Elizabeth Uelmen-Johnston hired as girls basketball coach at Washougal High School

Washougal High School has hired Elizabeth Uelmen-Johnston as its new varsity head coach of the girls basketball team, athletic director Brian Wilde announced.

Uelmen-Johnston, 35, is a 2008 graduate of Camas High School, where she competed in basketball, cross country and track and field.

She has five years coaching experience as the junior varsity and assistant varsity coach at Burlington-Edison, helping the Tigers reach the state playoffs four times. She has also worked in the Washington Officials Association as an basketball official at the high school level.

“We are excited to bring this former local athlete into the Washougal athletic community,” Wilde said in a statement. “This will be her first stint as a head coach, but by no means is Elizabeth inexperienced. … Throughout the interview process, and since, excitement, energy and confidence has exuded from her. I think our student-athletes are going to quickly feed off of that excitement.”

Uelmen-Johnston currently teaches science at View Ridge Middle School in Ridgefield. She replaces Tim Melcher, who served as Washougal’s coach the past two seasons.

“I have been involved in basketball most of my life, either playing, officiating, or coaching,” Uelmen-Johnston said. “I am excited to be back to the game as a Panther! I look forward to sharing my passion for this sport and building on the strong basketball community in my new hometown of Washougal.”