Community notebook: Evergreen Storm teams qualify for Jr. Nationals

Two girls teams from the Evergreen Storm Track Team qualified for the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics Cross Country National Championships during regional championship races on Saturday in Seattle.

The Storm’s midget girls (born in 1999-2000) and youth girls (born in 1997-1998) teams each placed third in the Region 13 Championships on Saturday at Lower Woodland Park in Seattle. Also, five Evergreen Storm runners qualified for nationals by finishing among the top 20 at the regional meet. They are Alissa Pudlizke, Cassie McKinney, Marley Lefore, Emily Wilson and Angelina Krawczyk.

The Evergreen Storm, coached this season by Mike McKinney, has not decided if it will send athletes to the national meet, according to the program’s director, Scott Slamp. The nationals will be held on Dec. 10 at Myrtle Beach, S.C.

On Sunday, the Evergreen Storm’s Cassie McKinney won the Future Clash race for girls in grades 6-8 during the Nike Border Clash meet at the Nike headquarters in Beaverton. An eighth-grader at Frontier Middle School, she won that 1.5-mile race with a time of 8:15.

On Saturday at the Junior Olympics regional meet, the Storm was just three points out of second place in the midget girls race. Lefore finished the 3,000-meter midget girls race fifth in 11 minutes, 55.48 seconds. Also competing in the midget girls race for the Storm were Emily Wilson (16th place, 12:12.93), Angelina Krawczyk (19th, 12:18.77), Samantha Rosenkranz (22nd, 12:26.12), and Carlee Reed (31st, 12:44.71), and Alyssa Henry (67th, 15:26.95).

In the Youth Girls Division 4,000-meter race, the Storm was led by a sixth-place effort from Alissa Pudlizke with a time of 15:32.32. Cassie McKinney finished ninth in that race in 15:46.19. Also running the race for the Storm were Savannah Craig (25th, 16:38.51), Maddie Woodson (30th, 16:58.52), Alexa Jones (32nd, 17:02.93), Meghan Finley (34th, 17:05.59), Odaisa Gann (51st, 18:10.54), and Lindsey Lattimer (54th, 18:32.55).

In the regional race for boys born in 2001-2002, Elijah Afenegus placed 26th in 13:24.51. In the race for boys born in 1999-2000, Will McKinney placed 47th in 12:24.45. Both of those races were 3,000-meters.

Team plays for Pop Warner regional title

A local youth football team is one win away from qualifying for the Pop Warner Super Bowl.

The Evergreen Bulldogs will play on Saturday in Redwood City, Calif., for the Pacific Northwest championship in the Junior Pee Wee Division. The team is made up of mostly 10-year-old players from east Vancouver. Beat the Redwood City 49ers, and the Bulldogs will qualify to go to Orlando in early December for the Pop Warner Super Bowl.

The Bulldogs advanced to the regional championship by defeating the Fairfield Falcons 8-0 in the regional semifinals on Nov. 19 in Santa Clara. Quarterback Brandon Victor scored on a 6-yard run in the second quarter and Matthew Gama kicked for the two-point conversion.

The Bulldogs are the Washington state champions for Pop Warner’s Division II. They have won 21 consecutive games in their home state, allowing only 21 points over two seasons. The Junior Pee Wee Division is for players ages 9-10, plus light-weight 11-year-olds.

Players for the Bulldogs are Jaycob Mace, John Earnhardt, Lincoln Victor, Michael Bolds, Riley Buehler, Philip Earnhardt, True Lover, Joey Deary, Benjamin Bisquera, Jordan Cook, Alexander Vallejo, Makai Anderson, Matthew Gama, Parker Wicks, Kobe Anderson, Kanen Eaton, Alexander Gonzales, Jr., and Bryon Bruening.

The Bulldogs head coach is Cameron Cook. The assistant coaches are Brandon Victor, Kapono Victor, Buzz Duell, James Gama, Mason Tabata, and Don Wicks.

Girls win soccer title

The Salmon Creek Soccer Club Copas won the girls under-13 age group at the Oregon Youth Soccer Association League Champions Cup.

The OYSA League Champions Cup was open only to the top two teams in OYSA’s regional fall leagues. The tournament was played Nov. 12-13 in Eugene.

Salmon Creek Copas is a team of girls born in 1998. It won the Portland Metro League this fall.

Players for Copas ‘98 are: Julia Bradford-Latshaw, Megan Bruns, McCall Danis, Amy Fraizer, Taylor Gorretta, MacKenzie Haverlack, Jessica Houghton, Noelle Lane, Samantha Martinez, Megan McDaid-O’Neill, Sierra Nerton, Brienne Pfeifer, Elizabeth Sheldon, Camilla Stratton and Nikki Willson.

The coach was Matt Houghton, assisted by Michael Bruns.

Walk for Water on Thursday

The 3.1-mile Turkey Trot, a walk for water, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Ridgefield Church of the Nazarene. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. at the church at 747 Pioneer St., in Ridgefield. Cost is $20, or $40 per family.

Money raised will be donated to Causlife, a charity dedicated to bringing clean water to developing countries.

For more information about the 5-kilometer Thanksgiving Day walk, contact Karen Nelson at 360-901-0689 or Robin Chilton at 360-772-5918.

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.