson def. Staab/Wilson 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; Gronowick/ Robinson def. John Erskine/ Dan Killins 6-4, 6-0

Women’s 7.0 division

Winner: Brenda Landstrom/Tricia Stratton Runners-up: Beverly Hoffman/Debra Knutson • Round Robin — Beverly Hoffman/Debra Knutson def. Val Allard/Uyen Heldt 6-4, 6-1; Brenda Landstrom/Tricia Stratton def.

Allard/Heldt 6-1, 6-0; Hoff-

out year-round! Exercising year-round will help you enjoy your hiking more and help you avoid injuries. Brief example: Hit the treadmill regularly to get your body used to steep grades and do functional resistance training three times per week to make your muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments stronger and more stable. The added strength also helps with carrying a pack! Also incorporate balance and coordination training into your exercise program on a year-round basis. Hiking demands a great deal of balance.

Losing your balance on a hike can be a matter of life and death.

2) Be sure you start out with some flat or mildgrade walking after you get out of the car and before you head up a steep grade on uneven ground.

Warm-up is key.

3) After your warmup, stretch your Achilles, hamstrings and low back several times before, during the hike and after, if possible. This is NOT warm-up. Warm-up and stretching are two different things and need to be done differently and at different times.

4) Take in the right nutrition before and during your hike, along with, of course, taking enough water to stay hydrated! If you bonk from not eating enough or drinking enough, you may lose focus and trip or fall.

5) And lastly, wear layers and bring appropriate gear to be prepared for weather changes if you hike in the mountains.

Hiking is awesome!

Enjoy your summer and see me next fall to design a year-round hike preparation program.

Jay Bryan is an exercise physiologist and Heidi Bryan is a certified personal trainer.

To ask Jay or Heidi a question, e-mail them at sequim@anytimefitness.com. man/Knutson def. Monique Brasher/Robin Fling 6-4, 6-1; Hoffman/Knutson def.

Jody Duncan/Sandy Schultz 6-1, 6-0; Brasher/Fling def.

Allard/Heldt 6-4, 6-1; Landstrom/Stratton def. Duncan/ Schultz 6-0, 6-2; Landstrom/ Stratton def. Hoffman/Knutson 6-3, 1-6, 6-3; Landstrom/ Stratton def. Brasher/Fling 6-1, 6-1; Brasher/Fling def.

Duncan/Schultz 6-1, 6-2; Allard/Heldt def. Duncan/ Schultz 6-2, 6-3.

SERVICE & PARTS Now servicing all makes and models!

The finest service for the finest cars!

Sekiu - Port Angeles - Neah Bay

H AROLD H UFF DPM Board Certified Surgery Member Podiatric Sports Academy

Factory Trained Mercedes, Audi, BMW & Volkswagen technicians.

Offering:

• Treatment of sport or non-sport injuries of foot and ankle • Orthotic prescription/evaluation • Diabetic foot care • Surgical treatment of foot/ankle conditions.

(360) 582-2651 777 N. Fifth Ave. • Sequim Medical Plaza

683-1199 261340 Hwy. 101 West • Sequim

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 SEQUIM GAZETTE

SPORTS

Wednesday, July 25, 2012 • B-5

Sonny is back!

Husky greats, locals take to links. See preview at www.sequimgazette.com B-5

SEQUIM GAZETTE

Sequim all-star juniors take state Combination Sequim-East Jefferson CountyPort Townsend team earns berth at regionals trict 11 champ Sedro-Woolley on July 14 and similarly crushed District 8’s North CentralWith some help, Washington state’s top Queen Anne, 17-3, the following day.

Little League junior softball squad will be On July 17, Sequim-East Jefferson-Port making the trek from the Olympic Peninsula Townsend edged District 4’s Evergreen, 4-2, to Arizona with in the championship a chance to play bracket semifinal. in the World Help the juniors go to regionals In the consolaSeries. tion final on July Donate via this website: Last week, the www.gofundme.com/w4k04.

18, North Centralteam — featurQueen Anne topped ing players from Evergreen 9-1, setting Sequim, East up the championship game on July 19.

Jefferson County and Port Townsend — did Needing to beat North Central-Queen Anne its part, sweeping all four games on the way just once in two tries, the Olympic Peninsula to a state championship at La Center Park in squad sealed its state title in the first game, an Vancouver, Wash.

8-4 victory on July 19.

Sequim-East Jefferson-Port Townsend See JUNIORS, B-7 opened with a 19-2 blowout win against DisSequim Gazette staff

Lefty Ryley Eldridge pitches against North Central-Queen Anne on July 15.

Photo by Lisa Jensen

Making a

splash

Aaron Witherell of Sequim catches some air during training. The 16-year-old placed fi fth in the pro men’s skim division at the USA Wake Surf National Championship in early July.

Sequim brothers have a knack for wakesurfing

Photo courtesy of Aaron Witherell

by MICHAEL DASHIELL

wakeboard,” Aaron says. “It was something that came naturally.”

When school lets out in Aaron Witherell and his brother Grant have a jam- June, he and the family transipacked summer, spinning tion into summer watersports and splashing their way across mode with a place on Lake the nation’s lakes on rail-thin Sutherland. There, atop glassy, boards and taking on the best placid lake water, the Witherells hone their skills. athletes in their sport.

“It’s pretty much every day,” It’s a good time to surf; after all, come fall, the Witherell Aaron says.

Wakesurfers share some boys have homework to do.

Aaron, 16, and Grant, 13, methods with their wakeare making names for them- boarding and waterskiing selves on the national wake- brethren in that they use a tow line to get on surfing circuit. top of the water, Despite living but soon after far from regular On the web tour stops, the Check out videos drop the rope pair have had of Aaron Wither- and surf the success early ell riding at slay- boat’s wake.

Wa k e s u r f on. In 2010, shtank.com/rider/ boards someAaron started aaron-witherell/ what mimic a participating surfboard used in wakesurfing contests and wound up taking on ocean shores, but are generthe Northwest Wake Surf- ally shorter, more buoyant and ing Association juniors title, made of different materials. with Sequim’s Jack McColl Though wakesurf boards feain second and Ted McColl ture three fins (or four on some models) on the underside like in third.

A year later, Aaron took a standard surfboard, the home the men’s amateur skim smaller, lighter make allows division title at the Centurion for quick movements and World Wake Surfing Cham- more tricks.

A variation is the wakesurf pionship.

This year, at the USA Wake skim board, a thinner board Surf National Championship that usually features one small in Ocklawaha, Fla., which fin underneath and is made for ended July 1, Aaron finished tricks such as spins and airs.

Aaron says rides at the fifth in the pro men’s skim division while Grant won the wakesurfing nationals were relatively short, going two amateur men’s skim crown.

For Aaron, it all started minutes in a down-and-back when his uncle bought him a course. Between start and finboard to surf on when he was ish, riders are judged on trick difficulty and progression, about 13.

“I’ve always been into board style, power and how much sports — surf, snowboard, of the wake they use.

Sequim Gazette

H2O 360-681-0379

214 Center Park Way Downtown Sequim

Replace that old expensive heating equipment with a new efficient electric heat source.

email: h2oplumbing@olypen.com Cont Lic#H20PLCI992NH

Systems

At big competitions such as nationals, riders are judged for a series of rides, accumulating points as they go.

Since there are few competitions in Washington — just one on the national tour, Aaron says, coming up in Monroe, July 27-29 — the brothers travel long distances to ply their skills. Competitions are often hosted in warm-water venues in Florida and Texas, with the world competition in Arizona.

Aaron says he’s trying to get to the top of the pro skim division after success at the amateur levels, and he’s look-

ing to improve his skills on the wakesurf boards, too.

“Right now I’m not at the top of my level,” he says.

Grant is showing some of the same success Aaron did at a young age.

“It was just something that he (Grant) started doing; he’s doing great,” Aaron says.

The two ride for sponsor XXX Surf and Skim.

“It’s pretty cool to have him for a teammate,” Aaron says.

Aaron also is sponsored by Vitalire Northwest Apparel.

Reach Michael Dashiell at miked@sequimgazette.com.

Grant Witherell shows off some wakesurf skills.

Video still image courtesy of Aaron Witherell

Salmon,Halibut & Bottom Fishing Charters AvAilAble for: Remodeling Custom Homes • Design Projects PO Box 2049 • Sequim

(360) 683-1312

www.danforshawconstruction.com

Captain Eric Hodgson

Sekiu - Port Angeles - Neah Bay

360-460-2237

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 • B-5

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 SEQUIM GAZETTE

SPORTS

Coming next week Peninsula College soccer squads prep for 2012 campaigns.

SEQUIM GAZETTE

B-5

Sequim athletes start, continue competing at collegiate levels Sequim Gazette staff

Sequim High grad Audrey Lichten, left, competes for Linfield College in the 1,500-meter race at the Northwest Conference Track and Field Championships on April 20-21. Lichten, a freshman at Linfield, set a personal record (4:50.86) by six seconds in the race, finishing sixth. Photo by Carol Lichten

In high school and in college, Anna LaBeaume was hard to top.

Turns out she’s hard to stop in the classroom, too.

LaBeaume, a sophomore at Linfield College (McMinnville, Ore.), joined teammates Misty Corwin and Catherine Street on the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s all-academic team following the 2011-2012 seasons.

LaBeaume holds top-five marks in the Linfield record LABEAUME books for the shot put, discus and hammer throw, and is studying English, creative writing and communications.

To qualify for all-academic status, student-

athletes must have compiled a cumulative grade-point average of 3.30 and have either competed in the indoor or outdoor national championships or have finished the regular season ranked in the top 35 in their individual event.

As a squad, the Linfield women registered a cumulative GPA of 3.47 to earn all-academic team recognition.

Several other recent Sequim prep graduates are setting their sights on college-level play in 2012-2013:

Eyes on the mountain

Sequim pitching ace Demiree Briones has signed on to play softball at Green Mountain College, a four-year liberal arts college

A few days in sports nirvana

See COLLEGE, B-8

Recruiting expert set to visit peninsula Sequim Gazette staff

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK Michael Dashiell

I’ve never been the kind of guy to high-five total strangers. Not even at sporting events.

Wednesday changed my mind.

I wasn’t planning to go to the Mariners’ day game on Aug. 15. Normally I check the season schedule for the so-called Businessmen’s Specials — mid-afternoon games that inspire urban dwellers to call in sick while they slip away to watch their local ball club for a few hours.

I was taking part of the day off, but my destination was Redmond, to check out the final Seahawks practice open to the public as they gameplanned for their upcoming contest at Denver. My father and I wanted to see if we could get a good look at Terrell Owens, Marshawn Lynch and the trio of quarterbacks who are battling for a starting spot.

On our way back, we ran into a traffic-plagued downtown off-ramp and realized Safeco Field was open for business.

On the fence about taking even more of my day to watch mediocre Seattle sports, I thumbed my smartphone to see who was pitching and what inning. If Felix Hernandez is on the mound and it’s close, I’m in.

As it was, the M’s and Tampa Bay Rays were scoreless through two innings, and yes, King Felix was on the mound.

My father was set on HERNANDEZ shooting some photos of the Taylor Bridge Wildfire near Cle Elum.

“Hey, can you drop me off at the stadium?” I asked.

Sure. And so went by a chance for my dad to witness history.

Other than the first few innings, I didn’t miss a thing.

But that’s the middle part of my

Felix Hernandez gets mobbed by teammates after finishing off the first perfect game in Mariners history and just the 23rd in Major League Baseball’s history. Sequim Gazette photos by Michael Dashiell

It doesn’t take long for Felix’s feat to garner some attention, both in Seattle and across the nation.

story in what turned out to be a whirlwind week for this sports fan.

The Hawks in Redmond

Let me say this right away: the staff with the Seattle Seahawks are great.

Top notch. Wonderfully nice folks.

Courteous and friendly. Salt of the earth.

That being inked, the overall fan “experience” of witnessing a Seahawks practice is somewhat underwhelming.

After a semi-arduous process of getting on school buses to shuttle from The Landing, a mini-living community/mall ingloriously built in north Renton, we arrive at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, affectionately

known as the V-MAC. It’s impressive — 200,000 square feet worth of building nestled between I-405 and Lake Washington.

The second-largest facility in the NFL, it seems large until compared with the three full-length practice fields nearby. When we get there a bit after 10 a.m., the Hawks are already doing their stretching and conditioning drills. I immediately look for TO, the firebrand of the NFL for so many years who spent last season playing himself into and out of arena-league football.

From a grassy knoll a hundred feet away, he looks, well, like any other dude. Sure, I recognize the swagger.

But, I don’t know, I guess I was expecting horns or tentacles or for him to be glowing. None of that. He was another dude catching (and dropping) balls.

But most of the action takes place a football field away. The field closest to our picnic-style area is empty for most of the session. The exceptions are stretching and kicking sessions featuring placekicker Steve Hauschka and punter Jon Ryan (yawn), and a

See PERFECT, B-6

Student-athletes from Sequim and Port Angeles high schools and their parents get a visit by a national recruiting expert on Sept. 4 and 6.

National keynote speaker Jack Renkens will share with the audience the lessons he’s learned during many years as a high school and college coach, athletic director and parent of a high school RENKENS athlete.

Renkens speaks at 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 4, at Port Angeles High School’s auditorium, 304 E. Park Ave. PAHS athletic director Dwayne Johnson will host.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, Renkens is slated to speak in the Sequim High School auditorium, 533 N. Sequim Ave., hosted by athletic director Dave Ditlefsen.

Both presentations are free and open to the public.

Renkens says less than one percent of all student-athletes will play their sport at a Division I school.

On the other hand, a wealth of opportunities is available for student-athletes at colleges and universities below that level.

Renkens has three key messages for the audience: • You don’t get to pick the school. The school picks you.

• A college coach can’t recruit you if he or she doesn’t know who you are. You need to market yourself.

• Don’t get hung up on the term “athletic scholarship.”

Focus on “funding,” which is made up of academic money, merit dollars, grants, endowments and achievement funds.

For more information, see www.recruitingrealities.com.

Chapman stepping away from ‘Spotlight’ Sequim Gazette staff

CHAPMAN

His first column was about the Mariners, as was his last. And in between, this Port Angeles native bled plenty of Sequim purple and gold in more than 400 sports columns.

But as of this edition, Scooter Chapman is retired from “Spotlight on Sports,” the Gazette column he penned since January 2003.

See CHAPMAN, B-8

Which is faster: Hot or Cold?

Hot, ‘cause you can catch a cold!

B-6 • Wednesday, August 22, 2012

SEQUIM GAZETTE

SPORTS BRIEFS Pocket the Hawks

Get a pocket-size schedule of the Seattle Seahawks’ 2012 season while supplies last at the Sequim Gazette office, 141 W. Washington St.

Run to benefit local family

A five-kilometer run/walk is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road. The event is a fundraiser for the Hailey Freeman family. Hailey Freeman, 8, died of an unexpected illness on April 7.

Registration is $20; all proceeds go to the Freeman family.

All fitness levels are welcome. Register online at www.active. com/running/sequim-wa/run-for-hailey-2012. Register by Sept. 13.

Register for NFL Flag

Registration for Sequim’s NFL Flag 2012 season is now open online at www.sequimflagfootball.com.

Flag football is for boys and girls ages 6-13.

The $40 fee includes a jersey. Participants also need to be members of the Boys & Girls Club; seasonal memberships are $12.

Skills assessment sessions (required for all players) are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, Sept. 5-6, at the Sequim High School practice fields, 601 N. Sequim Ave. For more information, call 683-3553 or e-mail janagrasser@hotmail.com.

SkyRidge hosts Cougar Golf Tournament

SkyRidge Golf Course, 7015 Old Olympic Highway, hosts its 10th annual North Olympic WSU Cougar Golf Tournament on Sunday, Aug. 26, with a barbecue lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m.

Golfers need not be WSU alumni to join in the four-person mixed-teams scramble. Entry of $40 includes lunch, golf, prizes; carts are $15/seat. Call 683-3673 for more information or to be placed on a team.

Two-mile family fun run/walk set

The Sequim Education Foundation, Sequim School District and Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula host a two-mile family fun run/walk on Sept. 1, starting and finishing at the SHS track off of Fir St. The trail includes an obstacle course.

Prizes are awarded for the top three in each age division (grades kindergarten-2, grades 3-5, grade 6-8, high school ages and adults).

Cost is $5 per person, with a $20 family cap for those living under the same roof.

Proceeds go to fund teacher grants.

Call 582-3264.

Register for soccer

Port Angeles Youth Soccer Club has opened registration for the Fall 2012 Soccer season.

Registration for players in the U6/U7 academy ends Aug 27.

For more information, visit www.paysc.com or e-mail pasoccer@gmail.com.

Sprint Boat tickets on sale

Tickets are available now for the U.S. Sprint Boats Association national championship races at Extreme Sports Park in Port Angeles, set for Sept. 8.

Purchase tickets through www.extremesportspark.net or brownpapertickets.com.

The park also hosts its first Run A Muck Obstacle Course Challenge and Music Festival on Saturday, Sept. 29.

Last chance for gold cards

There are only a few days left for the Sequim High School Wolves football team gold card fundraising program.

The $20 cards feature discounts at local businesses and help the SHS team purchase equipment.

Team members will be in Sequim on Saturday, Aug. 25, selling the cards from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., decked out in their purple-and-gold jerseys. Team members turn in their cards for prizes at 2 p.m.

For more information, call SHS athletic director Dave Ditlefsen at 582-3600.

AvAilAble for: Remodeling Custom Homes • Design Projects PO Box 2049 • Sequim

(360) 683-1312

www.danforshawconstruction.com

Are you

Fully Protected?

We design and install

SECURITY SYSTEMS

Residential and commercial to fit your needs & budget 24-Hour Monitoring as low as $ 99/mo.

22

★ FREE ESTIMATES ★

FIRE & SECURITY 723 E. Front St., PA • 452-2727 www.gotohitech.com

Seahawk quarterbacks (from left) Josh Portis, Tavaris Jackson and (far right) Russell Wilson watch teammate Matt Flynn take snaps in practice. Sequim Gazette photos by Michael Dashiell

Perfect

From page B-5 quick down-and-back rotation with quarterbacks Matt Flynn, Russell Wilson, Tavaris Jackson and Josh Portis and a few receivers.

Other than that, it’s like watching football on a television. A bad one.

But it’s a sunny day, and the slight breeze off the lake and good company make for a pleasant (if uneventful) morning.

It’s hard to have much of an impression of this version of the Seahawks after watching them do a few run-throughs, but here are my quick takes: Wilson may be the best New Seahawk Terrell Owens hauls in a pass at practice last week. quarterback of the bunch. He a few other fans, I suspect, I hit a pair of good hitters in And if Brendan Ryan looks energetic and hungry didn’t really start thinking Desmond Jennings and Jeff doesn’t win a gold glove this and can throw the ball. The about a no-hitter until the Keppinger, but it didn’t matter. year, there is no justice. only question is, can he see fifth inning or so. The M’s had And when Sean Rodriguez over the offensive line? scratched a run across in the watched strike three go by, Re-sounding win Owens is only one of a I capped the week by watchthird and Jeremy Hellickson Mount Rainier erupted. handful of interesting receiving the Seattle Sounders knock was doing a great job of baf- Beautiful. ers. There are a bunch of lanky, fling the M’s, so my focus was And yes, I slapped five with off the Vancouver (B.C.) athletic types. One that saw more about the win. total strangers. We all had the Whitecaps 2-0 on Saturday. a bunch of reps was Lavasier I have to admit, I’m a tourIn the sixth, I looked up and same, dumb look on our faces: Tuinei, a 6-4, 220-pound ist in Century Link Field saw that not only had Felix not “Do you believe this?” monster from Oregon. given up a hit, but he hadn’t What gets lost in Felix’s when the Sounders hit the The secondary is this team’s walked a Ray, either. greatness and the resurgent pitch. I’m not a devotee. I strength. That much was It’s hard to say the atmo- Seattle Nine is this: the Mari- didn’t know the Sounders’ obvious at the end of last sphere was charged. I mean, ners have the best defense in record coming in (although season, but it is glaring in these are Seattle fans on a baseball. The best. No doubt I had checked the standpractice. Earl Thomas, Branhot day. Lethargic for seven about it. The M’s went into ings a few days back) and I don Browner and company innings would be a better Monday night’s game against certainly didn’t know any are downright Cle vela nd of the chants. I knew few of scary. with just 46 the starters when they were This will be errors — 10 introduced and had little to a fun team to le s s t h a n add to conversation with the watch. Successthe second- Sounders fans around me. ful? Maybe. The Still, it’s a great place to be a place YanHawks get Dalcasual fan. Great atmosphere kees wit h las in week two (55,718 at the stadium that one more and Green Bay in game played day, second best in the MLS week three, fol— a nd a this season), decent food, lowing an opener rid icu lous spirited play and a win. at Arizona to kick My wife Patsene and I had .990 fielding off the season. If percentage. seats in the northeast corner, they are 2-1 after R y a n which put us in proximity of that, they should made t wo the Whitecaps’ area. be fine. If not, It also put us right next to great plays look out. a pair of Whitecap fans who — one in the The Seahawks Mariner fans in King’s Court — where they rightfully first I had to had made their way from Vanworship the baseball god that is Felix Hernandez would go on to see on the couver for the affair, and we — go nuts late in his Aug. 15 perfect game. clobber the Bronhighlights traded barbs and stories about cos 30-10 Satdescription. and another in the seventh — Pacific Northwest sports for urday night on the strength But by the eighth inning, it to preserve perfection, while the full 90. of an inspired defense and I tried to buy them a drink was alive.

Eric Thames made a great snag Wilson’s second-half game I had sauntered across the in right field on the game’s so they could drown their management. sorrows after Fredy Montero stadium, picking a new sec- first play. and Eddie Johnson tallied tion every inning or so to Call SafeCo a pitcher’s Felix finds perthe winning scores, but they get a new perspective.

In the park, spacious beyond belief fection declined. late innings, however, I was and a disqualifying factor for Day games at Safeco are Next time, they said, when superstitiously confi dent that great ERAs and poor batting great. The stadium is usually they visit once again for a my moving was helping Felix averages.

But ballpark size half-full — this one saw just means little when it comes Seahawks game.

21,889 fans in the stands, ac- stay perfect.

The Sounders took control With two outs in the sevto handling the baseball. The cording to ESPN, less than 46 of third place in the Western enth, Rays manager Joe Madbases are still 90 feet apart, percent of capacity — so one Conference, in prime position can wander and grab a seat in don got tossed arguing a call. outfielders can lose their attenHe wasn’t the most popular tion as well here as anywhere for a playoff spot. various sections without too And it gave this sports fan guy in town at that moment. and screaming grounders can much hassle from the staff. a bit of frosting on a rather In the eighth, Felix struck take tricky hops on Seattle dirt And in this one, they busy week. weren’t paying much attention our Evan Longoria, Ben Zo- as well as in Baltimore (a major Michel Dashiell is editor of brist and Carlos Pena swingleague-leading 93 errors). to the fans, anyway. the Sequim Gazette. Reach ing.

Pena simply fl icked his bat Give a little credit to the On the mound was Felix, eight guys behind Felix, Jason him at miked@sequimgaSeattle’s ace, who was disarm- in disgust. zette.com.

In the ninth, Tampa pinchVargas and the gang. ingly dominant. Along with