SKAM students rock at national competition

South Kitsap High School athletic medicine students Erin Carpenter, Erin Hegland and Catie Fairgrieve placed in the top 25 in the nation in the Health Occupations Students of America national competition held in Anaheim, Calif., on June 21-25.

Carpenter took second place overall while Hegland placed in the top 10 with Fairgrieve finishing in the top 25. All three graduated from South last month after spending three years in the school’s athletic medicine department.

Patrick Olsen, who heads the SKAM program said, there were 49 states represented at the competition and South was the only school to place all three students in the top 25 and have two students in the top 10.

The competition consisted of a written test and three oral tests.

“This is a fantastic finish,” Olsen said. “These young women represented South Kitsap High very well.”

Carpenter and Hegland were also awarded the Angela Champney’s Student Athletic Trainer of the year award for South Kitsap Athletic Medicine. Each of these young women won two thousand dollar scholarships to continue their education.

This award is for the student athletic trainer of the year that best represents the values, work ethic, spirit and accomplishment of student athletic trainers at South Kitsap High School. It is named after Angela Champneys who was a student athletic trainer at South who died in a car crash while travelling to practice.

The money is raised by private donations and students working in the espresso stand at the high school.

• Kitsap blasts Moses Lake: The Kitsap BlueJackets had a lot to celebrate Tuesday night.

In addition to celebrating the Fourth of July, the BlueJackets also celebrated a 2-1 win over the Moses Lake Pirates in the series’ rubber match.

The Jackets topped Moses Lake 3-2 on Monday. The series win gives Kitsap its first since taking two of three from Bellingham on June 16.

“The baseball gods finally paid us back a little bit,” said BlueJackets coach Scott Colby, taking the reins while Matt Acker recovers from illness, said.

Currently, the BlueJackets (10-13, 7-11) are tied with Bellingham for sixth place.

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