Area Sports by Michael Dashiell

The football game gets the big stories, the big advance buildup, the intense scrutiny of the media, several post-game stories, a raft of action pictures and fans discussing the outcome over coffee, soft drinks or adult beverages.

But what about the other sports involving Port Angeles and Sequim? What about cross country? The swimmers, divers, volleyball players, soccer stars, baseball, softball and wrestling athletes all revel in the Clallam County "big school" rivalry, but hardly ever get a mention by the columnists, the radio guys or, even for that matter, the average fan on the street.

Your ancient reporter decided enough is enough and set out to "cover" swimming, volleyball and soccer in one six-hour span to give you a bit of flavor of the Sequim vs. P.A. rivalry in other sports.

I set out from Port Angeles in the little brown Buick loaded with paper, digital recorder and a sub sandwich from Wendy at Drake's (Ninth and Lincoln streets in Port Angeles, folks).

First it was the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center for the Riders and Wolves in the pool, with both teams unbeaten in Olympic League splash action.

Then it was hustle west on Highway 101 to the Rider gym to catch the two teams in action on the volleyball court, then a dash to Civic Field to try and get in the wrap of the soccer match.

It was a tight fit.



Swimming

The Wolves had little chance to extend a win streak as the Riders showed up with 40 swimmers and six divers to 18 for the Wolves. Even when the Wolves won the 50 free and 100 free with soph Rachel Hardy, the Riders had more points in both events.

The Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center was noisy as the girls do a lot of screaming and hollering. Linda Crowley does a nice job of starting (she also is the Rider swim meet starter in P.A.) and the Sequim timing crew was on the job. SARC does not have electronic timing yet.

Port Angeles easily won the meet and you can find the results elsewhere in today's Gazette. Port Angeles has dominated the Sequim girls each year and the Sequim boys hold one win over the Rider boys in their short history.

The rivalry in swimming is not as intense as other sports because many of the Sequim swimmers take part in the Port Angeles Swim Club program and know all the Rider splashers.

"Because we know each other so well, the competition isn't as fierce," Sequim senior Louise Showers said. "It's just fun."

Rider senior Alex Anderson echoed the sentiment.

"We know most of the

Sequim team," she said, "so it's friendly competition."

The meet ended right on time. I got a results sheet, hopped in the Buick and drove through the rain to the Rider gym in time for volleyball warm-up.



Volleyball

I had plenty of time as the junior varsity match and frosh test were over with Sequim taking a 2-1 JV win and the Riders getting a 3-0 frosh victory.

The volleyball warm-ups seem to take forever, folks. They bump and they set and they serve and they smash for what seems like hours before the varsity teams finally hit the court, then they are introduced and get ready for action by slapping hands under the net.

A spirited crowd was on hand for the purple and gold and the Rider fans were anxious for their team to pull off an upset, as

Sequim coach Jenny Webber-Heilman always has a tough team and the Wolves have dominated the Riders as well as the Olympic League in recent years.

Sequim went right to work with their offense. They looked like six rainbows on the court with their colorful tie-dyed

T-shirt uniforms, and it was 25-12 in the opener.

Sequim got off to a 6-0 lead in game two, led by the serving of Maddy Z (she knows who she is) and the Riders came back to tie the game at 15, 17 and 19, but the Wolves prevailed.

Port Angeles only had the lead two times in three games and those leads were 5-3 and 6-4 in game three, but the Wolves erased that with a 10-point run on the way to a win as they out-bumped, out-dug, out-set and out-killed the Riders, 25-15.

Archrivalry? Not in this sport. Both teams were gracious in victory and defeat and there were a lot of hugs going around after the match was over.



Soccer

I hustled to Civic Field as it was after 8 o'clock and got to the field just in time to see the Medic I van help Rider frosh Kathryn Mosley off the field with a dislocated knee.

The Rider team was very subdued, but they came to life as the final whistle blew. They had busted a two-season losing streak with a 3-1 victory on a wet, cold night.

The team cheered and cheered some more, went to the back of the aid unit to send Mosley off in style to Olympic Medical Center and coach Jennifer Petty had a large monkey off her back.

Both teams played hard and it looks like the P.A. program is catching up with the Sequim soccer girls.

So it was a weary reporter who finally returned home about 8:45 p.m., but it was a fun day and being around the kids keeps this old 74-year-old scribe on the young side of 74.



Columns by KONP 1450 AM sports announcer Scooter Chapman appear weekly in the Sequim Gazette. He can be reached via e-mail at scooter@olypen.com.