In the Community: Ex-Ridgefield, Portland soccer star Ries signs with Swedish pro club

Vancouver Triathlete Josh Monda rises in national ranks

By Micah Rice, Columbian Sports Editor

Published: January 24, 2022, 6:46pm

Taryn Ries, University of Portland soccer

After a standout soccer career at University of Portland, Ridgefield’s Taryn Ries is taking her talent overseas.

Ries has signed a contract with IK Uppsalla, a club in the second tier of Swedish women’s professional soccer.

A forward, Ries scored 34 goals for Portland and was the team’s scoring leader in 2018 and 2019. She earned first-team all-conference honors each year from 2018-20.

At Ridgefield, Ries scored 96 goals and led the Spudders to a second-place finish in the 2015 Class 2A state tournament. She was first-team all-state all four years at Ridgefield and the 2A state player of the year in 2015 and 2016.

Monda earns Ironman all-world status

Vancouver’s Joshua Monda continues to climb the nation’s triathlon ranks.

Monda has achieved 2022 Ironman Gold All-World Athlete status for his performance in 2021. That means the 39-year-old is among the top 1% of athletes in the Male 35-39 age group worldwide.

Monda’s 2021 results placed him 10th nationally in the United States Triathlon Association rankings for his age group. He’s ranked second in the Northwest and first in Washington.

In June, Monda braved temperatures of 100 degrees to place 68th overall at the Ironman Coeur d’Alene in Idaho.

That qualified Monda for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. The 2021 race, originally scheduled for Oct. 9, has been moved to St. George, Utah and rescheduled for May.