Camas and Washougal track and field athletes reach state

Twenty Camas Papermakers and six Washougal Panthers qualified for the state track and field championships Thursday, Friday and Saturday, at Mt. Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

The Camas girls captured their third straight 3A bi-district championship Saturday, at Mt. Tahoma. The Papermaker boys finished in fifth.

Alexa Efraimson won the 800-meter run and set a new meet record time of 2 minutes, 12.26 seconds. She has the fastest time in the state and the sixth-best time in the nation.

“There are so many talented runners in the region and the state,” Efraimson said. “It’s going to be a great opportunity to run against them, and to know my teammates are there to support me.”

Amber Corbett clinched first place in the javelin with a throw of 126 feet, 5 inches. Camille Parsons claimed second in the 1,600 (5:06.04), Austen Reiter took fourth (5:11.88) and Alissa Pudlitzke placed sixth (5:15.36). Pudlitzke also grabbed third in the 3,200 (11:16.56).

“It’s been awesome to work with these girls year round,” Parsons said. “We’re all friendly, but we push each other. It’s a good balance. We want to make everybody better.”

Lauren Neff soared to second place on the high jump (5-2) and Kathryn Johnson followed in fifth (5 feet). Sydney Allen earned second in the triple jump (36-4). The Camas girls took third in the 1,600 relay (4:07.68) and Savanna Joyce landed sixth in the long jump (15-8.75).

Triton Pitassi notched third in the shot put (50-3) and Blaine Behrent grabbed third on the pole vault (13 feet). Tucker Boyd finished fourth in the 800 (1:59.54). Alex Pien placed fourth in the 1,600 (4:26.82) and sixth in the 3,200 (4:27.62). Andrew Kaler clinched fifth in the 3,200 (9:35.76) and sixth in the 1,600 (4:27.62). Scott Feather took fifth in the discus (145-8), Josh Golden earned sixth in the 400 (50.86) and the Camas boys snagged sixth in the 1,600 relay (3:29.57).

The Washougal girls secured seventh place and the Panther boys earned eighth place at the 2A district championships Friday, at Centralia High School.

Senior Katie Wright redeemed herself by qualifying for state in the high jump (5-2) and the long jump (16-1.5). She finished second in both events.

“Katie rose to the occasion and had a great day,” said head coach Dave Hajek. “She was able to control her emotions and do well in both events, whereas last year she struggled in both events.”

Sean Eustis earned second in the 3,200 (9:48.29) and third in the 1,600 (4:25.73) to advance to state in both events. Senior Nathan Milojevic notched second in the pole vault (13-6) to get to state for the first time. Isaac Bischoff took third in the discus (137-9) to return to state as a senior.

Sophomore Michelle Greear and Mackenzie Pfeifer will be making their debuts at the state meet. Greear grabbed third in the discus (103-3) and Pfeifer placed third in the javelin (101-2).

“It’s nice when the kids work hard and get the opportunity to compete at the state meet,” Hajek said. “We want these kids to go out feeling they accomplished something, that it was a worthwhile experience for them and that they learned some things.”