Spring Sports Finish Strong

Spring Sports concluded last week with representatives from Boys Golf, Boys and Girls Tennis, and Boys and Girls Track and Field competing.

Track and Field

It’s been 14 years since Washougal had a individual State Champion in Track and Field, but the fantastic senior duo of Dylan Croeni and Brendan Casey continued to leave their mark of excellence on the season and the record books, as each brought home State Championships in 2011. Dylan got things started on Thursday with a State Best, and new School Record time of 9:23.61 in the 3200M. He followed that up on Friday with a 4^th place finish in the 1600M. Brendan chucked the Javelin 177’ 8”, a new personal best, to place 2^nd on Friday morning. He followed that up in the afternoon with a vault of 14’ 6” to take home the State Championship in the Pole Vault. The points earned by Brendan and Dylan were enough to place 5^th as a team, one point behind Cheney (The WIAA awards trophies to the top 4 teams). Also competing for the boys team were Sean Eustis and Isaac Bischoff.

The girls team had two representatives competing in three events. Returning to the State Meet in the 100 Hurdles and 300 Hurdles was Kelley Young. Kelly made the final in the 100 Hurdles and brought home a 5^th place medal. Kelley broke the school record that she set as a Junior three times this season. It now stands at 15.44, the time that she ran at district to qualify for the State Meet. Also competing for the girls team was Kaitlyn Johnson in the 100M.

Girls & Boys Tennis

Another stellar performance was turned in at the State Tennis Tournament by Bolivian foreign exchange student Niko Lima-Severich. Niko finished in 3^rd in the singles competition after losing a well played and exciting match to the eventual state champ in the semi-finals. The girls doubles team of Shelby DeLong and Allie Reeves played well and made the medal round placing 8^th. Also competing for the boys was the doubles team of Patrick McCarthy and Ian Cagle.

Boys Golf

Two boys advanced to the State Golf Tournament. Connor O’Neill made the cut after the first round and finished in a tie for 14^th place. Beau Scott also represented the Panthers but did not advance to the second round.

Congratulations to all of our state competitors for making it to the “Main Stage” of each of your respective sports. The Panther nation is proud of you and appreciate the fact that you have chosen to represent your school and community through participation in athletics. Good job Panthers!

Spring Sports Update

The most formidable opponent that the Washougal High School sports teams have faced this spring is the weather. There are no “game plans” or “strategies” that our coaches can come up with to defeat Mother Nature. Regardless, the Panther teams found a way to preserver through it all and have shown consistent, and in some cases dramatic, improvement as the skies have given us a bit of a break in these final weeks.

The baseball and softball teams slogged through the early weeks by playing every game on the road. Both teams seemed to be reaching their potential as they got outside to practice late in the season, but both failed to place high enough to extend their season into the District play-offs.

The WHS Boys Soccer team finished the regular season in third place in the Greater Saint Helens League. In the District Tournament the Panthers were defeated by Centralia in the first round, but bounced back to defeat W.F.West High School in a penalty kick shootout here at Fishback Stadium three days later. The Boys Soccer season ended with a defeat at the hands of Aberdeen on the road on May 12th  in the 3rd round.

The Girls Golf team competes in the District Tournament this week. Coach Allen indicates that the players have been showing consistent improvement and is hopeful that we might send a player or two to State, which is coming up on May 24th and 25th.

The Tennis team had a productive season despite several weather related delays and a couple of soggy matches. The doubles team of Alexandra Reeves and Shelby DeLong have advanced to the District tournament on May 20th and 21st. Congratulations and Good Luck!

The boys and girls Track and Field teams have continued to shine brightly through the dark and dreary rain this spring. The Sub-District Meet concluded last Friday with 20 Panther athletes qualifying for the District Meet in Longview on May 20th. Highlights from the Sub-District meet include school record performances by Brendan Casey who went 15’ 3” in the Pole Vault, and Kelley Young  who ran 15.64  in the 100M Hurdles. The State Meet is the next goal for the Panther Track athletes. They must finish in the top three at District to qualify for the meet on May 26th, 27th, and 28th.