The boys soccer teams of the 4A Greater St. Helens start a six-round of gauntlet of league play beginning Wednesday when Union and Camas renew their rivalry at Doc Harris Stadium.
And that is only the start, Union coach Jason Moore said.
“We only play six (league) games,” Moore said. “And the thing is I think every team in the league has the ability to clip each other. I’ve been keeping an eye on Battle Ground and Skyview, and Camas is what Camas is. They’ve proven that they can go up north and play against good teams.”
But Moore said that Skyview and Battle Ground have talent and play hard.
“So I tell the guys, there are no sleepers,” Moore said. “We’ve got to be ready to go every game. We have a bad night, and that’s the really scary part.”
But if the Titans can survive a tough six-game league schedule, they could be in position to make a postseason run.
Union dropped a tough 1-0 decision on the road to Sumner on Saturday, while Camas played Chiawana to a 0-0 draw in a state quarterfinal rematch from last season.
“I think we’re going to be overlooked (in the 4A GSHL),” Moore said. “I think people look at us and see we lost 11 seniors from last year, and Camas lost a lot a key players. People think ‘oh, you guys are rebuilding.’ But we’ve still got good players down here, and we can play.”
Key events this week
- The 4A GSHL starts league play in baseball this week with three-game series between Battle Ground-Camas and Skyview-Union.
- Battle Ground and Skyview renew their rivalry in softball at Skyview on Thursday.
- The John Ingram Twilight track and field meet bring together many of the top athletes in Clark County on Friday afternoon and evening at Columbia River High School.
- While the rest of the Trico League plays boys soccer matches on Friday — Good Friday — King’s Way Christian and Seton Catholic will meet in a key league match on Saturday morning at Seton Catholic.
Evergreen’s Alanis sets Tiger Invite record
Josiah Alanis’ quest for a second long jump state title is off to a flying start.
The Evergreen senior set a meet record at the Tiger Invite on Saturday, soaring 23 feet, 6 inches. That’s the best mark statewide across all classifications this season by six inches.
That jump is the second best of Alanis’ high school career, behind only his winning mark of 24-1 at last year’s state meet. It broke the Tiger Invite record by 11 inches, a mark set by Prairie’s James Phillips in 2014.
McGee posts personal pole vault mark
Already the state leader in the pole vault, Camas senior Chase McGee set a personal best by clearing 16 feet, 8 inches Saturday at the Arcadia Invitational in Southern California.
That surpassed McGee’s personal best of 16-6 when he won the Class 4A title at last year’s state meet. The senior cleared 16-4 3/4 to win at the Oregon Relays last weekend in Eugene.
The mark is the ninth best by a high school athlete in the nation so far this season.
Will Foster of Prairie also posted a personal best of 190-1 in the discus to place fifth at Arcadia. He placed seventh in the shot put at 59-2.
And Daphne Evenson of Skyview posted a personal best of 2 minutes, 13.23 seconds to place eighth in the girls 800 meters at Arcadia.
