Nikki Bond, a two-time All-Region girls basketball player who has endured some serious injuries in her career, will be continuing with basketball in college after her senior year at Battle Ground.
Bond is set to play at Corban University in Salem.
Bond was voted to the first team for the Class 4A Greater St. Helens League last season, helping the Tigers to their best finish in years.
Corban is an NAIA program in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The team finished in a tie for first place in the conference last season, completing a 19-11 overall record.
3A all-league MVPs
League champion Camas swept the top honors as the Class 3A Greater St. Helens Helens all-league football team was released.
Senior running back Zack Marshall was the league’s offensive player of the year, and defensive back John Norcross was the defensive player of the year. Both played key roles in the Papermakers’ league-title run.
Camas also took top honors in volleyball, where Brindl Langley was selected the all-league player of the year.
Hudson’s Bay junior Alexa Whitney was the 3A GSHL offensive player of the year in girls soccer. Camas junior Jamie Carter was the defensive player of the year.
Camas also swept top honors in cross country, as junior Andrew Kaler was the boys runner of the year and freshman Alexa Efraimson was the girls runner of the year.
Mountain View senior Trevor Jones was the boys tennis player of the year, while Columbia River doubles team of Ian Jones and Zac Jones were the team of the year. Columbia River’s Brandon Barnes was the boys golf player of the year, and River’s Monica Bottelberghe was the girls swimmer of the year.
A complete list of 3A GSHL fall all-league teams are available on B5 of Wednesday’s edition of The Columbian or online on The Columbian’s prep sports blog at www.360preps.com.
Locals in Borderclash
Camas freshman Alexa Efraimson placed fourth overall to help Team Washington beat Team Oregon in the girls race of the Nike Borderclash on Sunday in Beaverton, Ore.
Efraimson ran the 5,000-meter course in 16:16, finishing behind Katie Knight of North Spokane (15:44), Amy-Eloise Neale of Glacier Peak (15:58) and Jordan McPhee of Mount Rainier (16:10) as Washington runs claimed the first five places and seven of the top eight.
The Washington girls won 15-48, while the Washington boys won 15-50.
Union freshman Alexis Fuller was 13th in 16:37, and Prairie sophomore Nicole Goecker was 59th in 17:46. Skyview junior Colby Gilbert placed 52nd in the boys race in 14:56.
Football webcast
Fans who can’t get to the Tacoma Dome for the Class 3A and 4A state football semifinals can follow the action on audio/video webcasts provided by the WIAA.
Fans can go to www.wiaanetwork.com to find webcasts of Friday’s Camas-O’Dea 3A semifinal and Saturday’s Skyview-Lake Stevens 4A semifinal. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.
Bracket criteria
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has approved its draw criteria for the 2012 state basketball tournaments. The two teams that qualify from each regional site will be drawn into opposite halves of the bracket.
According to a press release from the WIAA, that means that if two teams from the same district advance to the elite eight from the same regional site, they would not play each other in the first round at state.
However, if three teams from the same athletic district make it to the elite eight, there is a possibility that those teams could face each other in the first round. To see the entire press release, which includes draw dates and other criteria, go to wiaa.com.
Local ties for PC
Several Clark County athletes, and a head coach with Vancouver ties, helped Portland Christian football to the Oregon state playoffs.
Juniors Anthony White, a linebacker, Austin Wisenbaker, a defensive lineman, and Ty Zimmerman, a wide receiver, all made first-team for the Northwest League for the Class 2A program. (2A in Oregon is considered close to Class 2B for Washington). Curtis Farmer, a running back, had 754 yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns.
Cal Szueber, former head coach for Fort Vancouver, took over the program this season. The Royals improved from 3-7 in 2010 to 5-5 this season, with four seniors on the roster.
