PHOTO: The OPRA team of Ryan Halfacre, Airius Ingle, Quince Chanway, Eagle Zuniga at the rowing event in Tacoma with coaches Mason Mai and Sean Halberg looking on.
BY OLY ARCHIBALD
PORT ANGELES — The Olympic Peninsula Rowing Association participated in a competition in Tacoma on Saturday and returned home with a lot of hardware.
In the U15 500m race, OPRA dominated the podium, with first place going to Eagle Zuniga. Quince Chanway placed second, Airius Ingle took third, and Ryan Halfacre finished fourth.
In the U19 5000m race, Zuniga placed third, Ingle fourth, and Halfacre fifth.
In the U15 women’s 2000m race, Peyton Acker finished first with a time of 9:29.
In the men’s Masters E age group, James Lesmak finished second in the 500m and sixth in the 2000m race.
Middle School Basketball
Stevens defeated Chimacum 61-22.
Pepper McCaslin led the Stampeders with 16 points, followed by Madi Wright with 14. Kaleah Quilt added 6 points, Mattie Dunning scored 5, while Kenzie Smith and Skylar Wheeler each had 4. Mila Johnson contributed 2 points. Stevens will travel to Sequim on Wednesday.
Wrestling
Former Sequim Wolf Caleb Crooks, who was a freshman on the Wolves wrestling team during the 2022-23 season, has won a state championship in Arizona.
Caleb wrestles for the college prep high school of Orme in Mayer, Arizona. He went 17-0 in the 285 lb division.
Former Sequim Wolf Caleb Crooks is a Arizona State Wrestling Champion.
High School Basketball
In high school basketball action tonight, the Sequim Wolves will try to defeat the North Kitsap Vikings in Poulsbo for the first time since February 4, 2014, when the Wolves won 55-48.
The Wolves (15-2) need a win over the Vikings (7-11) to have a chance at sharing the Olympic League Championship with Bremerton. Sequim dominated North Kitsap 74-46 in their first meeting.
Tonight’s game will be broadcast live on KONP Newsradio, with the Les Schwab Tires Pre-Game Show starting at 6:45 p.m.
The Port Angeles Roughriders will travel to Bremerton to take on the league-leading Knights.
The top six teams in the Olympic League qualify for the district tournament. The Roughriders currently sit in seventh place, but if they split their last two games and Olympic loses its final two games, the Roughriders would advance to districts due to owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over Olympic.
Additionally, if North Kitsap loses its final two games, the Roughriders could end up tied with the Vikings, possibly leading to a play-in game.
The Roughrider girls will be heavy favorites at home against Bremerton, while the Sequim girls face a tough home test against North Kitsap.
College Basketball
Former Peninsula Pirate Ituau Tuisaula is having a strong senior season for a very good Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks basketball team.
The Ladyjacks, a Division I member of the Southland Conference, are 8-4 in conference play and 18-5 overall.
Former Peninsula Pirate Ituau Tuisaula is having a solid Senior season for a very good Stephen F Austin basketball team.
Tuisaula has played in 19 games, averaging 11 minutes per game while contributing 3 points and 3 rebounds per contest. She is shooting 45% from the field, 33% from three-point range, and 63% from the free-throw line.