State tournament weekend is the busiest two-day period in Washington prep sports.
Here’s a quick look at what, of interest to the casual Lewis County sports fan, is going on over the next few days.
Softball
What: State 2A, 2B Softball Tournaments
Where: Gateway Sports Complex, Yakima (2Bs); Carlon Park, Selah (2As)
Who: Adna, Napavine, Pe Ell-Willapa Valley, Morton-White Pass (2Bs); W.F. West (2As)
When: Games start at 9 a.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday (2Bs); Games start at 10 a.m. both days (2As)
2B Notes: The favorites, again this year, are Adna and Toutle Lake. The Ducks swept Adna in the regular season, but Adna hammered Toutle, 10-1, in the District 4 championship game. The heavy odds are that at least one of those two will wind up in the gold glove game at 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Toutle Lake, Napavine and Morton-White Pass finished 1-2-3 last year, and Toutle Lake, Northwest Christian, Napavine and Morton-White Pass finished 1-2-3-4 in 2013. Only once, since 2002, has a team outside the Central 2B League won the state championship.
2A Notes: W.F. West is among the favorites, though the Bearcats drew 24-1 Port Angeles in the first round. The teams square off at noon Friday, and W.F. West will play against at 2 p.m. with a loss or 4 p.m. with a win, against the winner/loser of the Ellensburg/Anacortes matchup. The Bearcats entered last year’s state tournament undefeated and won twice on Friday before falling to Othello and Anacortes on Saturday. This year, W.F. West heads to Selah with a 19-3 record to make its 12th-straight state appearance.
Track & Field
What: State 2A, 1A, 2B Track & Field Championship
Where: State 2A/3A/4A Championships, Mount Tahoma High School; State 1B/2B/1A Championships, Cheney
Who: There are 14 individual-event entries from W.F. West and Centralia at Mount Tahoma, and 71 from the local 2B and 1A schools competing in Cheney.
When: Events start at 3:30 p.m. Thursday and run through Saturday at Mount Tahoma, and start at 4 p.m. Thursday and run through Saturday in Cheney.
2A Notes: Centralia’s Aaron Pullin, through sheer volume, has the best chance at hardware out of the Twin Cities. Pullin, a senior, will compete in the 110-meter hurdles, the 200 meters, the high jump and the pole vault at state. He has the third-best 110 hurdle time in the state, and the fourth-best pole vault mark (14 feet).
1A Notes: Tenino’s Jonathon Jonesnewman (shot put) is the lone 1A boys entry, while Tenino’s Taylor Tibbetts (javelin) is the lone 1A girls entry.
2B Notes: Adna’s Regyn Gaffney (featured on page 1) should make headlines on the girls side. On the boys side, Napavine’s Chase Van Wyck is the defending state champion in the shot put and will try to defend his title. ... Toledo’s Forrest Wallace and Okanogan’s Mason Guerrette have the best high jump mark in the 2Bs this year at 6-foot-5. … Pe Ell’s Josh Schulz has the third-best high jump in the 2Bs at 6-4, and has the third-best time in the 100. … Mossyrock’s Rylen Hurd has the second-best long jump mark in the state (21-0), behind only Raymond’s Rayce Newman (22-0). … Morton-White Pass’ Zach Elswick has the third-best long jump in the 2Bs and the best triple jump distance at 46 feet, 6.5 inches. Guerrette is right behind him at 46-5. … MWP’s Ian Louderback has the second-best javelin toss in the 2Bs.
Tennis
What: State 2A, 1B/2B/1A Tennis Tournaments
Where: Nordstrom Tennis Center, Seattle (2As); Yakima Tennis Center (1B/2B/1As)
Who: 2As — Centralia’s Jaycee Foster/Hayden Blaser, W.F. West’s Kyla Richards/Isabel VanderStoep (girls doubles); W.F. West’s Daniel Blomdahl (boys singles); 1As — Tenino’s Erin Engebreth/Natalie Hall (girls doubles); Tenino’s Ali-Jo Vens (girls singles)
When: Friday and Saturday
2A Notes: W.F. West’s Daniel Blomdahl is competing after a long layoff, as District 4 plays its 2A boys tennis in the fall. He’ll face Sammamish’s Ethan Romney — who finished second in last year’s state tournament — in the first round. Romney lost last year’s championship to Capital’s Ty Gentry, who transferred to Tumwater over the summer and should be the favorite in this year’s 2A singles tournament. … Centralia's Jaycee Foster and Hayden Blaser will face Pullman's Alexa Yadama and Lizzie George in the first round. Foster and McKailey Fast finished fourth last season, while Yamada and Stephanie Her went 1-2 at state last year. … W.F. West's Kyla Richards and Isabel VanderStoep will play Squalicum's Dorr sisters, Kim and Rachel, in the first round.
1A Notes: Tenino’s Ali-Jo Vens will face Lind-Ritzville/Sprague’s Rosie Melville, a runner-up in her regional tournament, in the first round. Vens is making her second appearance at state. … Tenino’s Erin Engebreth and Natalie Hall will face the Spray sisters, Sydney and Abby, out of Riverside, in the first round. Hall and Engebreth are also making their second straight state appearance.
