Vancouver runners Josh Monda and Eric Dolezal were the winners of the Hot Buttered Run, holiday-themed footraces held on Nov. 27 in Vancouver.
Monda, 29, won the 12-kilometer (7.46 miles) race in 51 minutes and 11 seconds.
Dolezal, 29, won the 5K (3.1 miles) race in 16:54.
The races started and finished at Pearson Air Museum.
The women’s winners were Katie Thede of Salem, Ore., in the 12K run with a time of 53:37, and Donna Foster of Portland in the 5K run with a time of 22:05.
A total of 470 finished the 12K race and 572 finished the 5K run. More than 300 kids participated in accompanying short-distance runs.
The second-year event was staged by Energy Events, which also stages the Vancouver USA Marathon in the summer.
• Eric Dolezal of Vancouver (10K) and Ryan Heal of Portland (5K) were the winners of the Ridgefield Holiday Runs held on Saturday.
A total of 58 runners finished the 10K, and 132 finished the 5K race. See the Community Sports Scoreboard for complete results.
Recreation soccer teams chase state titles
At least seven recreation-level youth soccer teams from Clark County will compete for state championships on Saturday in Tukwila.
The semifinal and final rounds for the Sports Authority Washington Youth Soccer Recreational Cup will be held at the Starfire Sports Complex. It features teams that won regional qualifiers held on Dec. 3-4.
Boys teams that qualified to play in Tukwila include the Westside Cobras under-11 team, the Eisenhower Thunder under-14 team, the Vancouver United Thunder under-16 team, and the Westside Boca Juniors ages 18-19 team.
Three girls teams from Vancouver United advanced to the final weekend: the under-11 Strikers, the under-15 Sun Devils and the under-16 Strikers.
The Recreational Cup is an open tournament for teams that play recreation-level soccer. More than 450 teams of boys and girls participate in age divisions from under-11 through under-18.
Youth soccer teams fall in NWCL finals
Two youth soccer teams from Vancouver lost on Sunday in championship matches for the Northwest Champions League.
A third team lost in Saturday’s semifinals. The matches were played in Redmond.
The Vancouver United Soccer Alliance Timbers Red lost to the Spokane Shadow in the girls under-14 championship match after winning a semifinal match on Saturday.
In the boys under-11 tournament, the VUSA Timbers Red lost in the finals to Crossfire Black, after winning a semifinal match on Saturday.
In the girls under-12 division, FC Salmon Creek lost 3-2 in the semifinals to Tualatin Hills United.
In 2011, Northwest Champions League play consisted of three-game weekends for each team in August and in October. Top teams after those two round-robin weekends qualified for these semifinals.
CYO player honored with memorial award
Aaron Johnson is the winner of the Quinn Driscoll Memorial Citizenship Award for 2011.
This was the third year that the award has been presented to an eighth grader who played Catholic Youth Organization football for St. Joseph’s of Vancouver. Aaron played CYO football for the past six seasons.
The award is in memory of Quinn Driscoll, who died at age 13 in June 2009 due to a heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
The award was presented on Nov. 18 by Quinn’s parents, Scott and Kelly, and his sister Coleen. Previous winners of the award were Nolan Biggs and Alex Sherrell.
Quinn’s family established the Quinn Driscoll Foundation to work locally to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest. Contributions can be sent to the Quinn Driscoll Foundation, P.O. Box 873818, Vancouver, WA 98687.
Middle school wrestling tournament this week
The Greater St. Helens Middle School Wrestling Tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Union High School.
The championship tournament is for wrestlers at Evergreen and Camas school district schools, competition is planned from 1-7 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
COMMUNITY SPORTS NEWS is published each Tuesday. A calendar listing local events and organization is posted at Columbian.com. To submit items for publication or to be listed in the online calendar, call 360-735-4521 or send email to paul.danzer@columbian.com.
