Camas, Washougal seniors sign to colleges

Senior student athletes at Camas and Washougal high schools committed to college teams last week and made their intentions known during signing ceremonies at both schools.

The 14 CHS students moving on to college athletic teams are Payton Bates, softball at College of Idaho Yotes; Perrin Belzer, soccer at Grand Canyon University; Trevor Bentley, baseball at Mt. Hood Community College; Courtney Clemmer, basketball at Oregon Institute of Technology; Alexa Dietz, rowing at San Diego State University; Kennedy Ferguson, softball at New Mexico University; Dominic Fewel, soccer at Oregon State University; Madison Freemon, basketball at California State Fullerton University; Mark Kim, swimming at United States Military Academy at West Point; Hailey Oster, golf at Montana State University; Madison Pfaff, volleyball at Corban University; Madalyn Sherwinski, swimming at University of Mary; Joshua Schneider, soccer at Willamette University; and Abbigail Wong, softball at University of Puget Sound.

When each Camas student was asked what contributed to their success, all of the athletes took the opportunity to thank their parents for the support they’ve provided over the years.

“I have to thank my parents for all my success and paying the bills for all my baseball expenses,” Trevor Bentley said, adding that he looks forward to being able to bond with the baseball team at Mt. Hood, be on his own and learn to cook and take care of himself.

Although Dietz has signed on to San Diego State as a rower, she proved herself as an all-around athlete in track and field last year, after winning two league and district titles, as well as in gymnastics, where her team won the league and district titles and placed second at the state championships in 2017.

Dietz thanked her parents for supporting her when she made the decision to quit gymnastics and pursue rowing.

Clemmer gave thanks to her basketball coaches during the Feb. 7 signing ceremony, and said the Oregon Institute of Technology’s coaching minor option helped sway her decision.

The WHS students aiming to rack up points on their college teams are Erin Bentley, Lower Columbia College; Sierra Coloma, Northwest Christian University; and Hannah Eakins, Clark College.

Erin Bentley has played soccer year-round since she was 8 years old. All that hard work has paid off with a scholarship to play her favorite sport for Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington. The Washougal High goalkeeper averaged between four and seven saves a game during her senior season and is currently playing club soccer for Pacific FC in Salmon Creek.

“I will miss the great community of Washougal, so many great people, but I’m seriously excited to start playing at the next level and to study biology,” she, adding that she hopes to someday become a marine biologist.

Several area colleges are pursuing football player Kade Coons. The Washougal High School running back, who scrambled for 1,650 all purpose yards his senior season, plans to make a decision within the next two weeks.

“Right now, Linfield College and Portland State University are my front-runners,” said Coons, who plans to follow in his father’s footsteps and study to become an engineer. Coons also is the starting point guard for Washougal’s varsity basketball team.

Coloma will be playing soccer for Northwest Christian University in Eugene next fall.

The senior forward played all four of her high school years on Washougal’s varsity soccer team, averaging between 14 and 16 goals a season.

“I learned so much at Washougal High School, and so many people helped me recover from a torn ACL my sophomore year,” Coloma said.

Her early introduction to sports medicine motivated her to study the subject.

“I’m going to study pre-med and hopefully become a sports medicine physician,” she said.