The Catch 22 women’s dragon boat team from Vancouver has qualified for the 2016 International Dragon Boat Federation Club World Championships.
The team, which trains at Vancouver Lake Aquatic Center, won the 20-paddler division for women 40-and-older during the Pacific Dragon Boat Association Championships on Vancouver Lake. No other boats entered their division, so the local crew qualified by completing one race on Saturday and another on Sunday. Catch 22 raced a total of six times over the two days, including four races that were part of the separate Paddle West Invitational.
Catch 22 captain Dani Ramirez said the team didn’t know until the racing started on Saturday that no other boats entered the women’s over-40 competition. She noted that there were multiple entries in the women’s over-50 age division.
“We’re very, very excited,” said Jeff Campbell, who coaches the local team and was the race director for the regional.
The 2016 world championships will take place March 30 through April 7 in Adelaide, Australia. Ramirez said the team is already making travel plans.
Instead of training once a week during the winter, the team will be on the lake three days a week and have dry land training in preparation for the worlds, Ramirez said.
Held at Vancouver Lake for the first time, the regional event attracted about 60 crews — some from as far as southern California — racing in a variety of divisions.
Campbell, owner of Vancouver-based Double Fifth Dragon Boating, said he received a lot of positive feedback about the races from veteran competitors, including some world champions. Campbell said he would like to host the regionals again. They are next scheduled to be held in 2017 but the site has not been announced he said.
Among the close finishes over the weekend, the tightest was in the division for mixed teams with men and women older than 50. After six races, the difference between two teams from California was a fraction of a second.
Junior baseball regionals in Vancouver
The Junior League Baseball Western Regional will begin on Wednesday at Propstra Stadium in Vancouver. Junior League is the Little League division for players ages 13-14.
There is no local entry in this year’s regional. Beaverton-Aloha is the Oregon champion. Selah is the Washington champion.
Among the 11 state champions coming to Vancouver is a team from Nogales (Ariz.) National Little League that won the Little League Intermediate (age 13) Division World Series last summer.
The tournament, with as many as four games daily, continues through Aug. 12. The champion of this tournament advances to the Junior League World Series Aug. 16-23 at Taylor, Mich.
CCRC’s Leverich Park stop tests runners
Jesse McChesney won the Clark County Running Club’s July 29 race at Leverich Park by a 1-minute cushion. The 27-year-old finished the 5-kilometer course in 15 minutes and 58 seconds.
Jenna Melanson, 16, of La Center, was the first female finisher. Her time was 20:38, good for 10th place overall.
A total of 103 runners completed the race. Results are in the Community Sports Scoreboard.
The series of weekly runs returns to Leverich Park at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Cost to participate is $2.
Paddle board races return to Washougal
The SUP Salmon Classic standup paddle board competition is scheduled for Aug. 30 in Washougal.
Races are scheduled for all ability levels, including a professional-level race on an 8-mile course. The races take place on the Columbia River at Captain William Clark Regional Park at Cottonwood Beach.
Races on the 2-mile course for novice and youth participants begin at 10 a.m., followed at 10:30 a.m. by a race for recreational standup paddleboarders on a 4-mile course. The final event, at 11:30 a.m., is for professional-level competitors over an 8-mile circuit.
Online registration for participants is open through Aug. 28 at www.supsalmoncassic.com. Cost to race is $50, $30 for novice and youth races.
COMMUNITY SPORTS NEWS is published each Tuesday. Submit items by sending email to paul.danzer@columbian.com or call 360-735-4521.