Adding up a long win streak takes some time to research

On a busy night of high school sports, you get so busy taking a mountain of results that get phoned in, emailed in or faxed in, that you can miss a big story.

That’s kind what happened to us last Thursday night.

In volleyball on Thursday, Union swept past Skyview in three sets, 25-19, 25-17, 25-18.

And our first reaction was “Hey, nice win for Union.”

On the surface, it was an early season league match. Both teams entered Thursday 2-0 in 4A GSHL. But generally the third match in a 12-match league schedule is not enormously significant.

It wasn’t until the paper was sent to the press and all the results were posted online that someone on the staff asked the question “So, when was the last time Skyview lost a league match?”

Huh, good question, I thought.

So I did some research, research that took some time.

It turns out the answer is “A loooooong time ago.”

More precisely, it was on Oct. 17, 2006, almost five years ago. On that night, Evergreen beat the Storm in a five-set battle that dropped Skyview to 4-3 in league.

The Storm would go on to win their final three league matches that season to finish out the season. Then they followed that season with four consecutive 4A GSHL championships — all with undefeated league seasons.

So add those last three wins in 2006, 10 in 2007, 10 in 2008, 10 in 2009, 12 last season and the first two this season that makes a streak of 47 consecutive league victories for the Skyview volleyball team.

So that nice win by Union was really nice.

In that win, Megan Lafond had nine kills and 11 digs, Vanessa Muckerheide had six kills and three blocks and Maddy Savage and Brandi Victor each had three aces.

So congratulations to Union on a big league win. And congratulations to Skyview for a long run of excellence that should not be overlooked, even if the end of that run was.

And here are some other news and notes from the past week:

• Another significant league win came in girls soccer in the 3A GSHL, also on Thursday.

Karly Josephson converted an unassisted second-half goal, and Bailey Dolph recorded four saves in goal as the Prairie girls soccer team beat Camas 2-1.

That win by the Falcons snapped an 11-match winning streak by the Papermakers. The last league loss suffered by Camas was a 1-0 loss also to Prairie on Sept. 16, 2010. It was also Camas’ first home league loss since Oct. 13, 2009.

• The Prairie girls cross country team swept to wins over Columbia River and Mountain View. But that was hardly news. What was significant was a name that showed up in the Falcons’ results.

Heather Corral finished 12th in the four-team meet. Corral, a senior, is an all-state basketball player who had her past two basketball season ended early by knee injuries.

About six months after her most recent knee injury, Corral is out running cross country at Prairie and running well.

So Prairie fans will be glad to know that Corral is mending well.

• We reported about the win by Ridgefield’s Brett Johnson in a second-hole playoff over Union’s Alistair Docherty at the Mountain View Invitational golf tournament. Also of note was the play of two freshmen, Hockinson’s Diego De La Torre and Union’s Eddie Abellar, who tied for third with 18-hole scores of 76.

What you might have missed is the play of Sean Keller, the defending 4A state javelin champion in track and field and a 2011 national leader in the event.

In previous falls, Keller was a running back/linebacker on the Heritage football team. But with his collegiate future clearly tied to staying healthy for track and field, Keller opted for golf this fall.

And he’s no hack, either.

Keller shot a solid 81 and placed 19th.

So, we wish continued success to Keller on the golf course. We just hope he doesn’t get frustrated and decide to heave the pin flag. If he does, they may never find it.

The week ahead

• Last week, the Prairie girls cross country team ran in a pack and turned their league opening meet at Vancouver Lake into a training run. They’ll want turn up the intensity when they host Camas on Tuesday at Lewisville Park. Prairie is ranked seventh in the coaches’ 3A rankings. Camas is No. 9.

• Camas, Union, Skyview and Mountain View golf teams will meet Wednesday at Camas Meadows Golf Course for the Titan Cup, a Ryder Cup-styled event in which teams play in match-play and two-player alternate-shot formats.

• The Thunder Invitational Tennis Tournament returns to Mountain View on Friday and Saturday, with a slightly altered look.

Instead of being a tournament featuring mostly local teams, some out-of-area teams join the mix this season. Perennial state contenders like Kentlake, Todd Beamer and Olympia will join local teams Skyview, Prairie, Columbia River, Fort Vancouver and host Mountain View.

• Camas, Heritage, Skyview, Union, and Mountain View will be the local teams competing in the Nike Pre-Nationals cross country meet Saturday at Portland Meadows racetrack. The meet will draws teams from Oregon, Washington, California, British Columbia, Colorado, Idaho, Texas and Louisiana.

High school races begin at 10:15 a.m. and conclude with the Jim Danner Championship races at 2:50 p.m. and 3:10 p.m. Unlike other cross country meets, there is a $5 admission fee for spectators.

Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at (360) 735-4538 or tim.martinez@columbian.com. Like him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tmartinez.Columbian.