By Marty Zier
Sports contributor
The Vikings golf team had a busy week with three matches between April 24–27. Coach Bobby Olmsted started the final push of the regular season against Mt. Vernon Christian.
“Maia and Zoe Lewis-Shunk led the girls and won their match against a tough team, both shooting 54 against the Hurricanes,” he said. “The boys were not so lucky, losing 385-323. Rowan Lister led the boys with a 57 followed closely by Serei O’Toole’s 58. Lief Gustafson shot a tough 62, Ewan Lister a 63 and Carlos Erazo and brother Jose, both first-year players, were impressive with 65 and 67, respectively.”
The next day the Vikings hosted the Friday Harbor team, which Olmsted said is always tough.
“The Orcas ladies won their match 172-184 led by Maia with a 47 and Zoe with a 48,” he said. “Emily Toombs shot a difficult 77. The boys got kicked around, 359-316, which was not the best day for the boys. Rowan Lister and Manuel Rodriguez, however, had their best rounds each shooting a 56. O’Toole had a 57, Ewan Lister a 62 and Joseph Brewer shot a respectable 64.”
The last match of the week was against Grace Academy.
“History was made when the twin sister rivalry took an interesting turn. Zoe beat sister Maia 45-47 to lead the Viking lady’s team. Zoe had a great round and her sister even chipped in and still could not keep her streak alive,” said Olmsted. “The boys played without their top three players but were led by first-year players Manuel Rodriguez and Erazo, both with a 58. Ewan Lister was right behind with a 62.”
The Viking golfers have their last regular season match against Lopez May 2, which will decide who represents the Vikings in the journey to state.
The Lady Vikings softball team dropped both double header games to La Conner but Coach Jason Nichols noticed a significant improvement in his team’s last performance against the Braves.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect after previously losing to La Conner 17-5 but we showed great improvement on defense and pitching. We lost both games, 7-2 and 9-4,” said Nichols. “They were both really hard fought games. Our team showed a lot of heart and never gave up. I’m extremely pleased and proud of how far this team has come over the course of the year.”
Highlights in game one were Bethany Hansen going 2-3 including a single and triple and Ella Nelson and Alyssa Johns both with a couple of hits. Game two Hansen had a double, triple and single and Journey Howden had two hits.
The Lady Vikings had a double header at home against Friday Harbor on May 2.
The Viking baseball team beat Darrington 9-3 on April 25 and but lost a close contest to La Conner 9-8, on April 28. A day later the Vikings then faced a tough Lynden Christian team and lost a doubleheader 14-8 and 22-4. The Vikings faced an undefeated Friday Harbor team this week on May 2. The Vikings are currently 4-7 overall.
The Orcas Island Rowing traveled to the Covered Bridge Regatta at Dexter Lake, Oregon, April 22-23. Covered Bridge presents the Orcas rowers the stiffest competition of the season prior to the USRowing NW Youth Championships in late May. Competitors included some large and very well trained clubs including Vashon Island, Seattle RC, Oregon Unlimited, Olympic Area and Seattle Prep.
Top OIR finishers of the weekend were Joie Zier and Anneke Fleming with a second place finish in the women’s junior 2x and Charlie Holmes with a third place finish in the men’s junior 1x. Henry McMurray and Tim Jensen finished 6th and 7th, respectively, in their men’s junior 1x heats while Fleming and Zier finished 5th and 6th, respectively, in their women’s junior 1x heats.
