Winter has arrived.
OK, it may not be time for sleigh bells and snowmen, but winter is definitely here.
The winter sports season in high school sports kicks off Monday in a couple of different ways.
Monday is the first day of practice for athletes in the winter sports of basketball, wrestling and boys swimming. Gymnasts got the jump on practices last week, as the WIAA requires a minimum of 15 days of practices before the first competition in that sport. The other winter sports only have a 10-practice minimum.
That make Nov. 30 as the first day of competition for winter sports.
Well, it’s the first day for most winter sports. Bowling gets rolling earlier.
Monday marks the first day of competition for girls bowling teams in Southwest Washington.
Bowlers started practices on Nov. 2 as their season ends with the state championship that ends on Feb. 6, two weeks earlier than other winter sports.
Monday, there are five matches scheduled, three more on Tuesday, six more on Wednesday and seven on Friday.
Then the teams take a week off before resuming their schedules on Nov. 30.
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While winter starts Monday, the fall sports season has not reached its conclusion. It’s the only time in the high school calendar there is an overlap of seasons.
Four Clark County teams are still playing football and soccer.
The Camas girls soccer team reached the Class 4A semifinals. The Papermakers will play Issaquah at 8 p.m. Friday at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup. On Saturday, Camas will play Gonzaga Prep or West Valley of Yakima for either the state championship or third place.
In the 2A state semifinals in Shoreline north of Seattle, Ridgefield will face Ellensburg at 6 p.m. Friday at Shoreline Stadium. The Spudders will face Liberty of Issaquah or Squalicum of Bellingham for the state title or third place.
In football, Camas follows a similar path as the Camas soccer team when the Papermakers travel to Sammamish to face Skyline in the quarterfinals of the 4A state tournament. No time has been set, but it likely will be played on Saturday.
Hockinson gets to stay closer to home for the 2A quarterfinals. The Hawks likely will be back at District Stadium in Battle Ground to face Sedro-Woolley, the defending state champion.
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We’ve received most of the fall all-league teams from the 4A, 3A and 2A Greater St. Helens Leagues and the 1A Trico League. We are still missing the all-league teams for 4A GSHL swimming, and the girls soccer team from the Trico League.
The all-league teams we do have are posted on our high school sports blog, or you can find links to them all at 360preps.com.
All of fall all-league teams will appear in the print edition of The Columbian on Thursday, Nov. 26.
And keep your eye on our The Columbian website to a link to our All-Region fan vote for volleyball. The fan ballot, which will help us compile our 2015 All-Region volleyball team, should be posted by Wednesday.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com and follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.
