Local basketball teams bring home awards

A basketball team from Clark County won a gold medal at the Special Olympics Washington Winter Games, which were held March 2-4 in the Wenatchee area and involved some 1,500 athletes in six sports.

A total of six teams from Clark County brought back basketball medals, with each team qualifying for the state Winter Games.

The Clark County Bobcats won the gold medal in their division. Playing for the Bobcats were Justin Dalton, Mariah Davis, Dennis Dole, Jr., Cole Gaddis, Lizzy McIntyre, Chad Poissant, Kat Sanders, Jason Sorenson, Fiona Wimber, Bryanna Zychowicz, and Schuyler Zychowicz. The head coach was Brandi Zychowicz. The assistant coach was Andrea Dole.

Silver-medal-winning teams from Clark County were the Cougars and the Pirates. Bronze-medal-winning teams from Clark County were the Falcons, the Terriers, and the Wizards.

For the silver-medal winning Cougars, the players were Sharisse Aichele, Kevynn Bogart, Becky Johnson, Lawrence Joslin, Michael Krecklow, Heidi Moss, Chris Rector, Robert Schmitz, Samantha Spencer, Sean Starr, and Aundrew Virelles. The Cougars’ head coach was Jason Scott, assisted by Christina Lanham.

Players for the second-place Pirates were David Balas, Kevin Brown, Carl Crosiar, Greg Martino, Grant Richard, Mark Samples, Michael Torres and Ana Marie Vonkaenel. The head coach was Gary Haliski.

Playing for the Vancouver Terriers were Jeremy Descloux, Antonio Guijjaro, Moniquea Harvey, Ashley Medlock, Maria Preciado, Cesar Sanchez, Patrick Saturay, and Cassie Tracy. Their head coach was Ron Sparatlen, and assistant was Chris Newell.

The Wizards bronze-medal-winners were Michael Bronson, Michael Cook, Nathan Ellis, Russ Jones, Alberto Rivera, Cory Robak, Luke Smith, Ivan Soltero, and Andrew Stekhuizen. Head coach was Audrey Stekhuizen, and assistant was Bryan Cook.

Also earning bronze medals were the Falcons, coached by Emily Hamilton. Their players’ names were not reported because the team played in a young age group.