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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Columbian Staff

The Little League Softball Western Regional Tournament begins Saturday and runs through Aug. 3 at Fort Vancouver Little League.

The tournament for 11- and 12-year-old girls features the state champions from the western United States, and the host team from Columbia Little League.

The Columbia all-stars earned the regionals berth as the host team by winning the Washington District 4 tournament.

Columbia plays in the first game of the tournament at 3 p.m. Saturday against the Idaho state champions.

The teams are divided into Northwest and Southwest divisions for pool play. The top two teams from each pool play in the semifinals, with those winners battling for the championship.

The regional champion will advance to the Little League Softball World Series at Alpenrose Dairy in southwest Portland.

This is the fifth year in a row that Fort Vancouver Little League has hosted the softball regional tournament.

There is no charge for fans. Fort Vancouver Little League is located on the south side of Mill Plain across from Hudson’s Bay High School.

Vipers win 12 B state

The Vancouver Vipers softball team won the ASA 12-U B state championship on July 13 in Mount Vernon.

The Vipers went undefeated in the 23-team tournament, beating the Walla Walla Extreme 96 10-4, Snohomish Shock 6-0, Camas Slyders 8-0, Lake Breeze of Everett 5-2 and the Centralia Thrashers 3-2.

State champs seek aid

The Clark County based District 4 Big League softball team, which captured the state championship in Vancouver last week, is seeking donations to help pay for the team’s trip to the regional playoffs next month.

The team needs to raise $6000 to travel to Palmdale, Calif., for the regional playoff in early August.

Those looking to contribute may contact Tammy Jordan at tjordan@independentdispatch.com.

Half Marathon is Sunday

The LaCamas Lake Half Marathon will take place Sunday. The 13.1-mile run and walk starts and ends at Camas High School, 26900 SE 15th Street.

Walkers will hit the 13.2-mile course at 7 a.m. The half-marathon runners begin at 8 a.m. There is a 4-mile run and walk that begins at 8:30 a.m. A 1-kilometer race for kids is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

Registration, a course description, and other details are available at www.lacamaslakerunwalk.com.

Some money from the event will be donated to the Clark County Parks Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for parks, trails, and recreation programs  across Clark County. Dave Solobik, owner of Fit Right Northwest running shoe stores and the race organizer, noted that some of the trails used on the half-marathon are the result of parks foundation funds.

Martial arts medals won

Athletes representing Vancouver Taekwondo Academy earned 11 medals at the USA Taekwondo National Championships.

The tournament, held July 1-6 in Detroit, featured competition in a variety of age and belt divisions.

Jacob Burggraff led the medals parade for the Vancouver Taekwondo Academy, earning three gold medals. Competing in the ages 10-11 red belt middleweight division, Jacob won the elite sparring gold medal, the world class sparring gold medal, and the forms gold medal.

Athletes had to qualify for the world class sparring competition, whether at regional tournaments or by winning the elite title at nationals.

The other gold medal winner for Vancouver Taekwondo Academy was Megan Canton, who won a red belt level sparring title for the 41-50 age group. She also took silver in ultra (33 and older) forms.

Other silver medalists were Curtis McClements in the ages 8-9 flyweight red belt division of world class sparring, Benjamin Couch in the 10-11 red belt heavyweight division of elite sparring, and Adam Kinkley in the 12-13 red belt heavyweight elite sparring.

Jared Marshall, 13, earned a bronze medal in forms competition for men 32 and younger.

Bronze medals also were earned by Montana Canton in the 12-13 red belt flyweight division of elite sparring; and by Trevor Haverkamp in the 12-13 blue belt welterweight elite sparring tournament.

Young swimmers win titles

Darya Samiee and Cassidy Brennan from Columbia River Swim Team won individual championships at the Oregon Swimming 10-and-Under Championships, held July 11-13 in Albany.

Darya won the 100-yard breaststroke for 10-year-old girls with a time of 1 minute, 33.57 seconds. Cassidy won the 50 backstroke for 9-year-old girls in 40.37 seconds.

Lifters bring home medals

Three members of the Washington State School for the Blind powerlifting team earned medals at the Sixth International Blind Sports Association Powerlifting Championships in Miami.

Sunny Aparece won bronze medals in three events. She won bronze in the junior women and open women all-around contest, and in the women’s open world bench press championships.

Jacob Hendee won a silver medal in the men’s open powerlifting, and bronze for the bench press contest. Tyler Shepard earned bronze medals for bench press and powerlifting.

The three were part of Team USA and were joined by coaches Judy Koch Smith and Nov Gnik.