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Sports

June 25, 2013
Alexa Efraimson, a 16-year-old from Camas, became the first Papermaker to be selected as the Gatorade Washington Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Alexa Efraimson named Gatorade Girls Track Athlete of the Year

No matter how many events and venues Alexa Efraimson competes in, the thrill of stepping up to the starting line never fades. "It's one of the reasons I love racing," said the 16-year-old from Camas. "I just get that feeling of excitement, and I know I'm ready to race." When she crosses the finish line, the thrill comes right back. It could be finishing in first place, attaining a new personal best time or just gaining points for her team. Efraimson relishes it all. She uses each race as a stepping stone toward the next big challenge. "I think back to all the training I've done," Efraimson said. "All of it was worth it for that one moment."

June 25, 2013
Dan Macaya still has soccer on the brain, 10 years after running his first camp as part of a Camas High School senior project in 2003.

Macaya Soccer Camp turns 10 this summer

With enough shirts saved to stitch a quilt, Dan Macaya looks forward to next decade of soccer camps in Camas. What started out as just a high school senior project has turned into a career for Macaya and his friends. His camp coaches are professional soccer players, college soccer players, local high school graduates and youth soccer coaches. "The [senior] project was titled, 'the positive effect of role models on children,'" Macaya said. "I've always liked to work with kids either on the soccer field or in the classroom. A soccer camp seemed so natural." Macaya conducted a two-day camp for a Camas-Washougal Soccer Club team in that first year. He came back home from Western Washington University the next summer and did another camp for about 20 kids. By the third year, Macaya starting donating money from the camps back to the Camas School District.

June 18, 2013
Camas High School graduate Emily Thomas (No. 23) gave all she had in her final race for Gonzaga University May 23, at the NCAA West Preliminary Championships in Austin, Texas. She finished in 19th place in the 10,000-meter run in 36:01.23.

Emily Thomas will continue her education in physical therapy

Emily Thomas enjoys life on the run. The 22-year-old Camas High School and Gonzaga University graduate is just hitting her stride. Next, she's off to Regis University, in Denver, to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy. "It's just one more year after my master's," she said. "Might as well go for it all and become a doctor by the time I'm 25. Then I can really start my life."

June 18, 2013
New Washougal High School volleyball coach Mallorie Thompson fires the Panthers up during open gym.

A love for the game of volleyball

You can't start a fire without a spark. New Washougal High School volleyball coach Mallorie Thompson hopes her passion for the game can ignite the program after several losing seasons. "I love that fire, intensity and excitement of the game," she said. "You can't find it in any other sport."

June 18, 2013
Alex Torres, a 15-year-old from Camas, qualified for the AMA Loretta Lynn National Motocross Championships, July 28 to Aug. 3, in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

Torres takes his dream to nationals

Alex Torres just made his dream come true. He is one of the 1,386 Americans who are going to race at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. Torres, a 15-year-old from Camas, qualified for the AMA Loretta Lynn National Motocross Championship, July 28 to Aug. 3, in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. He spent the last four months working his way to the top of his region to earn this opportunity. Call (503) 867-7167 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

June 11, 2013
Camas pitcher Taylor Williams puts pen to paper on a $400,000 Major League Baseball contract with the Milwaukee Brewers Monday.

Camas’ Taylor Williams gets the call by the Milwaukee Brewers

Taylor Williams got the call he had been waiting for his whole life Friday. The Milwaukee Brewers selected the 21-year-old Camas pitcher in the fourth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. Williams was the 122nd pick overall. "It's amazing and surreal," said the 2010 Camas High School graduate. "Ever since I started playing baseball, this has been a dream and a goal in my life. "I've worked so hard for this moment," Williams added. "I thank my family and friends for being there with me every step of the way. I thank the community of Camas, as a whole. Every coach and every teammate I've had growing up have been a factor in me getting drafted."

June 11, 2013

Camas Softball sisters celebrate season

The Camas High School softball team will not settle on being second best. "As painful as it was to be so close to winning the state tournament, there's nothing to be ashamed about getting this," said head coach Ken Nidick to the girls as he held up the second place trophy at the award's banquet. "There are 50 other teams in the state who would have given their left arm to be in our position. We've been to the state tournament three times in the last five years. If you continue to work hard, you're going to raise that state championship trophy for Camas again."

June 11, 2013
Rachel Webb dreamed of teaching and coaching basketball in the community she lives in. She has that opportunity now as the new Washougal High School girls basketball coach.

Webb slings coaching gig in Washougal

Ever since she was a freshman at Portland's Wilson High School, Rachel Webb dreamed of coaching a high school girls basketball team. She recalls an encounter with a young girl struggling to shoot the ball into the basket as a moment that changed her life. "She couldn't even hit the backboard," Webb said. "But after I gave her just a few pointers, she started making them. Swish, swish, swish. I got goosebumps."

June 8, 2013
Kent State University pitcher Taylor Williams, a 2010 Camas High School graduate, was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers Friday in the fourth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft.

Williams gets the call by the Brewers

Just after 11 a.m. Friday, Taylor Williams got the phone call he had been waiting for his whole life. The Milwaukee Brewers selected the 21-year-old Camas pitcher in the fourth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. Williams was the 122nd pick overall. "It's amazing and surreal," said the 2010 Camas High School graduate. "Ever since I started playing baseball, this has been a dream and a goal in my life. "I've worked so hard for this moment," Williams added. "I thank my family and friends for being there with me every step of the way. I thank the community of Camas, as a whole. Every coach and every teammate I've had growing up have been a factor in me getting drafted today."

June 4, 2013
Former colleagues and friends share laughs with Charlie Hinds (center) during a community gathering event Saturday, at Liberty Middle School. On May 19, the former Camas High School teacher and wrestling coach was inducted into the Washington Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.

Hinds embraces Camas heritage

Charlie Hinds is now a member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. But the words he heard from former colleauges, wrestlers and friends during Saturday's open house celebration at Liberty Middle School, in Camas, touched his heart in more ways than any national recognition could. "This is an award that Camas can share because it's something that Camas did," Hinds said. "I got the opportunity to work with some great coaches and athletic directors. Camas fans love their teams. We always had packed houses for the wrestling matches. We also had some amazing wrestlers who worked hard, were willing to follow and became great leaders when the time called for it. If it wasn't important to them, it would just be a wrestling match."