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Page B-4 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016
JANUARY /
In January, the Journal wrote about
the state of girls wrestling in Mason
County.
The story, which touched on a mu!ti-
tude of the sport's intricacies, included
plenty of comments from local players
and coaches. It also detailed how the
state's Washington Weight Manage-
ment Program -- created by the WIAA
-- requires all high school wrestlers to
cut weight in a safe way.
When it comes to losing weight, men
have a distinct advantage over women,
according to a clinical dietitian at the
University of Washington. Addition-
ally, extreme weight loss can have dan-
gerous effects on boys, girls, men and
women.
Throw in the effect of how athletes'
bodies are scrutinized, and young girls
have even more challenges.
mml
Later in the month, the Journal re-
ported on the details surrounding state
reclassification. Stemming from the re-
birth of the North Puget Sound League,
some other South Sound schools, in-
cluding Shelton, were taking a look at
changing leagues.
The North Puget Sound League,
which would later begin play in Sep-
tember, formed to include 16 schools
mostly in Pierce County. Its creation
caused schools including Shelton,
which at the time was in the 3A Nar-
rows League, to scramble to join other
leagues. Ultimately, Shelton joined
a new conference dubbed the South
Sound Conference.
m
The plan for every sports team is to
reach state, and that was the case for
the Shelton High School boys swim-
ming and diving team. But as of Jan.
25, no Shelton swimmers or divers had
qualified.
The Highclimbers still had several
opportunities in the next two weeks to
advance further in the postseason.
On Jan. 29, the swimmers were to
compete in the 3A Narrows League
Swimming Championship at Mount
Tahoma High School in Tacoma.
The West Central District III Swim-
ming Championships will be Feb. 12
and Feb. 13 at Hazen High School in
Renton. The West Central District III
Diving Championships were Feb. 12 at
Auburn Pooh
The growing pains finally paid off
for the girls bowling teams in Mason
County. In 2014-15, North Mason won
only one match during the season, but
in the 2015-16 season it notched seven
wins. Shelten was winless its previous
season, but during this past season it
nabbed five wins.
In late January, the teams were
slated to compete at the West Central
District 3 Tournament at Pacific Lanes
Bowling Center in Tacoma.
North Mason competed on Jan. 22
at the Olympic League/Sub District
Championships at All Star Lanes in
Silverdale. The Bulldogs finished sec-
ond in their league and fifth overall.
m
Mason County's two high school
bowling teams found success in varying
degrees at the 1A/2A/3A West Central
District III Bowling Tournament on
Jan. 30 at Pacific Lanes in Tacoma.
The Bulldogs earned a team spot in the
state tournament.
North Mason junior Shaniya Bran-
non was named the tournament's MVP
after finishing with a 211 average for
the day. The team was also a~arded a
sportsmanship award.
Shelton had two bowlers compete a~
the West Central District III tourna-
ment and Rebecca Robinson qualified
as a state alternate.
FEBRUARY
In February, the Highclimbers
learned they would have some new
Journal photo by Alexandria Valdez
North Mason High School wrestling coach Bill McCarty embraces junior
Nico Ramirez in February after Ramirez won his match for fifth place at the
state wrestling tournament in the 285-pound weight class.
competition. Lacy (170).
For the 2016-20 school years, Shel-
ton High School will compete in aOn Feb. 13, the North Mason Bull-
new league, but as of Feb. 2, that new dogs advanced three wrestlers to the
league had yet to come up with a name. Mat Classic XXVII 2016 state champi-
On Feb. 2, the 16 3A schools in the onship tournament.
West Central District 3 met in Tacoma The state qualifiers for North Mason
to discuss how they would configure the were Nico Ramirez (285) and Colten
league. After a three-hour meeting, the Harmon (106). Jahrett Schiemer (138)
schools agreed to the following league and Cole Varick (106) were alternates.
alignments:
In the to-be-named league, the In their first West Central District
schools will include Capital, Central 3 tournament since 2009, the Climbers
Kitsap, Gig Harbor, North Thurston, girls basketball team went 0-2 against
Peninsula, Shelton, Timberline and Auburn Mountainview and Kennedy
Yelm. Catholic High School. The Lions beat
In the second league, proposed to be Shelten 70-37 on Feb. 11 and the Ken-
called the Pierce County League, the nedy Lancers beat Shelton 44-41 on
schools included Bethel, Bonney Lake, Feb. 13.
Lakes, Lincoln, Mount Tahoma, Span- The losses ended the team's season.
away Lake, Stadium and Wilson.
Shelten athletic director Jim Judson Despite senior Alex Brown-Garcia's
said he was happy with the proposal anxiety, the Shelton High School boys
the schools came up with. swimming and diving teams had a
strong performance at the 2016 state
At the West Central District re- swimming and diving championships
gional 3 tournament in February, the Feb. 19-20 at the King County Aquatics
Shelton girls wrestling team placed sec- Center in Federal Way.
ond overall with 114 points. Six of the Brown-Garcia swam two individual
team's girls advanced to regionals and events and did not advance to finals.
one was an alternate. Junior Matti Me- The Shelton 200-yard freestyle relay
cham and freshman Quinn Lacy placed finished 13th overall with a time of
first in their divisions. Other qualifiers 1:33.21.
included Hannah Kegg, Maritza Na-The Highclimbers had three divers
varrete, Melissa Mackintosh, Claudia medal this year. Senior Jon Netzel fin-
Ramirez and Elena Prest. ished second with 409.55 points, senior
The Climbers boys wrestling team Troy Krtunpols finished sixth with
continued its solid performance at the 372.15 points and junior Zach Netzel
3A Narrows League Championships. finished seventh with 341.25 points.
Shelten placed second overall with
265 points. The Highclimbers had 11 Despite losing their final matches,
wrestlers advance to regionals with two Shelton's three wrestlers learned a lot
alternates. Seniors Alec Manke, Colton Feb. 19-20 at the Mat Classic XXVIII
Paller and junio) Gable Lacy placed state championship at the Tacoma
first in their weight classes. Assistant Dome.
coach Nick Stigall was also named the Colton PaUer placed fourth overall
Narrows League Assistant Coach of the in the 195-pound weight class.
Year. Alec Manke placed sixth in the
Other boys who advanced included 145-pound weight class.
Riley Lambert, Ammon Anderson, Shelten's other state participant was
James Bragg, Michael Hackler, Jesse junior Gable Lacy. Lacy went 0-2 on
Wojcik, Christian Jewett, Fred Home, Feb. 19 in the 182-pound weight class
Kevin Mann, Issac Willis, Quinn Ro- and did not advance to the second day.
dius, Peace Lee, Gavin Goodbum and It was Lacy's first trip to the state tour-
Wade Smotherman. nament.
Paller was the only state returner,
At regional tournaments in Febru-after placing eighth last year in the
ary, the Shelten Highclimbers boys 182-pound weight class. This year, he
and girls wrestling teams qualified six went 4-2 in his matches.
wrestlers for the Mat Classic XXVII The last Climber to place fourth at a
2016 state chajnpionship tournament, state wrestling tournament was Jona-
Shelton's girls team competed at then Dennis in 2012.
Yelm High School and the boys corn- It was Manke's first time participat-
peted at North Thurston High School. ing in the state tournament after quali-
The boys qualified four wrestlers for fying last year as an alternate. He went
the state tournament, including Alec 3-3 in his matches.
Manke (145 pounds), senior Colton
Paller (195), junior Gable Lacy (182) On Feb. 25, the annual teachers-ver-
and sophomore Quinn Rodius (12) an sus-athletes basketball game brought
alternate. Shelton qualified two girls two groups together.
for the state tournament, junior Matti The Special Olympics is a global pro-
Mecham (155) and freshman Quinn gram that offers athletic opportunities
for people with intellectual disabilities.
According to its website, there are 4.5
million athletes ages 8 and up from 170
countries. It also has a program called
Young Athletes for children ages 2 to 7.
Currently, Shelton only offers a Spe-
cial Olympics team for basketball. Scot-
ti Krump said there is not enough facil-
ity space with the high school sports
practices. She said they are working on
adding more sports.
Most of the players on the team are
current Sheltoh students or graduates.
Amber Be.lcher, who works at Safeway,
loves getting out on the court to play.
Before the sun is up, before teach-
ers get to school and before the Shelton
High School students flood the campus,
the dance team is already at work. It
starts every school day in the Mini-
Dome at 6 a.m., and that includes
teachers' service days.
But participants do it for the love of
dance.
"I really like being on dance team
because there are really no other sports
where you can be really goofy and ex-
pressive and yourself," senior captain
Ariela Sanchez said. "Really, just be-
ing able to have all of us have a dance
party together or have us all try to get
better is something that's really excit-
ing."
The long hours and goofy dance par-
ties have paid off as the Shelton pre-
pared for its district dance competition
at 9 a.m. March 12 at Kentridge High
School.
On Feb. 27, the dance team took a
big step toward returning to state this
year. At the Decatur High School com-
petition earlier in the month, the team
took first place overall. It scored 272.25
points out of 300.
MARCH
On March 26, the Shelton High
School dance team placed second over-
all in the 3A military category at the
2016 State Dance/Drill Championships
with a score of 269.35.
APRIL
It was the bottom of the fifth inning
and North Mason catcher Noah Wise-
man stepped up to the plate.
The game against the Black Hills
High School Wolves was tied and the
Bulldogs needed some magic. Wise-
man smashed the second pitch he saw,
blasting it out to deep left field for a
double.
Instead of getting a courtesy runner,
the sophomore was left on second base.
"Coach usually takes me out as a
courtesy," Wiseman said with a chuck-
le, "But he said, "You're staying out on
second base.' Jeremy Camahan hit me
a good shot and I just scored off second
base. It was a great thing and it was
meant to happen."
In a memorable and emotional game
April 2, the North Mason Bulldogs
pulled out a 6-5 victory over Black Hills
at Cheney Stadium in Tacoma.
n
It was only Kaitlyn Palle~s first
year competing in track and field, but
the Shelton High School junior quickly
made her presence known. The shot
put, discus and javelin athlete quickly
picked up on the technique of the sport
and was winning.
Paller, who fmished fourth overall
in her first effort ever throwing the
javelin, was one of several Highclimber
track and field athletes April 14 who
earned personal records in their events
against North Thurston High School
and Central Kitsap High School in the
three-team meet. Each team competed
against one another.
On the boys side, Shelton beat North
Thurston 95-41. The Central Kitsap
Cougars beat the Highclimbers 71-64.
Shelton's girls beat the North Thurston
Rams 54-49, but the Cougars beat the
Highclimber girls 84-44.