Area Sports by Michael Dashiell

Boy athlete of the year:

Kincaid Nichols

The numbers may seem superfluous, but they only begin to describe the kind of year this Sequim High senior had. Nichols pulled off a rare feat in football after being named to the 2A Olympic League All-Team for three positions: wide receiver, defensive back and special teams player. The returner finished with more than 1,400 all-purpose yards and 17 touchdowns and led the Wolves to the state playoffs, where they came within three points of knocking off state powerhouse Tumwater. To top it off, the speedster added a track & field state championship in the 100-meter sprint, becoming the first SHS athlete ever to win a state sprint crown. His 10.80 mark set a school record and would have been a state 2A meet record except it was wind-aided. He also placed third in the long jump and seventh in the 200 at state and helped the boys’ 4x400 relay team qualify for the state meet.



Girl athlete of the year (tie): Anna LaBeaume and Allison Cutting

How did these Sequim High sophomores get so good? They worked for it in the offseason. LaBeaume fulfilled the promise she showed after a strong freshman year by placing fourth in the shot put at the state 2A track & field finals, breaking her own personal best and the SHS standard. She added a sixth-place finish in the 200, also breaking the school record. LaBeaume keeps her form and fitness in check with summer workouts with assistant coach BJ Schade, a former SHS shot put standout. Cutting trains year-round for cross country and track and gives Sequim another burgeoning running star after Stephanie Marcy. Cutting led the Wolves to a class 2A state cross country meet berth and placed 21st overall. She and teammate Kenny Russell earned berths to the National Junior Olympics cross country meet in December, where Cutting finished sixth overall. Cutting capped off an impressive year with two top-three finishes at the 2A state track & field meet, breaking a school mark in the 800-meter race.



All-Gazette boys team:

Kai Antrim (all-time leading goal-scorer in SHS boys’ soccer history with 40; scored 12 in senior season, all-league first team); Ben Grubb (first-team all league baseball, hit .414 in senior season and led team in runs, triples, steals, total bases, on-base percentage and slugging); Jeff Catton (second all-time in SHS boys soccer in assists, scored four goals as a senior and named to all-league second team); Chris Riggs (ran for more than 1,200 yards as Wolves’ football team made state playoffs, was named league defensive MVP); Max Royall (second-team all-league baseball player, led team in batting with a .438 average, 28 hits and 23 RBIs); Kenny Russell (all-state in cross country and track & field, finished eighth at National Junior Olympics); Nic Thacker (leading scorer for boys’ basketball team, all-league in football as quarterback).



All-Gazette Girls team:

Yolanda Chinn (three-sports star, first team all-league center fielder in fastpitch after hitting .406 with three home runs); Brittany Gates (leading scorer in SHS girls’ soccer history, scored 11 goals as senior); Kaitlin McDougal (first team all-league in volleyball, led Wolves in regular season with 185 assists and 38 aces); Carly Swingle (second team all-league pitcher for SHS fastpitch, posted a 1.93 earned-run average and struck out 85 batters in 95 innings), Maddy Zbaraschuk (all-league honorable mention in fastpitch, led the Wolves with a .501 batting average and 15 RBIs, also had 44 kills and team-high eight blocks for volleyball squad); Zoei Zbaraschuk (seventh at class 2A state golf tournament, helped SHS girls cross country team place ninth at state); Mackenzie Marmol (led SHS girls swim team to state 2A meet, placed ninth in 500 free and 10th in 200 free, helped 200 free relay medal with seventh-place finish and 400 free relay take ninth).



Honorable mentions:

Boys — Jay Barton (diving); Keller Batson-Hickok (wrestling, football); Clancy Catelli (football, basketball, baseball); Bryce Gange (golf); Reed Gunstone (tennis); Ethan Hinton (wrestling, track & field); Joe Hutchison (wrestling, football); Mallory Maloney (tennis); Spencer Middleton (baseball); Colby Rude (golf); Jonathan Thom (baseball); Ary Webb (basketball); Jared Williams (football).

Girls — Sunma Agostine (soccer, basketball); Laine Briggs (basketball); Phoebe Haglin (golf); Kyla Hall (tennis); Lea Hopson (fastpitch); Audrey Lichten (cross country, track & field); Blaire Maloney (tennis); Hailey McHugh (volleyball, fastpitch); Sarah Moores (basketball); Samantha Whiteside (track & field).