Steele Johnson: US Diving Champ Endures Blizzard

Many of our viewers have inquired about Junior Nationals diving champion Steele Johnson, who we covered while he competed at the 2012 US Diving Olympic Trials at Federal Way, WA. The article and video series was titled “Nerves of Steele.”
Well, here he is.
He decided that since his family is snowed in at their Carmel, Indiana home during this week’s blizzard he’d get some practice time in –- at below freezing temperatures.
Well, kind of.
He was just having fun, but he’s had quite a journey since the Olympic Trials.
After successful performances at the Winter Nationals in Texas, Johnson became the US Diving 10m National Champion and qualifies for World competition this summer in China.
He received his best score ever (513.25 in finals/1469.70 cumulative).
He and diving partner, David Dinsmore, also won the 10m Syncro at Winter Nationals.
Johnson will attend Purdue University in the fall, and has his eyes set on the 2016 Olympic Trials – and Rio.
Steele Johnson
 
 
 
Steele Johnson
Left to right: David Dinsmore and Steele Johnson won the10m Synchro event at Winter Nationals.                                              Photo provided by A Page For Diving.

 

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Camas Boys Swim Team Wins First Meet of Season

Camas, WA — The Camas High School Boys Swim Team got off to a rocking start against Kelso Wednesday night to kick off the 2013-14 season, winning the meet with 782 points. Kelso earned 312. Hockinson, which started its own program this year, also competed at the meet.

Camas Junior John Utas had an excellent night in the 50m Free event, earning a time of 25.37, which is a Washington State qualifying time. This means Utas is eligible to compete at the State meet, held in February in Federal Way, WA.

“It’s great to see this happen so early in the season,” said the team’s head coach, Mike Bemis. “I’m proud of John and the team for what they did tonight.”

The 200m Medley Relay team also earned a Washington State qualifying time of 1:53.27. The four-man team consisted of juniors Kasey Calwell, Lucas Ulmer, John Utas, and his younger brother, Tom Utas, a freshman.

Calwell is really pumped up about the new season.

“I’ve been excited about this since just after the High School State championships,” Calwell said. “It’s incredible how strong our freshman class is. We just keep getting stronger. The newcomers are working hard, and they’re competing to get on the A relay team. There’s a fourth spot open, and they’re real competitors.”

 

Lucas Ulmer

 

Some standout freshmen include Jeff Fadlovich, Colin Khuta, Luke Albert, and Tom Utas.  There are 34 members on this year’s team.

Fadlovich has been a season club swimmer for Lacamas Swim and Sport Club, and says “our team has really bonded, and we’ve been working really hard.” Tom Utas has been swimming for six years, and Luke Albert has been swimming competitively for four years.”

Team co-captains this year are Joey Wunderlich and Xiaguang Yan. They were voted on as co-captains at the end of last season by their teammates.

“It’s going to be a good group,” added Bemis. “We have a really good strong second relay team, so we should be strong in both relays. The strong freshmen will help us on our road to State this year.”

The team has adjusted to their new daily routine of practicing from 5 am to 6:45 am. The team had to be flexible due to changes at the Lacamas Swim and Sport Club schedule.

Xiaguang Yan finishes an event.
Here’s how the meet went in other events:
  • Calwell won the 200m Free with a time of 2:05.70.
  • Ulmer won the 200m IM with a time of 2:26.43.
  • John Utas won the 100m Buterfly with a time of 1:08.31.
  • Jeff Fadlovich won the 100m Free with a time of 1:00.80. The state qualifying time is 57 seconds.
  • Calwell also won the 400m Free, with a time of 4:27.83.
  • Camas won the 200m Freestyle Relay, with a time of 1:51.55. The relay consisted of Luke Albert, Colin Kuhta, Jeff Fadlovich, and Xiaguang Yan.
  • Ulmer won the 100m Backstroke with a time of 1:05.
  • Tom Utas won the 100m Breastroke with a time of 1:16.41.

And Camas also won the 400m Freestyle Relay, with a time of 3:55.17. The relay team consisted of Calwell, Ulmer, Fadlovich, and John Utas.

The boys compete again this Saturday at Mark Morris.

Lucas Ulmer

Lucas Ulmer

 

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Utas Starts New Season with State Time Cut

Camas High swimmer John Utas, a junior, made a Washington State qualifying time in the 50 Free event Wednesday night at Lacamas Swim and Sport Club, with a time of 25.37.

It was the first meet of the 2013-14 season, against Kelso. Utas also made a state qualifying time in the 200 medley relay, with teammates Kasey Calwell, Lucas Ulmer, and Tom Utas.

He has been swimming competitively for several years, and enjoys the sport. He’s been battling some health issues lately, which causes him to get winded, but nonetheless, he prevails in a sport that he very much enjoys.

“Our team works really, really hard every single morning of practice,” John said. “I do my best to do my part at each practice and at each swim meet. Sometimes I do get really tired, and need to catch my breath, but I’m managing.”

More details on that event, and others in another article.

To learn more, visit www.chs.camas.wednet.edu

John Utas

 

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CHS Does Well at Cross Country Regionals

Girls Team Take 2 of 3 Top Spots

TACOMA, WA – Both the Camas High School Girls and Boys Cross Country teams competed at the Class 4A Bi-District Cross Country meet at the American Lake Golf Course last Saturday, placing second and fourth, respectively.

Papermaker Alexa Efraimson earned the top spot again in the 5,000 meter event with a time of 17:40.48. Union’s Alexis Fuller finished with 18:31, and Papermaker Alissa Pudlitzke came in third at 18:37.

Even though Efraimson and Pudlitzke were in the top three, Camas, the defending 4A state champions, lost first place to Bellarmine Prep 63-66.

Marley LeFore finished ninth, with a time of 19:04.61; McKenzie Good finished with a time of 20:04.87; Meghan Finley finished at 20:27.36; Maddie Woodson earned a time of 20:40.79; and Alexa Jones clocked in at 20:56.09.

The girls compete at State this weekend at Pasco.

The Camas boys placed fourth at the meet with a score of 151. Senior Riley Hein was the top local finished, placing ninth at 16:25.

His brother, Zach Hein, placed 26th with a time of 16:48.88. Daniel Osterhage clocked in at 17:08.10 and Freshman Nick Carter made a name for himself with a time of 17:09.35. Taryk Boyd finished with a time of 17:28.86; and Adam Peterson finished at 18:13.88.

“There was a stiff headwind that sent pinecones and other debris flying onto the course,” said Zach Hein. “This also resulted in the course running pretty slow, especially compared to past years. If you were going to highlight anyone’s performances I would say Nick Carter really had a fantastic race. He is a freshman and managed to hold on to Daniel Osterhage, a junior. Both of their performances really contributed to our success.”

Hein and his teammates also head to State this weekend.

“Once I could feel my chest start to hurt, I knew I was running a good race,” said Carter. “I’ve been running since seventh grade and I like to test myself to see how far I can go.”

 

Alexa Efraimson
Junior Alexa Efraimson won the event.
Photo by Jeff Pudlitzke.
Girls XC
The Girls team finished second overall. Photo by Jeff Pudlitzke.

 

 

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CHS Girls Varsity Soccer Beats Union 2X

DOC HARRIS STADIUM — On a cold, wet and windy Saturday night, the District Champion Camas Girls Varsity soccer team beat arch-rival Union, 1-0, in the 4A District Playoffs. The match sets up seeding for the Bi-District Playoffs.

The multiple yellow cards illustrated the intensity of the match, and one spectator, Chris Cavin, said “it’s a bloodbath.”

It was.

Both teams wanted the win, and were willing to do anything to get it. As one Papermaker laid on the turf for a couple minutes, you could hear a Titan yelling “scrape her off the field so we can keep playing.”

Lady Papermaker Sarah Tennyson made the only goal of the game with the assist by Maddie Belzer, who delivered a perfect corner kick.

Goalkeeper Marie Matthews had four saves. The Titans goalkeeper, Mo Spieth, had two saves.

Girls Soccer

 

Maddie Belzer
Maddie Belzer’s assist to Sarah Tennyson got the matches
only goal.

 

Soccer

 

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Camas Football Wins Last Game of Regular Season, 85-38

BATTLE GROUND, WA — Camas held onto to its undefeated status this season but not without facing a real challenge from Battle Ground — at least in the first half.

Tigers quarterback Colston Vukanovich threw six touchdown passes, keeping the Papermakers on edge, but ultimately it wasn’t enough as Camas pulled away completely, earning an 85-38 victory at District Stadium.

At halftime, Camas was up 49-32.

Nathan Beasley
Zach Eagle on a drive against Battle Ground.
He scores two touchdowns in the first half.

Nate Beasley had five touchdowns, while Zach Eagle scored three for the Papermakers. Beasley scored three in the third quarter on drives of 49 and 46 yards. Beasley’s prowess pushed Camas to a 63-32 edge.

Eagle scored his touchdowns before halftime, the first on a 60-yard punt return that amazed the audience.

Jorden Payne also scored in the first quarter. Jason Valea scored in the second quarter, as did Cole Zarcone in the third quarter on a 15-yard run. In the fourth quarter, Brian Kelley scored on a 30-yard run.

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Kasey Calwell Wins Gold at Oregon Long Course Championships

Mt. Hood CC — Columbia River Swim Team’s Kasey Calwell won the 400 Individual Medley (4:43.95) and the 200 meter Breaststroke (2:30.26) to lead his team to a fourth place finish at the 2013 13 & Over Oregon Long Course Championships this past weekend.

Calwell, who attends King’s Way Christian School and also swims for Camas High School, placed second in the 100 Breaststroke (1:08.12), 200 Individual Medley (2:12.22) and 100 Freestyle (55.04) for boys 15 and over.

Other CRST swimmers placing in the top 8 were:

  • Anna Panebianco, fourth in the 1500 Freestyle (19:25.00) and seventh in the 100 Backstroke (1:08.92) for 15 and over girls.
  • Eric Bugna placed seventh in the 100 Butterfly (1:00.05) and sixth in the 200 Individual Medley (2:23.59) for 15 and over boys.
  • Andrew Chang placed third in the 100 Butterfly (1:02.98), fifth in the 800 Freestyle (9:30.28) and 200 Individual Medley (2:25.32), and sixth in the 400 Individual Medley (5:08.71) and 200 Freestyle (2:08.16) and seventh in the 200 Butterfly (2:26.25) for 14 year old boys.
  • Maksim Dolbinin placed fourth in the 100 Freestyle (1:00.63), fifth in the 200 Breaststroke (2:54.02) and 50 Freestyle (27.52), sixth in the 100 Breaststroke (1:19.60) for 13 year old boys.
  • Katherine Kaplan placed fifth in both the 50 Freestyle (28.68) and 100 Freestyle (1:04.26) for 14 year old girls.
  • James Nicorici placed seventh in the 200 Backstroke (2:30.43) and 200 Breaststroke (2:50.03), for 14 year old boys.
  • Julia Sanders placed fourth in the 100 Breaststroke (1:15.98) for 15 and over girls.
  • Tom Utas placed sixth in the 100 Breaststroke (1:15.07) for 14 year old boys.
  • Chris Xue placed sixth in the 100 Freestyle (56.29) and seventh in the 50 Freestyle (25.40) for 15 and over boys.
  • Darya Samiee placed fifth in the 200 Butterfly (2:36.46) for 15 and over girls.
  • Andrea Young placed sixth in the 50 Freestyle (28.13) and eigth place in the 100 Freestyle (1:00.93) for 15 and over girls.

Kasey Calwell
Kasey Calwell had a great weekend. Photos provided by Sandy Calwell.

CRST
Kasey Calwell
 

 

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Camas 10/11 All-Stars Defeat State Champions

GIG HARBOR, Wash. – The Camas Little League 10/11 All-Star team (2-1 at State) won their second game against Federal Way, the defending State champions, Monday night, 7-6, in an intense battle.

Team Manager Andy Ott said Camas pitcher Tyler Forner started on the mound and went 2/3 of an inning and was relieved by Kolby Broadbent, who went the distance and closed the game.

Federal Way led 5-0 after the first half inning, hoping to defend their State title. Camas ended up scoring two runs at the bottom of the first with hits from Drew Ott, Broadbent, and Forner.  At the top of two, it was 5-2 Federal Way.

Federal Way added a run and so did Camas making it 6-3 at the bottom of the third inning. In the next inning, Broadbent hit a big two-run home run over left field, tightening the game, 6-5.

In the bottom of the fourth with two outs Camas hitter Tayler Shega had a seven-pitch walk to get on base, while Michael Quintana subbing in for AJ Ueber, had two strikes and two outs and hit a two-run home run to left center for the 7-6 lead.

Broadbent closed out the deal in the top of the fifth and sixth with some good defense behind him. Christian Knuth caught the final out on a fly ball to left with a runner on first.

Camas had hits from Ott, Broadbent, Quintana, Forner, Ueber, and Jackson Gibbs.  Broadbent struck out 3.

Camas will play their fourth game this Thursday at 7 pm against Bainbridge.

All-Stars
After Monday’s win. Photo by Leslie Quintana.

 

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Camas LL 10/11 All-Stars Win 1st Game at State

GIG HARBOR, Wash. — The Camas Little League 10/11 All-Star team won their first game at State competition Saturday night against Kirkland, 6-3.

 “It was a great game,” said Candi Humble, parent of one of the players.
Humble said Camas was down 0-3 going into the bottom of the fourth, and then Michael Quintana walked.
Christian Knuth, Dante Humble, and Caden Wengler all had great hits that brought all runs in.
The team plays again Sunday at 7 pm.

The team is coached by Andy Ott, Bob Gibbs and Brad Day.

Stay tuned for updates.

Quintana
Camas Little League player Michael Quintana.

 

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Camas Machine JBO Baseball Team Wins State Title

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Camas Machine JBO Senior National baseball team won their division’s State Championship this past weekend, beating McKay 8-3 in a hard-fought tournament.

At state, the Machine needed to win five games to win the Championship.  They won their first three games handily, and then the fourth game became a long, hard-fought 10-inning battle against McKay – a team from Salem.

“They gave us probably the best game we have seen all season,” said Camas Machine’s assistant coach, Keith Upkes.  “Score was tied at 0-0 going into the seventh.  In the seventh, we scored one, and McKay as the home team answered our run with a run of their own.  Going into extra innings we were tied.  In the eighth, we quickly scored two to go ahead 3-1, they again answered our score putting up two of their own sending the game to the ninth inning tied at three. In the ninth, they shut us down and then we answered back.

JBO
Camas Machine: The JBO Senior National Baseball State Champions.
 
 
Brannon Meriwether
Brannon Meriwether on the mound against McKay.
 
JBO

 “Going into the tenth we were tied at three. As visitors we scored two going into the bottom of the tenth we were up 5-3.  They quickly scored one making it 5-4, then we shut them down and prevailed with a final score of 5-4.  We advanced to the championship round on Sunday.”

But it wasnt over with McKay.  They moved into the loser’s bracket having only lost to the Machine.  According to Upkes, they won their loser’s bracket game setting up a re-match for Sunday’s championship game.

Camas Machine came out ready to roll, but couldn’t get the bat’s going along with McKay’s good execution of a short game and they prevailed 10-3 in the Championship game.

But it still wasn’t over.

Being a double elimination tournament, the Camas Machine got a second chance. With a 60-minute break in 90 degree weather, the Machine fought their way back. Behind the pitching of Brannan Meriwether and Dillon Mickalson, along with a strong defensive stand, said Upkes, and with bats that started lighting up, the Camas Machine prevailed 8-3 over McKay to win the 2013 JBO Senior National State Championship.

 
JBO
“It was a great feeling,” said Mike Colvin, the team’s manager. “It bodes well for the future of the sport in Camas and in the community at large. Not only did these JBO teams do well, but all three Camas Little League teams won their district championships and went to State.”
Colvin said the boys wanted something that couldn’t be given to them.“They had to earn it,” said Colvin. “They had to work really hard. Every kid stepped up and made plays. They played their hearts out.”

Until the playoff, Joe Gaudio was the team’s manager, but he left for an extended time.  Colvin took over as manager for the playoffs both District and State. Assistant coaches are Toby Mickalson and Upkes.

The Machine finished first in league play with a record of 13-1, and took first place Districts.
The Machine roster includes:
  • Ryan Behnke
  • Wes Colvin
  • Caleb Field
  • JD Fuller
  • Grant Gaudio
  • Josh Hibbard
  • Shane Jamison
  • Brannan Meriwether
  • Dillon Mickalson
  • Connor Shira
  • Haruki Takada
  • Patrick Upkes

 

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