Four county teams earn gold at Special Olympics regional event

Fourteen teams from Clark County participated in the Special Olympics of Washington Southwest Region Basketball Tournament on Feb. 13 in Bremerton.

Clark County teams who earned gold medals were the Blue Sonics, Bobcats, Pirates and Wizards. The Terriers earned silver medals. Six teams from Clark County advanced to compete at the state tournament, held over the weekend in Wenatchee.

In addition to basketball, the state event included skiing and snowboarding competition. Several members of the Vancouver Sno-Phantoms team earned state championships on the slopes. State results will be published in a later Community Sports report in The Columbian.

Here, in alphabetical order by team name, is the rundown for each Clark County team at the regional basketball tournament:

Bear Cats, Skills Level 1, fourth place — David Cralley, Dusty Lang, Cassie Nugent, Andy Poukkula, Mark Samples. Coach: Mary Huck.

Blue Sonics, Master 6, first place — Rachel Atkins, Danny Bargary, Jason Baumgartner, Jonathan Boyles, Karen Carrico, Tim Cook, Joseph Dawson, Matt Folkerts, Luke Grenz, John Veals. Coach: Elizabeth Francis. Assistant coach: Aaron Smith.

Bobcats, Junior 1, first place — Johnathan Chidester, Thomas Chidwick, Mariah Davis, Dennis Dole, Jr., Kat Sanders, Jason Sorenson, Fiona Wimber, Bryanna Zychowicz, Corbyn Zychowicz, Schuyler Zychowicz. Coach: Brandi Zychowicz. Assistant coach: Jon Wimber.

Bulldogs, Master 4, third place — Adam Barr, Jason Downey, Peter Li, David Meliza, Robert Schmitz, Scott Shivvers, Eric Stage, Michael Vanoni, Ally Warner, Ally. Coach: Rick Cook. Assistant: Andrea Dole.

Flying Eagles, Master 5, seventh place — Alex Ables, Jeremy Huck, Becky Johnson, Heidi Moss, Chris Rector, Samantha Spencer, Sean Starr, Raquel Paul, Aundrew Virelles. Coach: Dennis Huck.

Pirates, Skills Level 2, first place — David Balas, Kevin Brown, Carl Crosiar, Richard Grant, Greg Martino, Larry Monroe. Coach: Gary Haliski.

Pit Bulls, Master 7, second place — Diana Bartusek, James Byers, Jon Doumit, Cody Hellerud, Paul Kotz, Thomas Kukkola, Marissa McCollum, Jeff Smith. Coach: Jason Scott. Assistant: Hayden Scott.

Rebels, Skills Team, Level 1 — Jenna Anderson, Krista Downey, Kendra Eaton, Traci Hansen, Lea Mulligan, Hannah Wampach. Coach: Sylvia Downey.

Rollin Cats, first place — Tina Colantuono, Jeremy Haliski, Susan Kunkel, Charles Rymer, Lori Steed. Coach: Teresa Haliski. Assistant: Debi Richard.

Terriers, Senior 2, second place — Ashleigh Cook, Jeremy Descloux, Anna Fish, Antonio Guijarro, Ashley Medlock, Jesua Palominos, Cesar Sanchez, Patrick Saturay, Tanner Stinson, Maria Preciado. Coach: Jayne King. Assistants: Jo Anne Coehlo, Chris Newell.

Terriers, Individual Skills, first place — Roxanne Maki.

Tigers, Individuals Skills, fourth place — Mallory Hamilton, Ana Marie VonKaenel. Coach: Melissa Hamilton. Assistant: Thor Magneson.

Trail Blazers, Master 6, Fourth place — Jacob Blunt, Jerrod Crowson, Craig Francis, Kelly Jeans, Matt Jenkins, Alyssa Kwak, Lauren Miliam, Michael Suire, Alex Trimble, Jackie Winters. Coach: Jason Gallagher. Assistant: Billi Jo Smith.

Wildcats, Senior 3, second place — Matt Baker, Aaron Bostain, Jordan Brown, Chad Cline, Jeffrey Isenssee, Nathanial Little, Doug McPherson, Kyle Reinhart, Everett Smith. Coach: Ralph Heiser.

Wizards, Master 1, first place — Michael Bronson, Michael Cook, Nathan Ellis, Russ Jones, Alberto Rivera, Cory Robak, Luke Smith, Ivan Soltero, Andrew Stekhuizen. Coach: Audrey Stekhuizen.

Special Olympics spring meeting

The Clark County Special Olympics spring sports meeting will be held at noon on Saturday at Pied Piper Pizza, 12300 NE Fourth Plain Rd. Current, returning and new athletes are encouraged to attend.

Spring sports include swimming, track and field, cycling, power lifting and soccer. There is no fee to participate. Anyone who cannot attend this meeting who is interested in learning more about Special Olympics should contact Clark County sports coordinator, Rick Cook, by e-mail at CCSOWA@live.com.