Sequim Gazette staff

A crew of Pirates is leaving the peninsula, furthering their athletic careers.

Following several signings following their respective sports seasons, 13 more Peninsula College sophomores recently signed national letters of intent, including three men’s basketball players and 10 women’s soccer players.

That Pirate soccer team that won a sixth-straight division championship, placed third in the Northwest Athletic Conference and was nationally ranked last fall, has signed 10 of its 13 sophomores to play at the next level.

That list includes five who signed June 8  in a ceremony in the Pirate Athletic building: Bianca Andrade of Forest Grove, Ore., is going to Division I Youngstown State in Ohio; Kai Mahuka, of Waianae, Hawaii, will play at Division II Western Oregon; her twin sister Paige Mahuka will play at NAIA Sierra Nevada College; Karen Corral, of Sparks, Nev., will see her next action at NAIA Graceland University in Iowa, and Peninsula goalkeeper, Manaia Siania-Unutoa of Waipahu, Hawaii, also will play for the Yellowjackets at Graceland University.

Signing earlier this spring were Tori Hagen of Reno, Nev., at Division I South Carolina State; Lexi Krieger of Portland, Ore., at Division I Alabama State; Brenda Torres-Hernandez of Carson City, Nev., at Division II Palm Beach Atlantic in Florida; Tasha Inong of Pearl City, Hawaii, at Division II Cal Poly Pomona, and Michele Whan of Reno, Nev., at Division III Whitworth University.

“This group has done everything they’ve been asked and more,” Kanyon Anderson, PC women’s soccer head coach, said. “I’m happy to see them headed off on their next adventure. I feel fortunate to have coached such wonderful people.”

The Pirate men’s basketball team that won the North Division championship and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the NWAC, signed five sophomores to play at the next level thus far, including three who signed last week.

Jeremiah Hobbs of Seattle will see his next basketball action at the University of Puget Sound, an NAIA university in Tacoma.

“Jeremiah had an amazing two years here at Peninsula,” PC men’s basketball coach Mitch Freeman said. “He maintained a 3.6 grade-point average, was active in student government and was an invaluable part of our basketball program. We are sad to lose him, but we are very excited what the future holds for Jeremiah at UPS and beyond.”

Dimitri Amos of North Las Vegas, Nev., is headed for NAIA Mount Union University in Ohio.

“(Dimitri) only played one year, but in that year he had a profound impact on the success of our basketball program,” Freeman said. “He will go down as one of the best rebounders in Peninsula College history. With all the success on the court he was still able to maintain a 3.4 GPA. We are proud of all his accomplishments on and off the court.”

Malik Mayeux of Tacoma is bound for NAIA Ave Maria University in Florida, where PC teammate Deonte Dixon, a Bremerton native, signed earlier this spring.

“Malik is a great teammate and he would do anything for his team and teammates to help them be successful,” Freeman said. “By far one of the best position players with the skill set that helped us win 35-plus games in his two years at PC.”

In addition, Ryley Callaghan of Port Orchard signed in April to play for University of Hawaii-Hilo.