Community notes: De La Torre, Whitlock win two-state golf tournament titles
Junior event took place at Royal Oaks and Red Tail
By Paul Danzer, Columbian
Soccer, hockey and Community Sports Reporter
Published: October 20, 2014, 5:00pm
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Two high school golfers from Clark County won the Washington-Oregon Border Junior Open tournament on Sunday.
Hockinson High School senior Diego De La Torre won the boys high school division by nine strokes, and Union High junior Reilly Whitlock won the girls title by one stroke. The tournament started with 18 holes on Saturday at Royal Oaks Country Club in Vancouver and concluded with a round on Sunday at Red Tail Golf Course in Beaverton, Ore.
De La Torre shot a 5-under-par 67 on Saturday and a 3-under 69 on Sunday to run away with the boys competition.
Whitlock shot 2-over 74 at Royal Oaks on Saturday to lead by a stroke. After falling behind by three strokes on Sunday, she finished strong to claim the title with a 4-over 76 at Red Tail to finish one stroke ahead of Claire Dittemore from Roseburg, Ore.
The boarder tournament is part of the Northwest Junior Golf Tour.
Local rowers place in Lakewood
Members of Vancouver Lake Crew competed in racing at the American Lake Fall Classic on Oct. 12 in Lakewood, with two boats taking second place in their races around a course of approximately 3 miles.
Niko John placed second among three competitors in the high school boys single race with a time of 22 minutes and 44 seconds. The VLC girls junior varsity eight took second among three boats with a time of 21:35.88. Rowers were Gabi White, Caroline Kealoha, Ella Strebig, Bonnie Davidson, Brynn Landwehr, Sophia Prentice-Watson, Kari Hampson and Grace Newcomb. Blake Conrad was the coxswain.
In the boys varsity double, Tuck Wilcox and Pearce Fowler finished fifth among eight entries (20:38). In the boys JV double, Erik Johnson and Deryk Ahner finished fourth among five entries (22:24).
Goalball team wins Tacoma tournament
The Northwest Storm, a men’s team with players from Clark County, took first place at the South Sound Throw Down Goalball Tournament.
The tournament was played Oct. 11-12 in Tacoma. It featured 12 teams from the region, and was staged by the Vancouver-based Northwest Association for Blind Athletes and by Metro Parks Tacoma Adaptive Recreation.
Goalball is a Paralympic sport played by individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Players for the Storm in this tournament were Nov Gnik, Nathan Purcell and Gabe Markstrom. Their coach was Sonja Steinbach.
The Northwest Storm is part of Northwest Association for Blind Athletes sports teams program.
“Opportunities like these are essential to building confidence, self esteem, and physical fitness,” said Billy Henry, NWABA co-founder and executive director.
Team North defeated East Portland 3-2 on Sunday in the first game of the Winterhawks Varsity Hockey high school hockey season.
Team North includes players from Vancouver. Alex Stoneham (Union High School) and Aiden Young (Heritage High School) scored goals in Sunday’s victory.
Support sought for coaching trip
Hannah Kimsey, who played on championship soccer teams at Columbia River High School and Concordia University in Portland, is raising money to take a December trip to coach soccer clinics for at-risk children in Rwanda.
Kimsey is planning to travel with Play for Hope, a Christian organization that works to reach impoverished children in Rwanda through sports. Kimsey said she learned of the program through a former teammate at Concordia.
Kimsey is working toward a social work degree from Concordia. After starting her college career at Portland State, she played three seasons at Concordia where she was a starter for the 2012 NAIA national champions. Last season she was the NAIA national player of the year.
In 2009, Kimsey helped Columbia River win a state championship and was chosen as The Columbian All-Region player of the year for girls soccer.
A baseball camp for players in grades 1-8 will be held on three Sundays in November at Fort Vancouver High School. The Nov. 9 session will focus on hitting. The Nov. 16 session will focus on fielding and the Nov. 23 session will focus on pitching.
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