Julia Sanders won twice and Jose Plascencia once as the Columbia River Swim Team of Vancouver won the team championship at the Oregon Swimming Senior Championships.
The meet was held March 4-7 at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Ore. It involved swimmers 12 and older who had qualifying marks.
Sanders won the girls 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.14 seconds, and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.89. In the 50 free, Peggy Liang of CRST placed second in 24.66.
Plascencia won the boys 500 free with a time of 4:55.81.
Columbia River Swim Team scored 70 more points than its closest competition, finishing with 939. Vancouver Swim Club placed eighth among 27 clubs with swimmers in the championship meet for swimmers age 15-20.
Andrea Young and Liang finished third and fourth in total points scored by girls at the meet.
Both were members of four CRST winning relay teams. In the girls 200 medley relay, they teamed with Anna Panebianco and Darya Samiee. In the 200 free and the 400 medley relays, they teamed with Sanders and Ada Beale. In the 400 free relay, they teamed with Beale and Panebianco.
For the Vancouver Swim Club, Kate Duvall won the girls 500 free with a time of 5:12.09.
Medal for lifter
Mountain View High School senior Dean Beyer earned a bronze medal at the USA Weightlifting Junior Nationals, held Feb. 27-28 in Rochester, Minn.
Competing in the 207-pound weight class, Beyer lifted a meet-best 290.4 pounds in the snatch lift, and a career-best 363 pounds in the clean and jerk.
His total of 653.4 pounds earned him the bronze medal.
The junior nationals bring together top lifters age 20 and younger for one of weightlifting’s showcase events.
Beyer lifts for Team Thunder and Mountain View USA Weightlifting club.
Three win TKD gold
Members of the Vancouver Taekwondo Academy earned nine medals, three of them gold, in sparring at the 2010 U.S. National Open Tournament. The March 6 competition was hosted by US West Coast Taekwondo at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.
The three gold medals came from black belts. Scott Browning won in the 17-30 age group, Jacob Burggraff for ages 13-14, and Benjamin Couch for ages 11-12.
Earning silver medals were Megan Canton in the black belt division for women ages 17-30, and Jacob Minen in the red belt competition for ages 9-10.
Winning bronze medals were Eric King for black belt men 31 and older, Lane Bentley in the black belt competition for boys ages 13-14, Trevor Haverkamp in the red belt division for boys ages 15-16, and Jason Johnson for blue belt boys ages 7-8.
Sharks rugby teams tie and win
The U-19 Vancouver Sharks came back from a 22-5 halftime deficit behind a dominating forward pack to tie the Beaverton Barbarians 29-29 at VECC on Saturday.
Jason Tiatia and Josh Tonga each had two tries and Tevin Wesley finished with one. Shingai Masike kicked two conversions.
Vancouver next faces Eastside of Portland on Saturday at VECC.
The Sharks Old Boys have won two in a row after defeating the Kitsap Renegades 17-0.
Mike Barnes and Adam Schultz each scored a try. Conversions were kicked by Barak Clement and Peter Tuck. Tuck also had a field goal.
Camas Heat places 3rd
The Camas Heat fifth grade boys basketball team placed third at the Oregon State 11-under AAU basketball championship over the weekend at Cottage Grove, Ore.
Camas defeated FAST of West Linn, Ore., 43-35 in the third-place game.
Camas’ only loss of the weekend came to eventual champion Team Concept of Portland, 49-28, in the semifinal. The other wins were 53-26 over Cisco Kids of Portland and 58-32 over Sheldon of Eugene.
Players included Payton Dray, Tanner Fogle, Vinny Gennaro, Alex Glikbarg, Cooper McNatt, Logan Miller, Bryan Nguyen, Keithen Shepard. Coaches are Jeremy Fogle, Vince Miller and Doug Dray.
Equestrian riders set record
Courtney Erickson and Amy McDonald of Ridgefield set a Washington High School Equestrian Teams District 4 record in team sorting with a time of 70.9 seconds during the second meet of the season. The previous record was 84.2 seconds.
The meet was held Feb. 26-28. Results for Ridgefield riders who earned top-10 finishes at the meet are in the Community Sports Scoreboard.
5K aids Doernbecher
A 5-kilometer fun run to benefit Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland will be held on March 27 at Klineline Pond.
The iRun for Doernbecher 5K Fun Run will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the park at 1112 N.E. 117th St. in Vancouver.
Cost is $10, and runners may sign up at the event. Those who want a race T-shirt must register in advance and pay $10.
To register, or to learn more, send an e-mail to irunfordoernbecher@gmail.com.
Pop Warner signups
This week’s sign ups for Pop Warner football and cheerleading:
• Evergreen — 7-9 p.m. March 23 at Godfather’s Pizza on N.E. 162nd Avenue.
• North County — 6-8 p.m. March 24 at Battle Ground High School.
• Vancouver — 6-8 p.m. Wednesday at McLoughlin Middle School.
Associations are offering early sign up discounts. Check www.swwapopwarner.org for info on the latest locations and updates.
Athletes raise funds
The Northwest Association for Blind Athletes raised more than $5,000 to support its sports program during a dinner and auction held on March 5 at the Firstenburg Community Center, according to NWABA founder and president Billy Henry.
The NWABA provides sports opportunities for blind and visually impaired people. Among the sports offered are powerlifting, goalball, judo, swimming, track and field, tandem cycling, skiing, and wrestling.
To learn more, visit www.nwaba.org.
Softball leagues form
Adult slowpitch softball leagues are forming for men’s teams and coed teams to play this summer at the Prairie Fields. Games are played Monday through Friday for 12 weeks. Teams play doubleheaders.
Play will begin during the week of May 3. A $450 fee is due in advance for teams to reserve a spot in the league. For details or to register, call 360-606-0411.
COMMUNITY SPORTS news items should be submitted by sending e-mail to paul.danzer@columbian.com or by calling 360-735-4521.
