As the sun set in Camas Saturday, streets were buzzing with bicycles. After a six-year hiatus, the Camas Twilight Criterium returned to downtown with mixed results. The five different races drew about 50 riders, from children to people in their 50s. Although Camas Bike & Sport owner Ed Fischer was pleased with the amount of spectators, he was hoping for more participants.
Southwest Washington Medical Center and the Quinn Driscoll Foundation announce the launch of "Young Champions," a program providing free advanced heart screenings for student athletes in Clark County. The event is Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Kessid Center in Vancouver. Southwest's Heart and Vascular Center is providing the screenings. Any Clark County middle school or high school athlete, band member or cheerleader, ages 13 to 18, is eligible.
Ryan Dungey's reign over Washougal continued for a third year Saturday, but the 30th annual AMA event at Washougal Motocross Park belonged to Trey Canard. The 19-year-old 250 class rider from Shawnee, Okla., is on quite a hot streak since breaking his leg at Washougal during his rookie season of 2008. Hitting every jump, twist and turn on pins and needles, Canard completed two nearly flawless motos to win his third straight national event on the 2010 tour. "When you get in the zone like that, it's a really good place to be," he said. "I had a lot of emotions coming back here after I broke my femur. To be able to come out and win two motos, it was just an awesome day."
Babies in strollers to athletes in their 80s made their way around the track at Cardon Field Sunday as part of the seventh-annual Fit Right Northwest Lacamas Lake half marathon and Round Lake four-mile run and walk. At the age of 80, Esther Nosler of Vancouver was one of the oldest participants in the event that drew approximately 1,675 runners and walkers from Camas, Washougal, Vancouver, Portland, and other areas in Washington and Oregon. In 2009, she finished first in her age group on the four-mile walk. On Sunday, she took second with a time of 57 minutes, 55 seconds. "I love this course, but it's very tough. It's a hard one because there are a lot of hills," Nosler said. "I had a good time. The weather was just beautiful."
This 39-year-old beauty, nestled in a forest of fir trees near the Washougal River, continues to captivate riders and racing fans with its hairpin turns, hang time jumps and breathtaking scenery. When AMA professional riders Ryan Dungey, Andrew Short, Kevin Windham and Chad Reed hit the park's famous Horsepower Hill and Scott Ski Jump during the eighth round of the 2010 Lucas Oil National Championship Saturday, fans are going to be right on top of the action. "We are very excited for the 30th anniversary of the national," said spokesman Brian Barnes. "There's a tremendous amount of hype, mostly from the racers and fans who have been with us since the park opened in 1971."
An opportunity to speak to kids at the Dan Macaya Soccer Camp Friday took Nick Palodichuk back in time. Long before he won a state championship on the Camas High School boys soccer team, or scored a goal for the United States in the U-17 World Cup against Nigeria. Back to when he started kicking a soccer ball against a wall at the age of 5. "My mom coached my team for the first two years. She's a very big part of my life," Palodichuk said. "When you're young like that, you don't care about anything. You're just out there having fun. "I remember when I was 11 or 12, running as fast as I could just to get to the ball," he added. "Camps like this one is where I got started. I used to be one of these kids, just messing around and having fun with my friends."
If Paul and Sara Kitchen lose sight of their 9-year-old son Levi, all they have to do is listen for the sound of his motorcycle. The Kitchen family lives about two miles away from the Washougal Motocross Park. Levi also has access to a couple of racing tracks in the neighborhood. He has been riding the one in his backyard since he got his first bike at the age of 3. "I just grew up liking it because my dad used to do it," Levi said. "A lot of my friends race like me. Sometimes, we go out together." After competing in several races over the past year, including five nationals, Levi finds himself in elite company. He has qualified for the 2010 Loretta Lynn National Motocross Championships, Aug. 2-7, in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.
The beauty of downtown Camas will be on display when the Camas Twilight Criterium returns on Saturday, July 31, for the first time in five years. David Hart co-directed the event through North River Racing between 2000 and 2004, before it relocated to downtown Vancouver. Hart moved to Camas in 2007. "Now that I live here, I thought I would address the idea of having a bike race through downtown," Hart said. "I like the small community feel. A lot of people live right here in downtown. You don't have to sit through a lot of rush hour traffic to get down here." Hart is the race director and Ed Fisher, owner of Camas Bike & Sport, is the promoter. "There is a lot of great racing in Oregon. I live in Camas, and I want people to see what my downtown is like," Hart said. "Camas has a lot to offer, a lot of beauty and a lot of business."
Warmer weather in July gave members of Bernhardt Golf the green light to begin adding a new drainage system to the Camas High School baseball and softball fields. The construction company based in Beaverton, Ore., spent the last eight days digging trenches and fitting pipes under the varsity baseball field. Those holes have been filled with sand, which makes the outfield grass look like a football grid. Project manager Kevin Brown said it would take about three weeks for the field to be refurbished. "The new drainage system will remove surface water off of the field, which makes it dry quicker. Like pulling the plug on a bathtub, basically," Brown said. "This should improve all of the standing water in the outfield, and make the field playable earlier in the spring."
The Camas High School football team defended its Oregon State University Team Camp championship in smashing fashion Jan. 26, in Corvallis. "We had a lot of kids step up and play above the level they normally do," said head coach Jon Eagle. "I think that experience is really going to help them." Trailing by four points with about 20 minutes left, the Papermakers rallied to defeat Juanita High School of Kirkland, Wash., 16-12 in the championship game. Camas reached the end zone first on a run by Zach Marshall. He also came through with a 2-point conversion run to give the Papermakers an 8-0 advantage. Juanita battled back with a touchdown run, but the Camas defense halted the 2-point conversion attempt to stay on top 8-6.
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