The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association moved the state tennis championships out of Clark County this year, after a several-year run at the Vancouver Tennis Center.
Next year, the WIAA will bring the state golf championships to Clark County and Southwest Washington.
In the meantime, all Clark County athletes competing in state championships this week will have to hit the road.
The 2011-12 high school sports season ends this week with state champions being crowned in nine varsity sports.
It all starts Tuesday with the state golf championships. The 4A and 3A tournaments are in the Spokane area, with the 2A, 1A and B championships at courses between Tacoma and Olympia.
Several Clark County golfers head to state with a title in their sights, including Union’s Alistair Docherty, Ridgefield’s Brett Johnson and Columbia River’s Chloe Bartek.
The top-seeded golfers in the state tournament field got the early tee times at state. Docherty, a senior who will play golf at Chico State in the fall, tees off with the first group at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Class 4A boys tournament at Hangman Valley Golf Course in Spokane.
Docherty got ready for state with a practice round at Camas Meadows last week with teammate Eddie Abellar and former Prairie golfer Tanner Maahs. On the second hole, Docherty recorded a hole in one on the 213-yard par-3 with a 3-iron and finished with a round of 65.
Yeah, I’d say he’s ready for state.
You’d also expect Johnson to be ready. He’s the defending Class 1A state champion. The senior will tee off 7:30 a.m. at The Home Course in Dupont.
At the district tournament two weeks ago, Bartek could have spotted her closest rival a stroke on every hole in the second round and still would have won by five strokes.
The competition will be much tighter at the 3A state tournament where Bartek will tee off at 7:38 a.m. at Esmeralda Golf Course in Spokane.
And there are other golfers to keep an eye on at state, including Hockinson’s Nick Huff and Diego De La Torre at the 2A boys event at The Classic Golf Club in Spanaway; Woodland’s Sesca Jouwsma at the 2A girls tourney at Lake Spanaway Golf Course in Spanaway; and King’s Way Christian’s Tiffany Hansen at the 1B girls event at Oakbrook Golf and Country Club in Lakewood.
Softball/Soccer
Five Clark County teams will hit the road to Lacey, Puyallup and Sumner on Friday.
Camas and Mountain View will play in the Class 3A state softball tournament at the Regional Athletic Complex in Lacey. Camas will open against Bainbridge at noon, while Mountain View faces Juanita of Kirkland, also at noon.
Not only are Camas and Mountain View in the same half of the bracket, they’re in the same quadrant. That means if both teams win (or lose), they will face each other in the second round of games on Friday.
In boys soccer, Skyview will face Central Valley of Spokane Valley at 5 p.m. in a 4A state semifinal at Sparks Stadium in Puyallup.
In the 3A semifinal at Sparks, Mountain View will meet Bainbridge at 1 p.m. Bainbridge was ranked No. 2 in the state before losing to Lakeside of Seattle in the district tournament. Mountain View beat Lakeside in the first round of state.
In the 1A state semifinal at Sunset Chev Stadium in Sumner, Ridgefield will face Overlake of Redmond at 2 p.m. Overlake routed Seton Catholic 9-0 in the first round of state. The last time the Spudders met Seton in 1A Trico League action, the Spudders won 2-1 on penalty kicks. So take that for what it’s worth.
Other events
And there are other state championships this week:
The 4A/3A/2A state track and field meets at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma on Thursday-Saturday.
The 1A/2B/1B state track and field meets at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.
The 4A state tennis championships at sites in Kennewick on Friday and Saturday. The 3A state tennis championship at sites in Richland.
The 2A state tennis championship at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
The 1A/2B/1B state tennis championships at the Yakima Tennis Club.
Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360- 735-4538 or by e-mail at tim.martinez@columbian.com
