Alexis Fuller’s four gold medals highlighted a successful weekend for the Evergreen Storm Track Club at the Junior Olympics regional track and field championships in Spokane.
Competing among girls born in 1997 and 1998 at the USA Track and Field Region 13 Championships, Fuller won four individual gold medals and helped a Storm relay team to victory. The Vancouver-based club earned 10 gold medals and qualified for the national championships in 34 events during the weekend-long competition at Mead High School.
Region 13 includes athletes from Washington, Oregon and Alaska, and northern Idaho.
Fuller, who had already qualified for the Junior Olympics national meet, won the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 24.35 seconds. She won the 1,500 meters in 4:55.16 and the 3,000 in 4:55.16. In the 4×800 relay, Fuller, Cassie McKinney, Ashley Sundin, and Alexa Jones won in 10:15.26.
Sean Keller gave the three-year-old Evergreen Storm its first Pacific Northwest Association Track and Field record, winning the javelin in the young men division (born in 1993 and 1994) with a mark of 213 feet, 3 inches.
Jon Lawson won the discus (181-4) and hammer (193-2) throws in the young men’s division. He was second in the shot put.
Kaitlyn McKinney won the young women’s 1,500 meters in 5:05.44.
Guadalupe Mendoza won the discus for intermediate girls (born in 1995-96) with a mark of 102-2.
Ethan Tonder won the youth boys discus (145-0). He was second in the javelin (140-5), an event he began training for just this summer, and third in the shot put (38-5).
Among other highlights for the Storm, Cassie McKinney won silver medals in the 1,500 and 3,000 meters. She finished third in those races, but because Fuller was already a national qualifier her times were considered exhibition races and McKinney was officially second in those events.
In the youth girls 800, three Storm runners qualified for nationals. In addition to Fuller, Ashley Sundin (second place) and Alexa Jones (fifth) also qualified for nationals.
Evergreen Storm organizer Scott Slamp said Fuller plans to attend nationals, and might be joined with up to seven of her teammates. The national championships will be held July 26-31 in Wichita, Kan.
For a list of results for local athletes from the regional meet, see the Community Sports Scoreboard.
The Woodland-based Flanagan Clan Girls Track Club had athletes qualify for nationals in five events. Top finishers were Samantha Willson and McKenzie Arnold, who posted second-place finishes. Samantha Willson was second in the 2,000-meter steeplechace for intermediate girls. Arnold placed second in the youth girls discus with a distance of 75-5.
Competing independently, Kaitlyn Johnson placed fifth in the intermediate girls triple jump.
Raptors win ASA title
The La Center Raptors won the Washington state ASA 12-and-under girls fastpitch championship. The Raptors defeated the Washington Mustangs 2-0 in a nine-inning championship game.
The La Center team was 6-0 in the state tournament and allowed only four funs. Abby England and Madison Cathcart each pitched three games, giving up two runs apiece.
Local rowers win in B.C.
Two boats from Vancouver Lake Crew rowed to wins at a regatta in Victoria, B.C. over the weekend. The Challenge West/BC Championship held at Elk Lake included teams from Washington and British Columbia.
For VLC, Brent Eastes and Dustin Crossman took first in the men’s open double B final with a time of 7 minutes, 30 seconds. In the men’s open pair E final, Rob Klein and Clayton Ward took first in 7:46.
In the men’s men’s quad championship heat, Rob Klein, Clayton Ward, Brent Eastes and Dustin Crossman finished sixth in 7:01.
Three VLC men made finals but were unable to row because they had to leave to catch the last ferry. Eastes made the finals in the open lightweight single, and Crossman and Clayton Ward made the men’s open singles finals.
Disc golf draws 104
Michael Medlock of Portland, who played his first disc golf tournament one year ago in Vancouver, threw a 2-under-par in the final round on Sunday to win the the Bad Monkey Open at Leverich Park in Vancouver.
The two-day tournament drew 104 competitors from Washington and Oregon spread among eight divisions. It was a Professional Disc Golf Association sanctioned B-Tier tournament. The PDGA sanctions four tiers of competition, with A being the highest.
There were four aces during the event, which included three 13-hole rounds. A crowd estimated at 75 watched the top four advanced men compete in the final nine-hole playoff on Sunday.
The Bad Monkey Open disc golf event is tentatively scheduled to return to Vancouver in July of 2012.
Dickau hoops camps set
The Dan Dickau Basketball Academy will hold the first of two summer camps next week at Battle Ground High School. The four-day camp includes three hours daily sessions for grades 3-5 and and 6-9, as well as a shorter morning session for those entering grades K-2.
The academy will also hold an August camp. To register or to learn more, call 360-904-6088, or visit www.dickauacademy.com.
See the Community Sports Calendar at Columbian.com for a list of sports camps in the area this summer.
COMMUNITY SPORTS NOTEBOOK items may be submitted by e-mail to paul.danzer@columbian.com, or by calling 360-735-4521.
