— Camas-Washougal, WA Post-Record A6 Tuesday, March 20, 2012

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SportS

Papermakers wreak havoc on Evergreen

By Dan Trujillo

Post-Record Staff

Amee Aarhus doesn’t mind the cold weather or the mud. She just loves playing softball.

After hitting a triple over the left fielder’s head, the ju-nior who transferred to Cam-as from Sacramento slid into a puddle at home plate and scored the final run for the

Papermakers in a 10-0 victory over Evergreen Monday at Camas High School.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be that slushy,” Aarhus said. “I just moved from California. On the second day of tryouts, it snowed and it hailed and it rained. I’m adapting to the cold. It’s all part of the game. You have to make adjust-ments.”

The Papermakers pounded 10 hits on a wet and chilly Monday. Senior Mikaela Searight knocked in three runs, including a 2-run double

in the fourth inning. Senior Sarah Nidick gave up just two hits in five innings pitched, and gained four strikeouts.

“Sarah has pitched in rain, snow, sleet, hail and in 110-de-gree heat,” said head coach Ken Nidick. “She’s pitched in it all and knows how to battle through it.”

Camas also beat Ever-green 9-0 Friday, on 13 hits. Harli Hubbard struck out 11 Plainsmen, and only surren-dered two hits and two walks. Searight drove in three runs, and Aarhus went 4-for-4 with

a home run and 2 RBI.“Amee has been a pleasant

surprise. She’s just a good per-son, a good ballplayer and a great teammate,” Nidick said. “All of the girls on varsity have those qualities. You couldn’t ask for anything better.”

The Papermakers (2-0) are scheduled to play Washougal today, Heritage Wednesday, Skyview Friday and Mountain View Monday. All four games start at 4 p.m. Locations will be determined by the weather and each school’s field condi-tions.

Camas rainmakersDan Trujillo/PosT-recorD

Sarah Nidick winds up a pitch for the Papermakers in the rain Monday, at Camas High School. The senior held Evergreen to two hits in five innings.

Camas track and field teams sweep Kelso

The Papermaker girls scored just enough points on the track and in the field to defeat the Hilanders 76-74 Thursday, at Kelso High School.

Alexa Efraimson, Austen Reiter and Camille Parsons snagged the top three places in the 1,600-me-ter run. Efraimson was first with a time of 5 minutes, 15.78 seconds, fol-lowed by Reiter (5:25.46) and Parsons (5:28.72). Alissa Pudlitzke (11:57.32) and Lindsay Wourms (12:06.46) fin-ished first and second in the 3,200. Reiter (2:23.64) and Parsons (2:28.19) earned first and third in the 800.

Amber Corbett clinched first place in the javelin (99-11.5) and the shot put (34-10), and Rachel Martschin-ske won the discus (97-3). Syndey Al-len (33-7.5) and Lauren Neff (31-5.5) notched second and third in the triple jump. Savanna Joyce leaped to second in the long jump (14-8.5).

Kimi Knight grabbed second place in the 100 hurdles (16.39) and the 300 hurdles (49.26). Efraimson earned second in the 400 (59.95), Al-len snagged second in the 200 (28.33) and Paige Jackson placed third in the 100 (13.9). The Camas girls also fin-ished first in the 1,600 relay (4:11.46).

The Camas boys beat Kelso 104-41. Tucker Boyd and Andrew Kal-er exchanged victories in the 800 and 1,600 races. Boyd won the 800 (2:03.56) followed by Kaler (2:05.2). Kaler won the 1,600 (4:32) followed by Boyd (4:35.59).

Andrew Duffy earned first place in the 3,200 (10:06.39). Zack Marshall took first in the 100 (11.03) and the 200 (23.53). Kyle Schrader clinched first in the 400 (54.95).

William Ephraim (16.75) and Ryan Gunther (17.08) finished first and sec-ond in the 100 hurdles, and then Gun-ther (46.78) and Ephraim (47.26) were first and second in the 300 hurdles.

Scott Feather finished first in the discus (139-11) and Triton Pitassi placed first in the shot put (45-11). Josh Ryan and Daniel Ryan reached 5-4 to lead the high jump. Blaine Behrent soared 11 feet to win the pole vault. The Papermaker boys also won the 400 (45.84) and 1,600 (3:42) relay races.

Panther track beats FortThe Washougal boys and girls track

and field teams rose above the Trap-pers Thursday, at Fort Vancouver High School.

Joe Harris finished in first place in the 110 hurdles (15.87 seconds), sec-ond in the discus (124 feet, 4 inches), second in the high jump (5-8) and sec-ond in the triple jump (39-4.5).

Isaac Bischoff clinched first in the shot put (43-3.5) and discus (124-9). Nathan Milojevic notched first in the javelin (133-5) and the pole vault (12-0). Sean Eustis won the 1,600 (4:39.71). Isaac Stinchfield snagged first in the 800 (2:08.28) and second in the 1,600 (4:40.41).

Katie Wright soared to first place in the high jump (4-6) and second in the long jump (15-8). Michelle Greear grabbed first in the shot put (31-3) and second in the discus (85-6).

Mackenzie Kitchen (1:09.32) and Isabella Sampson (1:10.9) snatched first and second in the 400. Karina Miller (2:48.27) and Kayla Lockard (2:49.13) earned first and second in 800. Lockard also won the pole vault (8-0).

VEGA gymnasts grab third at state

The Vancouver Elite Gymnastics Academy Level 8-10 boys finished third place out of 11 teams at the Washington State Boys Champion-ships March 10, in Bainbridge Island.

Nick McAfee, a sophomore from Camas High School, took second in the Level 10 all-around competition with a personal best score of 72.9 points in six events. He earned silver medals on the floor exercise (13.8), rings (13.0) and the high bar (9.3), and bronze medals on the vault (14.0) and the parallel bars (13.4). McAfee also finished fourth on the pommel horse with a score of 12.5.

Noah Delisle of Battle Ground grabbed a silver medal on the pom-mel horse (12.9) and placed sixth all-around (73.3). Trace Jacquot of Hock-inson notched ninth all-around (69.5). Camas freshman Ryan Dietzman finished fourth on the vault (13.4) and 11th all-around (68.6).

Keller Kanekoa, a sixth-grader at Liberty Middle School in Camas, took third place in the Level 8 all-around competition with a combined score of 62.2. He grabbed gold medals on the vault (13.3) and the floor (12.9), and bronze medals on the rings (9.7), par-allel bars (9.2), pommel horse (8.6) and the high bar (8.5).

In BrIef

Panthers win their first four games

By Dan Trujillo

Post-Record Staff

Washougal High School freshman Mauro Gonzalez flicked the soccer ball into the net from more than 35 yards away Monday night, at Fishback Stadium. It was a goal you had to see to be-lieve.

“As soon as I kicked that ball, I knew it was going in. It was like in slow motion watching it go in,” Gonza-lez said. “Coming in as a freshman, you don’t get very many opportunities. It felt great to give my team in-spiration to take more shots and score. It makes me want to come back tomorrow and do it all over again.”

The lawn dart by Gon-zalez in the 23rd minute helped the Panthers defeat

R.A. Long 2-0 in the first league game of the season. Head coach John Tyger said it was one of the most spec-tacular shots he’s ever seen a Washougal player take.

“It was just a rocket across the goal into the far corner of the net. It was one of those goals you only make once in your lifetime,” he said. “For awhile, I didn’t think we could buy a second goal.”

Michael Wright, Elesey Razumovskiy, Thomas Nor-mandeau, Sam O’Hara, Patrick Johnson, Jeremiah Palmer and Riel Lord took shots at the net, but the ball bounced off the goalposts or the body of the opposing goalkeeper. Wright capped off the victory with a goal in the final 29 seconds on a cross by Yorro Bah.

“Everybody crashed hard. We just kept going and didn’t hold anything back,”

Seeing is believing in Washougal

Dan Trujillo/PosT-recorD

Washougal freshman Mauro Gonzalez (15) fired in a goal from more than 35 yards out Monday, at Fishback Stadium. The Panthers beat R.A. Long 2-0.

By Dan Trujillo

Post-Record Staff

Rain and snow mixed with frigid tem-peratures forced people indoors last week-end, but the Washougal High School girls tennis players finally got the opportunity to do what they love.

The Panthers gained valuable court time during the eighth R.A. Long Tennis Invitational Friday and Saturday, at the Mint Valley Racquet at Fitness Club in Longview.

“It was great for the girls to be on the courts and out of the wrestling room,” said head coach Linda Balholm. “They were getting better with every match. It was a great experience for all of them.”

Sophomore Christina Zack took second place in the single’s bracket for Washou-gal. After she beat Hockinson’s Emily Bozart 6-3, 7-5, Zack lost to Dominika Fackovcova of Centralia in the champion-ship match.

“I am extremely proud of Christina,”

Balholm said. “She went into the tour-nament with a pulled back muscle, and played strong and hard all the way through.”

Washougal senior Dani Larson bounced back from a tough loss in the first round. She defeated Megan Pelton of Mark Morris 6-2, 6-1.

“Dani mixed up her shots, started placing them in the right spots and moved her op-ponent all around the court,” Balholm said. “She was figur-ing out how to win. It was a really good match for her.”

The team of Megan Ander-son and Sidney Hickey stepped up from junior varsity to win a match for the Panthers. Sophomore Amelia Quar-termass also rose up from junior varsity, won a set and forced a 10-point tiebreaker before she lost.

“Tennis is such an emotional battle, as well as a physical one,” Balholm said. “For her to be able to feel that pressure

of a tiebreaker and keep playing hard all the way to the end like she did was such a good experience for her.”

The seven-team tourna-ment featured Hockinson, Mark Morris and R.A. Long from the 2A Greater St. Hel-ens League, Centralia and Tumwater from the 2A dis-trict and Castle Rock from the 1A level.

“You learn more from ev-ery match you play,” Balholm said. “The more court time you can get, the better.”

Balholm said teams from Longview and Centralia have indoor facilities nearby where

they can practice before and after school. Washougal doesn’t have that luxury. The closest indoor courts are about 20 miles away, at Club Green Meadows in Vancou-ver.

“The girls have such great attitudes. They’re not complaining one bit,” she said. “We go outside whenever we can.”

Panther tennis excels at Longview tournament

Dani Larson

See WHS soccer, page A7