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LONG BEACH, Calif. — Long Beach State track and field standouts Rahni Turner and Claudine Raud-Gumiel have been recognized with two of the Big West Conference’s top postseason honors, the league announced Friday. Turner was named the Big West Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, while Raud-Gumiel earned Big West Field Athlete of the Year accolades.
 
Turner capped a record-breaking season by defending her Big West title in the 100-meter hurdles with a wind-aided personal best of 13.08 seconds. She advanced to the NCAA West First Round and reset the Long Beach State program record with a wind-legal 13.15, finishing 16th in the quarterfinals.
 
Turner also earned All-Big West honors in the 4×100-meter relay, helping her squad place third with a time of 44.90—the third-fastest in school history. She contributed to the 4×400-meter relay team that finished fifth in 3:43.53, the seventh-fastest mark in program history.
 
Turner’s impressive season also included a victory in the 100 hurdles at the Trojan Invitational (13.20), which earned her Big West Track Athlete of the Week honors on March 25—her third such weekly award. She becomes just the second Long Beach State athlete to be named Big West Track Athlete of the Year, joining two-time honoree Ryley Fick (2022, 2023).
 
Raud-Gumiel earned Field Athlete of the Year honors after capturing the Big West heptathlon title with a school-record 5,698 points, earning Co-Field Athlete of the Meet honors in the process. During the heptathlon, she clocked 13.22 in the 100 hurdles—the third-fastest time in school history—and set personal bests in the high jump (5′ 7¾”), shot put (35′ 11½”), 200 meters (24.57), and 800 meters (2:17.57).
 
In addition to the heptathlon, she placed second in the 100 hurdles, fourth in the high jump, and ninth in the long jump at the conference championships.
 
Raud-Gumiel qualified for the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the heptathlon, finishing 21st to earn Honorable Mention All-America honors. She also competed in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA West First Round, placing 25th overall.
 
She is the third LBSU athlete to win Big West Field Athlete of the Year, joining Ami Goldhammer (2004) and Riley Cooks (2016, 2017).
 

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Community Sports

Aiden Hammer of Gig Harbor finished third in the 1,500-meter freestyle race at the U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, on June 3.

Hammer, a four-time state champion for the Tides, dropped 10 seconds off his previous best time to finish the race in 15:05.13. This wasn’t the youth nationals — the 17-year-old Hammer competed against grown men.

“Crazy to think the only people I’m slower than now are the two guys that made the Olympics in the event last year and one of them (Bobby Finke, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event) is the current world record holder,” Hammer said.

Hammer’s showing at nationals put him squarely in the conversation for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, especially as his body continues to mature and his technique refines.

The top two swimmers in the event will represent the U.S. at the Olympics and Finke is a lock as a returning gold medalist. Another top contender is David Johnston, who finished second at nationals.

“I’ve got to just keep putting my head down and working towards bigger things in the future,” Hammer said.

It was not that long ago that Hammer finished so far ahead of Peninsula swimmers in a duel event that he had to patiently wait by the wall for the other competitors to finish. It was apparent that Hammer needed competition that would push him to greater heights.

To that end, Hammer reclassified from the high school class of 2026 to 2025. He graduated this spring and will attend the University of Texas this fall.

In Austin, he will swim for legendary coach Bob Bowman. Bowman is the dean of college coaches and was the personal coach of Michael Phelps.

GH water polo fifth in D-I

The Gig Harbor girls water polo team (12-7) placed fifth at the Division I state tournament in Tacoma in early June following a 7-5 win over the Bellevue Wolverines.

The Tides shook off the loss of several seniors from last year’s team, which finished third in the state, and created their own success while playing team water polo that emphasized sharing the ball on offense and playing physical defense.

Gig Harbor relied on outstanding senior goalie Kiah Sawyer. Sawyer has been a steady influence as a leader and a tremendous goalie in the cage. She is widely considered one of the best goalies in the state and was honorable mention all-state.

The Tides’ offense was led by Jenna Nelson and Zoey Nichols, both honorable mention all-state selections, as well as Eva Dahlin and Delaney Moyer.

Peninsula water polo fourth in D-II

The Peninsula girls water polo team finished fourth in the Division II state tournament under new head coach Hannah Walker, who was voted the Division II coach of the year.

Walker played at Gig Harbor under longtime coach Mike Kelly and was a four year starter at Fresno Pacific University.

Peninsula lost its first-round game by a lopsided score to Rogers, then knocked off Stadium, 13-10, before losing to West Seattle, 13-5.

Reis Every, Jewel Gullum and Kate Henkel were first-team all-league selections for Peninsula.

Peninsula grad Kimball joins defending champs

Former Peninsula fastpitch state champion Alli Kimball is transferring from Western Washington University to the University of Texas at Tyler. The Patriots have won the last two NCAA Division II national championships.

In both of those years, Tyler ended WWU’s season in the Division II World Series — including in the finals in 2024.

Kimball said it was “time for a change … I really wanted to find a place that was a better fit for me as a person and as a player.”

Kimball was instrumental in Western’s run to the championship series as a freshman in 2024, when she had a 24-4 record with a 1.41 earned run average. Her 24 wins were the third-most ever by a Vikings pitcher.

Western went 47-13 in 2025. Kimball compiled a 16-4 record and a 2.10 earned run average that was second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Kimball got a big win with a four-inning performance against Central Oklahoma in the D-II World Series on May 24. She didn’t see action the next day, when UT Tyler eliminated the Vikings.

But Tyler coach Mike Reed knew of Kimball’s talent and lunged for his phone as fast as a Texas rattlesnake when Kimball’s name pop up in the transfer portal.

Kimball had a stellar prep pitching career for the Seahawks, winning a Class 3A state title and a state MVP award.

“I knew right away after visiting Tyler that it was a place I could call home, it was so nice. Southern hospitality is a real thing and I’m beyond excited to try and win the natty,” Kimball said.

EWU hires Maxwell as assistant coach

Former Gig Harbor basketball star Brynna Maxwell accepted a job as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Eastern Washington, an NCAA Division I school that competes in the Big Sky Conference.

Maxwell led the Tides to a state championship in 2017 and was MVP of the Class 3A state tournament. She played two years at Utah and two at Gonzaga, earning all-league honors all four years in college.

Maxwell averaged 14.2 points a game as a senior and shot 42.7 percent from 3-point range to help the Zags to two straight NCAA tournament appearances.

The Chicago Sky selected Maxwell in the second round of the 2024 WNBA draft, but cut her due to a knee injury. She played last season in Vigo, Spain, for the professional team Celta Zorka Recalvi.

Gig Harbor resident to hoop at ISU

Martin Kaupanger, a Gig Harbor resident who led Annie Wright of Tacoma to a Class 1A state championship in March, signed a letter of intent to play college basketball at Indiana State University, Larry Bird’s alma mater.

The 6-foot-5 guard transferred to Wright as a ninth-grader, breaking the hearts of hoop fans who dreamed of him playing for the Tides. Kaupanger cited the strong academic reputation of Annie Wright as the major reason for his transfer. He graduated with a 3.7 GPA.

First-year Indiana State coach Matthew Graves recruited Kaupanger after seeing him play on the Puma circuit at AAU summer events. Now Kaupanger will get to test his skills against the country’s best players. That includes a chance to play a Final Four team from last season — Indiana State plays Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium in a 2025 nonconference game.

EUGENE, ORE. – On Thursday, Madeleine Fey of the Kansas Track & Field Team, won the USATF U20 National Championship in the Women’s Discus.

“Maddie did a great job of staying focused and competing,” Kansas Throws Coach Doug Reynolds said. “It has been a very long season for her, and she is tired, but she never ceases to amaze me with her ability to compete. Today, she competes in the shot, where she will try to finish the season with a feat that has only been accomplished by a select few. I’m excited for this afternoon.” 

Fey, a Freshman at Kansas, won the event Thursday with a throw of 53.22m(174’7″).  In 2023, she also won this event when she was a Junior in high school.

The Texas native represented the USA U20 team at the 2023 Pan-American Games, where she was the bronze medalist in the Women’s Discus. 

While in High School, Fey was a four-time Texas 5A State Champion in the Discus, a three-time Texas 5A State Runner-Up in the Shot Put, and still sits No. 3 all-time girls discus thrower in the state of Texas.

She competes later today in the Women’s Shot Put starting at 5:30 PM CT. Here is the link to live results if fans wish to follow along.

MITCHELL — The Mitchell High School volleyball program will hold its summer camp on July 14-15 at the Mitchell High School gym.

The camp is open to volleyball players from first grade through seniors in high school. The cost is $45 per player in grades 1-7 and $70 per player in grades 8-12, and will feature B.O.M.B.S. volleyball program as special guests

Grades 8-12 will play from 9 a.m. until noon on both days. Players in grades 1-7 will have their camp from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. The camp will be a mix of both fundamentals and competition-based drills.

Registration can be completed at

kernelcamps.com

. For more information, contact coach Deb Thill at Deb.Thill@k12.sd.us.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “Mitchell Republic.” Often, the “Mitchell Republic” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.